22 hours ago, Mr. Sixer said:

Guess it just depends on what your definition of “Best” is. Benke is extremely good at what he does and is an exceptional player on a very good team. 
However, IMO Austin Alexander is the best player in NKY. What he does on BOTH sides of the ball speaks for itself and judging by the high level FBS offers he has and continues to receive, college coaches agree. 
Again, absolutely no disrespect to Benke as he is a serious problem for every team and as I’ve stated earlier in the year, he certainly deserves even more attention than he’s getting but Alexander is #1 in NKY and probably in the top 3-4 in the State. 
Everyone has their opinion and that is certainly ok…..

Ok I watched a couple minutes of highlights of the Cooper guys and wow they are good. 

I think if I was coaching and had to win a state title with the nky guys, I’d go:

1. Austin Alexander 
2. Willie Rodriguez
3. Cam O’Hara (yes I know only a soph, but what an explosive thrower) 
4. Clay Hayden

The two highlands guys are very close to them imo and are probably the 2 best ball carriers in the area. 

8 hours ago, CCHFC said:

Ok I watched a couple minutes of highlights of the Cooper guys and wow they are good. 

I think if I was coaching and had to win a state title with the nky guys, I’d go:

1. Austin Alexander 
2. Willie Rodriguez
3. Cam O’Hara (yes I know only a soph, but what an explosive thrower) 
4. Clay Hayden

The two highlands guys are very close to them imo and are probably the 2 best ball carriers in the area. 

Rodriquez has 11 catches for 235 yards and 15 tackles. Not sure he would be 2nd. Alexander struggled mightily on defense vs. Highlands. 66 rushes with many right at him and only 7 tackles. In my opinion you need a multi dimensional QB to win it all. 3 and 4 aren’t that. As everyone has mentioned, hard to pick a “best” player. 

3 hours ago, FirstTimeLongTime said:

Rodriquez has 11 catches for 235 yards and 15 tackles. Not sure he would be 2nd. Alexander struggled mightily on defense vs. Highlands. 66 rushes with many right at him and only 7 tackles. In my opinion you need a multi dimensional QB to win it all. 3 and 4 aren’t that. As everyone has mentioned, hard to pick a “best” player. 

Who’s going to be the one to tell him? ? 

15 minutes ago, TheRedTiger said:

Who’s going to be the one to tell him? ? 

3 hours ago, FirstTimeLongTime said:

Rodriquez has 11 catches for 235 yards and 15 tackles. Not sure he would be 2nd. Alexander struggled mightily on defense vs. Highlands. 66 rushes with many right at him and only 7 tackles. In my opinion you need a multi dimensional QB to win it all. 3 and 4 aren’t that. As everyone has mentioned, hard to pick a “best” player. 

Alexander “struggled mightly”?? For the record, he had 9 tackles with 2 of them being tackles for loss after many times being double-teamed or ran away from. If that’s your definition of struggling you clearly have incredible expectations of how many tackles he was suppose to have. There’s not a coach who wouldn’t take those defensive stats against that offense. Additionally, I see you cleverly failed to mention the damage he did on offense with 13 receptions for 169 yards. Guess he struggled on that side of the ball too by your standards. 
 

As I’ve said previously, it may be a matter of opinion who people think the best player is and that is ok, but if you’re going identify a player as “struggling mightly”, be accurate and report ALL of the facts. 
 

 

6 hours ago, Runcible Owl said:

Duh. My bad on Hayden. He did win won last season. 

15 hours ago, FirstTimeLongTime said:

Rodriquez has 11 catches for 235 yards and 15 tackles. Not sure he would be 2nd. Alexander struggled mightily on defense vs. Highlands. 66 rushes with many right at him and only 7 tackles. In my opinion you need a multi dimensional QB to win it all. 3 and 4 aren’t that. As everyone has mentioned, hard to pick a “best” player. 

Stats don't equal ability at the receiver/TE position as it is really opportunity based. Rodriguez's combination of YAC, deep speed and blocking is pretty unique. It's not his fault he doesn't get more targets and doesn't get to pin his ears back and get after the QB on defense as an edge rusher.

AA's highlights are insane. He's going from dominating a guard as a 3 technique to splitting out as a backside X receiver and winning on a slant or a fade the next play. He reminds me of Kam Butler who was 1st team all state at CCH and then played at Miami and UVA, except with 125% of the athleticism. 

With the QBs, Benke isn't a multi dimensional QB either and would certainly take the two I listed over him. He's athletic and a load to tackle, but the two games I saw him vs CCH he really struggled as a passer and with reading defenses. I think Hayden and O'Hara are a clear tier ahead. 

As one of the great philosophers of our time says "to be the man, you gotta beat the man."  AA and O'Hara are excellent players, but pump the brakes here a little.  If they were the "best," the results would be different.

10 minutes ago, James Graham said:

As one of the great philosophers of our time says "to be the man, you gotta beat the man."  AA and O'Hara are excellent players, but pump the brakes here a little.  If they were the "best," the results would be different.

Hmmmm.. With that logic I guess Rodriguez is "the man".....

2 hours ago, James Graham said:

As one of the great philosophers of our time says "to be the man, you gotta beat the man."  AA and O'Hara are excellent players, but pump the brakes here a little.  If they were the "best," the results would be different.

Pump the brakes? Uh, ok ???

I mean, if we're considering all things here, Highlands is the team they are because of their OL and DL play. Benke is an absolute stud. No question about it. But every game I've seen of theirs, his first contact is 5+ yards down the field. I'm sure Benke thanks them every day. They are going to be a tough team to beat.

Benke just received an offer from Wofford College!

Austin Alexander gets my vote.

5 minutes ago, Redheat said:

Austin Alexander gets my vote.

Precisely. Has done well on both sides of the ball. Benke benefits from having a really good offensive line. But Alexander is doing it at a high level on both sides of the ball. 

I would expect a UK offer in the next few weeks for Benke!