Minnesota Football Recruiting: Jacob Huff and Julian Huff Commit

The Gophers must have an internal prospect scoring criterion that adds double weight to the checkbox "has brother that also plays football," since Minnesota has the highest percentage of twins/siblings on scholarship of any team in the country*.

* Not a real stat.

Twins to the twin cities ?? pic.twitter.com/i2k8V1ZEl0

— Jacob (@jh2ff) June 5, 2014

Bolingbrook (IL) defensive back Jacob Huff committed to Minnesota yesterday, followed shortly thereafter by his brother Julian Huff, an outside linebacker. The twins are the 2nd and 3rd members of the Gopher 2015 recruiting class; both list offers from Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Toledo. Jacob is rated a 3 star prospect according to 247Sports' Industry Composite, while Julian's initial rating is 2 stars. Gopher fans won't have to wait as long to see the twins in Maroon & Gold, as both are early-enrollee candidates and will begin classes in January 2015.

(Likely Fraudulent) Measurables**

** The section title is a bit. It's intentionally facetious comment on how recruiting sites (and even some college coaches) notoriously exaggerate traditional combine measures -- especially the 40. No offense is meant.

Jacob

Height: 5'10"-6'0"
Weight: 190-205 lbs.
Fake 40 Time: 4.65s

Julian

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Fake 40 Time: N/A

Highlights

Thoughts

Right from the jump, the most commonly reference comparison for Jacob among the Gopher Internets is current Chicago Bear Brock Vereen, an assessment I largely agree with. Jacob is built like Brock, anticipates the action well and plays under control much like the former 1st team All-Big selection. Vereen was faster and perhaps more versatile, but overall, their games are very similar. That brings me to a discussion about fit in Tracy Claeys' defense: he'll do just fine at safety. Jay Sawvel and Claeys demand a lot out of their safeties, and what Jacob may lack in overwhelming athleticism he more than makes up for with consistency and dependability. He has adequate size and is a sure form tackler.

Julian's tape is a dead ringer for Nick Rallis out of high school. Both have tweener size, love to hit and make plays at the high school level with quickness and being more physical than everyone else. How that translates to the Big Ten is anyone's guess: an outside backer for Bolingbrook, Julian may have to move inside and gain some additional bulk -- much like the path Nick has taken thus far. One thing working in Huff's favor is his kick/punt blocking skill, which in and of itself will guarantee a pivotal role of special teams sooner rather than later. Another reason Huff may be destined for the Mike LB spot is length: he simply doesn't have the height and length that Claeys has talked about as a desired trait for his outside backers (necessary for disrupting passing lanes and defending tight ends).