Minnesota Football Recruiting: Nate Andrews commits

Kill is on some kind of roll. First Berkley, then Hank Ekpe and now according to Gopher Illustrated's Ryan Burns, you can add Fairhope (AL) cornerback prospect Nate Andrews to the commitment list as well!

Prior to pledging his sworn fielty to Overlord Jer', Andrews had listed offers from Florida State, Louisville, Ole Miss and others. Rated an .8510 3 star prospect by the 247Sports Industry Composite, the talented CB is the 12th member of Minnesota's 2013 recruiting class and the second cornerback to join the ranks (3rd DB overall).

Quasi commitment tweet?:

I can't wait to go back up to Minnesota.. I freaking love it up their..

— Nate Andrews (@NateAndrews1) December 5, 2012

Quotables

ESPNU evaluation ($):

Changes directions well, shows burst and quickness after the catch and can make some things happen on reverses and such. He is shifty and shows the ability to make defenders miss in space. Andrews does not always wow, but he is highly productive. Needs refinement on intermediate routes. Is generally used on deep or underneath routes. Has competitive play speed, but is not lightning fast or quick.

Should also mention that ESPNU sees him as a wide receiver. Der-k. The Gophers are recruiting him as a corner, not a receiver. [Interestingly enough, every recruiting guru service rates him as a wideout. Debatable whether those early high offers 1) ever existed 2) were at CB or WR. But that's for another day.]

YouTubes

Senior year highlights via Hudl.

(Likely Fraudulent) Measureables

Height: 5'9"-6'0"
Weight: 180-200 lbs.
Fake 40 Time: NULL (40 time not available on the Internetz?)

Thoughts

An athlete playing quarterback from the Alabama Gulf Coast who projects at another position? No, Jerry Kill has never done something like this before.

I'd say Andrews has a little Troy Stoudermire in his high school film and profile (and the same landing destination as a cover corner), but I won't. Andrews does share a trait with Stoudermire, however: he's probably a little shorter than his listed height, though it really doesn't matter all that much.

Now, as I said earlier, I have no idea if and when Andrews held offers from Florida State and Louisville (if he did at all) or if those offers were at WR or CB, but I don't really care. He -as the recruitniks say- looks good on the hoof, a fancy way of saying he has the "look" of a football player.

More importantly, this pledge is indicative of another trend with Gopher football recruiting: a targeted approach to scouring the Deep South for talent, specifically relatively unheralded spots like Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Every SEC and ACC school goes hard after talent in Florida, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana (and to extent, Mississippi), leaving other talent rich states like Alabama underrecruited after the power programs take the cream off the top, so to speak. Kill continues to go hard after Alabama talent, landing K.J. Maye last year, nabbing Andrews today and hot in pursuit of a number of other prospects from the Gulf Coast state this recruiting cycle.

As guru ratings and talent go, Andrews is a big commitment. I'm sure Kill and his staff were just as thrilled to land a talented player they've been after since the spring evaluation period, regardless of whether the Internet likes him or not (which in this case, the recruiting services do happen to like him).