Player Profile: 2017 LB Andrew Frailer

Continuing with the "Player Profile" (if you missed the last one you can click here), the next man up is linebacker Andrew Frailer. Unlike Sampson Niu, Frailer is not from Stanford's back yard, you would actually need to go across the country for about 3000 miles to McDonogh High School in Owing Mills, Maryland.

Before Frailer attended McDonogh, he played for C. Milton Wright High School which is a public school in Bel Air, Maryland. He switched schools because he was a good enough player to play in the private school league. It is like being called up from A to AAA. Yes, I am well aware that I skipped AA, but C. Milton Wright is a small school with no football history. The former coach told me, "There are more runners on the cross country team than the football team." Both of these schools, are around the same area as Gilman High School where 2016 Stanford commits, Dorian Maddux and Devrey Hamilton, attend/ed school.

This year, Frailer had a great season. He racked up 90 tackles of which 13 were sacks. The 13 sacks were apart of his 16 tackles for losses and he ended the season with 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. As a sophomore, Frailer was first team all county and all conference. Some other accolades of his sophomore season were at the state level. He was selected to the state's all sophomore team, he was a state honorable mention, and was dubbed as a top 50 Maryland recruit.

As I was talking to some coaches in the state of Maryland one coach mentioned Frailer, so I looked up his highlights and liked what I saw. He has been gaining interest from colleges such as Duke, Wake Forest, Maryland, Navy, Boston College, Virginia, Purdue, and Uconn. He has also talked to elite academic schools such as Princeton, Harvard, UPenn, and Dartmouth. Out of all these schools, Duke, Wake Forest, and Maryland have been recruiting Frailer the hardest. His former coach, at C. Milton Wright, informed me he will be taking visits to Duke and Wake Forest at the end of this month, where he will most likely receive his first offers.

Speaking with Frailer, I got a feel for what he looks for in a school. He told me he was looking for a university who values "school and football." This schools will be able to "prepare me for my future..." while also being apart of a "great football tradition."

At first glance, Frailer is a tall linebacker. He is 6-2 225lbs which is above average for his height, but he could add some more pounds. He is also another hybrid safety-linebacker and he definitely has the coverage skills to become that safety. Although he has never played defensive back, he told me he would "play wherever a team needed me." He goes on to say, he thinks he is more of "an intelligent player", but is also "very physical." I would have to agree with that because of his ball hawking ability and his effective tackling.

Frailer reads the quarterbacks eyes with ease and positions himself to make plays on the ball. Positioning is an undervalued trait for linebackers. Being able to cut down on the throws over the middle is a key for the defense to sack the quarterback. Either being in the flat or over the middle the linebacker is key in a coverage sack. Along the lines of following where the quarterback is looking is, instincts. They have to be just as good, if not better than his positioning. On the topic of instincts, Frailer told me he studies so much film that he is his able "pick-up on tendencies that each teams have..." This allows him to be a leader on the field by calling out an audible and it also prepares him better for the game.

Other than is coverage skills, his strength is something else to marvel about. Frailer can take on an offensive tackle with one hand and then still use his other arm to bring down the ball carrier. As I said earlier, he could add on some more weight, but he still has another year to do that. His tackling has developed exceptionally because of his strength, but he still has some ways to go. First of all, he has great form which makes tackling almost a sure thing. He lowers his shoulder, but doesn't lower his head, and drives through the ball carrier. The more muscle mass will eventually help him get even more power to jar balls loose.

Andrew Frailer is an underrated prospect who fits the mold to be a Stanford Cardinal. He has the strength, hardworking mentality, the intelligence, and the heart to bleed Cardinal and White. To learn more about Frailer, check out his highlights courtesy of Hudl: