Class of 2025 offensive lineman Rion Gordon is proof that you can't judge a book by its cover. Gordon is a 5-foot-10, 230-pound offensive lineman out of South Carolina. He plays one of the more important positions on the offensive line: center. While he lacks in size, Gordon has shown that he as the ability, technique, smarts, and aggressiveness to be a solid center at the high school level.
Here is the original evaluation that we did on Rion Gordon.
Rion is relentless in pursuit of the ball. He's a real physical presence at Defensive End. He plays hard on each and every down, and always plays through the whistle. His use of sound technique is evident on his film. It allows him to gain the advantage on his opposition. Gordon is quick off the snap of the ball and uses his foot speed and leverage to keep opposing lineman off balance. He enjoys being a disrupter. Once the ball is snapped he's in his opponents grill looking for a way to make play for his team. Whether it's making a tough tackle or forcing a fumble, Rion will make his presence felt. On offense, Gordon is now playing Center where he impacts the play on each down. His sound technique translates to this side of the ball as well. Being physical and leading the way for his team's O-Line. Gordon has put on some muscle of late as well, allowing him to be even more of a physical presence in the trenches. Most impressive, is that Gordon excels at doing the little things right. He prides himself on learning his craft, which leads to having a big impact on game day. - Ryan Oliver
YOUTH1 QUICK MID-SEASON EVALUATION ON RION GORDON
Rion Gordon is listed at 5-foot-10 and 235 pounds. He plays both the offensive center and defensive end positiosn for his Clinton High School football team. He has been named offensive lineman of the week twice this season. Gordon his also his team's long snapper.
Gordon may be undersized but one of the ways he's able to overcome that is by understanding leverage. He understands that the low man usually wins and he also consistently gets good hand-placement in-between the defensive linemen's pads. Gordon is usually going up against bigger linemen but that doesn't matter because he has a strong upper and lower body and is able to do more than hold his own. He doesn't have long arms but he does a great job at extending his arms in pass-protection and gives a compact and stuff punch. He has better than average snap-to-step quickness. Gordon is aggressive and blocks until the whistle is blown. His agility and footwork is good and he doesn't look out of place when going to block linebackers at the second level.
When it comes to double-teams, Gordon does well in those situations. In a few plays with that scenario, the end-result was a pancake. He generates more push thank you think he would as a drive-blocker against bigger linemen. I'm also impressed with his ability to steer blocks into position.
Youth1 will check back on Gordon at the end of this season.
Speak with a Youth1 Recruiting Counselor
Youth1’s Recruiting Counselors are on a mission to educate you on the recruiting process - one that's very competitive and starts early. Let us provide guidance through the most important decisions that shape your athlete's journey in sports.
Learn how to become a recruitable student-athlete, find out what colleges you match best with, and get the ability to message college coaches directly with a specialized recruiting package.
Don't wait, schedule a time to speak with a Youth1 Recruiting Counselor. It's FREE! Just fill out the following information and then select a date and time in the form below.
Ed O'Brien @EdOBrienCFB 2 months ago