Unless you subscribe to Rivals and have insider access to the Cardinal Sports Report, you probably do not know about former PSU commit Andrew Pryts. He has been an under the radar prospect for the Cardinal. Pryts is a blue chip safety from Hermitage, Pennsylvania and he just flipped his commitment to Stanford. He is the fourth recruit to flip to Stanford, putting their class above the recommended 25 limit to 26 commits.
Ever since PSU defensive coordinator, Bob Shoop, left the program Pryts has been shopping around at other schools. On January 15th, he officially visited campus during the Big Visit weekend. During that weekend Pryts saw what the Stanford brand was capable of when they brought in former Secretary of State, Condelezza Rice.
In the 247sports rankings, Pryts is the 14th ranked safety in the country and the 9th ranked recruit in the state of Pennsylvania. As I mentioned above he is four-star recruit, qualifying him as a blue chipper (term only reserved for four- or five-star recruits). This is Stanford's 9th blue chip recruit in this class. With this commit, Stanford will undoubtedly be the within the top 10 rankings in every major recruiting ranking.
Pryts has the ability to play both of the safety positions. He is quick enough and has the closing speed to be the centerfielder in Stanford's defense and he also has the strength and instincts to be the box safety. Pryts is a smart and knowledgeable player with great awareness on the field. He puts himself in the position to make big plays, through positioning himself in the passing lanes or creeping up in obvious running situation. In the running game he is very instinctive and can turns on the jets in a split second. He is incredibly tough and as seen with his great tackling. He is a monster in the run game, but the passing game is also not too shabby.
When in coverage, Pryts has the length and the speed to cover tight ends one-on-one. He has the measurable and the intangibles, but not the experience. Some people have said that Pyrts played in a zone heavy defensive scheme, so he will need to gain more experience covering one-on-one. He also has great closing speed. When Pryts runs pass and sees where the ball is going he reacts immediately to knock the ball loose. Pryts is a great safety prospect who earned his four-star ranking through his instincts and awareness.
Check out Andrew Pryts's highlights courtesy of Hudl and the updated 2016 class:
