The South Carolina Gamecocks secured the commitment of one of their highest rated targets recently with offensive lineman Ryan Brubaker declaring his intention to play his college football in Columbia.
By Steve Wright
Brubaker – a 6-foot-6, 280 pounder out of Cocalico (Denver, PA) High School – is rated as the No. 245 player in the recruiting class of 2022 per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He is the No. 25 offensive tackle and the No. 7 player in the class from Pennsylvania according to the same rankings.
This is a big win for the Gamecocks as they were able to pull Brubaker away from Penn State – the favorites for a long time for his commitment as an in-state school – and away from his other finalists that included Stanford, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt.
The 4-star recruiting becomes the Gamecocks third offensive line commit and he is the second highest rated player in the South Carolina recruiting haul so far behind only 4-star quarterback Braden Davis.
Looking at the video of Brubaker below you can see that the two inches of extra height and 40 pounds of (good) weight that he put on before his junior year have really made a difference to his play on the field. Brubaker has excellent feet for a player of his stature and his lateral agility and quickness clearly come from playing the position at a lighter weight in previous years.
His quickness of off the snap and ability to get to the second level in an instant will be huge for the Gamecocks as it will allow short running gains to become huge plays behind an athletic lineman who is able to find and contain linebackers. The video also shows Brubaker dominating in pass protection. He has long arms that he is able to use to keep defensive ends away from his body which, combined with his plus footwork, means he contains edge rushers with relative ease on most snaps.
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