Tall on Talent: Six local Blue Chippers

Kavario Middleton and Everrette Thompson are among the big names atop a stack of six Blue Chip recruits in Washington, but it's the depth and breadth of this year's class that has football recruiting analysts raving.

How stacked is this year's state crop of seniors?

One recruiting analyst thinks 50 from the state might sign with Football Bowl Subdivision schools (formerly Division I-A).

Chris Fetters has been a football recruiting analyst in the state of Washington for a decade, and he likes what he sees this year.

"This is as strong as I've seen it from top to bottom," said Fetters, Northwest recruiting analyst for Scout.com.

The Seattle Times' annual compilation of the state's top 100 recruits, which is divided into Blue, Red and White Chips, underlines the amount of talent available. Not only will major colleges be able to replenish their rosters, but there is plenty of talent left over for schools in the various lower strata of the college football universe.

"We have some guys who normally would be getting attention from smaller schools within the state and they aren't getting much attention," said coach DJ Sigurdson of South Kitsap in Port Orchard. "That leads me to believe that the state has a lot of good football players this year."

Recruiting classes are remembered for how many major-college standouts and quality starters they produce. Recruits can't be judged until at least three years from signing day. Feb. 6 is the first day that high-school seniors can sign letters of intent for football.

The closest anyone in this class comes to wearing a can't-miss label is Middleton, a tight end-defensive end from Lakes High School in Lakewood, near Tacoma. Middleton, likely to play tight end for the Huskies, is No. 29 on Scout.com's list of national recruits.

"Even though I think Kavario is the cream of the crop, I still think this class is going to be remembered for how deep it was," said Fetters. "I think it will be remembered for producing a lot of good players rather than two or three exceptional ones. In our national rankings, we have eight players from Washington in the top 300. That's impressive."

Ron Siegel, who has followed high-school sports in the state since the 1950s, noted, "This is one of the best years ever for linemen in the state."

Last year's class was shy on linemen. "It's kind of cyclical every other year," Fetters said. "The '09 class won't have a lot of linemen, yet 2010 looks strong."

What this class lacks is a national phenom such as Jonathan Stewart in 2005. The running back from Timberline High School in Lacey was ranked the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation by ESPN and chose Oregon. After living up to expectations with the Ducks, Stewart is entering the NFL draft one year early.

This also isn't the supernova year for headliners that was 2006. That class featured current Washington quarterback Jake Locker (Ferndale), USC safety Taylor Mays (O'Dea) and Michigan lineman Stephen Schilling (Bellevue). All three had their pick of schools from coast to coast and are already starters.

The class also lacks a staple of most years, a Blue Chip quarterback. Last year Oak Harbor's Marshall Lobbestael signed with Washington State and redshirted last fall.

The Times' Top 100 Chip List is compiled from observations and dozens of interviews with coaches at various levels. Sportswriters from around the state are consulted and the rankings by Rivals.com and Scout.com recruiting Web sites weighed.

Players are evaluated on their college potential, and many all-state players don't make the list.

Blue Chip players are considered capable of Division I stardom. Red Chips are capable of being starters in a major conference such as the Pac-10 or stars in conferences such as the Big Sky. White Chips fill out the top 100 prospects in the state.

Of the six players designated Blue Chip by The Times, four have given verbal commitments to become Huskies.

Joining Middleton at Washington will be wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, his teammate at Lakes; Thompson, a speedy defensive end from Kennedy of Burien; and Alameda Ta'amu, a 340-pound offensive lineman from Rainier Beach.

Two Blue Chip linemen are headed out of state. Bellevue center David DeCastro chose Stanford. Offensive lineman Nick Cody from Hockinson in Brush Prairie (suburban Vancouver) will play at Oregon.

The Huskies also have commitments from nine Seattle Times Red Chip recruits. The Huskies' incoming class, which also includes out-of-state commitments, is ranked No. 8 nationally by Scout.com and No. 23 by Rivals.com.

The six Blue Chips ties with 2005 for second most this decade, behind the 2004 class that had eight but didn't come close to meeting expectations.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com