Ducks go South for Explosive Athlete

[dthomas=ddixon]

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/854484.html

Coconut Creel, Fla. - The Oregon Ducks have reached clear across the country to garner a commitment from one of the more explosive athletes in the country.

Ethan Grant (5-9/170/4.4) of North Broward Prep in south Florida is a multi-talented athlete that eliminated the drama in his recruitment with a January commitment to play nearly as far away from home as possible by deciding on the Oregon Ducks.

Oregon did a great job of securing Grant's commitment early, and he is a player that could fill one of many roles for the Ducks. Grant plays running back, cornerback, and punt and kick returner. Grant's primary role for his North Broward Prep team is running back, and watching him with the ball in his hands, it's easy to see him filling that role for Oregon as well.

Grant has exceptional acceleration, and he has the very rare talent of being able to make cuts at full speed. When watching him play a game, it's a common sight to see him taking a toss sweep at full speed towards the sideline, then with a sharp cut, change his direction and cut inside a pursuing defender.

North Broward Prep's base offense is a shotgun spread that calls for Grant to flare out of the backfield several times during a game as well as set screen plays. He is very adept in the passing game, though he needs to get better in his pass protection as a blocker to be an every down back on the college level.

Grant appears to be much more comfortable taking a play wide and into space, though he does attack the line of scrimmage between the tackles. I wonder about his vision in traffic, since he seems to get hit hard when he's not in space. A phrase commonly heard about great backs is that defenders rarely get a clean hit on them, and that's not the case with Grant. In the open, he's lethal, but at his size, he'll need to anticipate hits in traffic to protect himself and the ball better.

Grant is also a dynamite return man where his ability in the open field shines. He also plays corner and has the change of direction and hip turn to play there on the next level as well.

Here is a look at Grant from two games from his junior season that I watched. In these clips you'll see an ability to change direction at full speed that rivals any back in the country.