UK football picks up 3rd 2010 commit: GA RB Raymond Sanders

Scout.com is reporting that Raymond Sanders, a 5-7 170 lb running back out of Stephenson High School in in Stone Mountain, Georgia, has become UK’s 3rd commitment in UK football’s class of 2010.

I’ve written this week about UK’s lack of commits at this point in the year, so it’s nice to bump up to three.  However, Sanders is not the kind of highly rated player that UK is making  a point to target.  He’s unranked by Scout and ESPN grades him out as a 69.  He committed to UK with offers from East Carolina, Air Force, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, and Toledo in hand and had been in contact with Alabama.

Here is ESPN’s evaluation of Sanders:

While undersized, Sanders has good foot-speed and quickness as projected skill player at the next level. Shorter frame is well-defined and tightly-wound/quick-twitched giving him deceptive strength on contact. He projects to be more of a change-of-pace, scat-back type or a corner on defense. He is shifty with the ball in his hands on offense showing good stop-start skill sidestepping and jump-cutting the first defender through the hole. Runs with his eyes and often sees the small creases open quickly and can change speeds to knife through. Feet are always moving allowing him to break a good amount of initial contact through the second level. Can be slippery to wrap up. Displays good top-end speed and elusiveness in the second level. However, he is not very explosive and displays marginal running power. Durability is a concern as he will take more direct shots in college. We like his lateral footwork and hips but he tends to dance at times and take wasted east-west steps instead of getting north. Does not project to be a fulltime runner at the next level and more a change-of-pace, complement back in the spread offense where he can take advantage of his skills as a space player. May end up getting a look at corner as he displays the feet and hips to effectively mirror in off-man coverages and the speed to matchup vertically. Sanders is a prospect who would be more on the recruiting radar if he had a bit more size.