Nevada Preps defensive players countdown — No. 2
Bishop Gorman’s Kyu Kelly comes in at No. 2 on our list of Southern Nevada’s top defensive players.
To create the list, we spoke with coaches from the Mountain and Desert Regions. A couple of the base questions were: “Who is the top high school defensive player today?” and “Who would you pick to start a team?”
Then we grabbed the statistics from last season, looked at the player’s collective rankings on recruiting websites and used our own judgment to fill holes.
Nevada Preps Defensive Players Rank: Bishop Gorman’s Kyu Kelly No. 2
Class
2019
Vitals
6 feet, 1 inch; 155 pounds
Honors
All-State Second Team, All-Southwest League First Team (2017)
Recruiting
Kelly is committed to Stanford. He also had scholarship offers from Arizona State, Boise State, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, UNLV, UNR, Utah, Vanderbilt and Washington State.
Last Year’s Stats
Kelly had four interceptions and 18 tackles for the Gaels.
What they are saying
— “What makes him special he just has that elite speed,” a Desert Region coach said. “When you’re a defensive back and you’re that fast and you make a mistake, if you have the top end speed to make up for that mistake, you’re going to be successful.”
— “He’s long, he’s lean and he runs well,” a Mountain Region coach said. “I’ve seen him kind of work out and just really good feet, good fundamentals. He keeps everything tight and compact. I think he’ll be a kid that just continues to get better and does well at the next level.”
— “He’s very good,” a Desert Region coach said. “They all look good to me.”
— “I think he’s the best defensive back in the state,” a Desert Region coach said. “He’s really fast, comes from good stock, his dad played in the NFL.”
Nevada Preps Defensive Players Rank: Desert Pines’ Darnell Washington No. 3
Class
2020
Vitals
6 feet, 7 inches; 245 pounds
Honors
N/A
Recruiting
Washington also plays tight end for Desert Pines. He has scholarship offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Southern California, Southern Utah, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Utah and Vanderbilt.
Last Year’s Stats
Washington recorded four tackles for the Jaguars.
What they are saying
— “I haven’t seen him in person, but I’ve seen his film, obviously,” a Mountain Region coach said. “It’s no doubting what his ability is and his skill set. I don’t think that kid has hit his ceiling. He certainly deserves the looks he’s getting.”
— “He comes in hard and it’s tough to get around the kid,” a Mountain Region coach said. “You have to be creative with kids like that. He’s a concern to us. We’ll see what we can to but he’s a good player, really talented. He’s got the size.”
— “He’s very athletic kid at 6-7, 250 pounds,” a Mountain Region coach said. “He uses his hands well and has a knack to find the ball.”
Nevada Preps Defensive Players Rank: Liberty’s Kyle Beaudry No. 4
Class
2019
Vitals
6 feet, 1 inches; 205 pounds
Honors
All-State Second Team Defense, All-Southeast League First Team Defense, All-Southeast League Second Team Offense (2017)
Recruiting
Beaudry has committed to UNLV. He also had scholarship offers from Army, Hawaii and UNR.
Last Year’s Stats
Beaudry led the Patriots with 61 tackles and was second with eight sacks. He also caught four passes for 58 yards and three touchdowns.
What they are saying
— “He’s just good at getting to the ball and making tackles,” a Desert Region coach said. “Very good football player. He’s getting a Division-I scholarship. He’s good.”
— “He stepped on the field early in the season last year and was arguably (their) best defensive player over the first four games,” a Desert Region coach said. “He just has a knack for playing his best against the best and I think that’s going to translate well for him as he goes into college.”
— “He’s a good football player. Really good,” a Desert Region coach said. “Big kid, tackles really well. He can run around extremely well. He’s a tough guy to play against.”
Nevada Preps Defensive Players Rank: Desert Pines’ Jordan Butler No. 5
Class
2020
Vitals
6 feet, 3 inches; 310 pounds
Honors
All-State Honorable Mention, Class 3A All-State First Team, All-Southern Region First Team, All-Sunset League First Team (2017); Class 3A All-Sunset League Second Team (2016)
Recruiting
Butler has scholarship offers from Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Southern California and Vanderbilt.
Last Year’s Stats
Butler had 30 tackles last season for the Jaguars.
What they are saying
— “He is a beast. We need to trap him more than we did,” a Mountain Region coach said. “He’s so aggressive and he’s so big and he comes so hard. He gotta find other ways, traps, cutting, whatever we can to get him out of the play.”
— “He’s very talented, explosive,” a Mountain Region coach said. “He’s going to be one of the anchors of (their) defense.”
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