AUSTIN, Texas — Does an official visit picture forecast the future position for Willis athlete Jermaine Bishop Jr., who signed with the Texas Longhorns last Wednesday?
When the dynamic 6’0, 160-pounder
made his way to the Forty Acres in June, he took a video and multiple pictures with the Jim Thorpe award, given annually to the nation’s top defensive back.
Maybe it’s not worth reading too much into, especially after head coach Steve Sarkisian indicated on Early Signing Day that a decision about whether one of the most productive wide receivers in Texas high school football history will play offense or defense hasn’t been made yet ahead of his January enrollment.
“We’re going to have to get a sense and a feel for him. He has the ability to do either. I’m not so consumed with, is he better at one than the other, but somewhere in his heart, which one is it going to be for him? We’re going to give him the opportunity to do that, and I’m going to give my honest assessment,” Sarkisian said.
As a head coach, Sarkisian has experience with two-way standouts after coaching John Ross at Washington and Adoree’ Jackson at USC. When Ross was a true freshman, he primarily played receiver while serving as a nickel back to play man coverage on third down, but wanted to play on offense and ended up becoming a first-round draft pick at receiver. Jackson wanted to play cornerback and also grew into a first-round draft pick after spending five to 10 plays per game on offense under Sarkisian. Both players made an impact as return men.
“The good thing for me is it’s not totally foreign to me,” Sarkisian said.
The certainty for Bishop is that he’ll have a chance to become an impact return man, too, though he’ll have to wait behind star specialist Ryan Niblett to start his career.
An incredible performance in a playoff win over Forney illustrated how difficult it will be take the ball out of Bishop’s hands — the Willis product accounted for 15 receptions for 328 receiving yards and three touchdowns, seven carries for 19 yards and a touchdown, and 2-of-3 passing for 42 yards. Bishop added a 39-yard punt return and a game-sealing interception.
When Bishop’s high school career came to a close in a regional final loss to DeSoto last weekend, he had two receiving touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and a passing touchdown, pushing his career totals to 55 receiving touchdowns and nearly 5,000 yards through the air.
“Obviously, he’s an electric player with the ball in his hands. The guy scores touchdowns like that’s what he does for a living,” Sarkisian said.
Bishop’s defensive abilities are no less impressive with 17 interceptions, 13 tackles for loss, and close to 200 tackles over his career at Willis.
“You watch him play DB and he can guard people and he’s physical and he can play the game,” Sarkisian said.
But will Bishop’s tackling ability translate to college at 160 pounds, a listing that may be generous? Does it make sense to take the ball out of his hands because of how dangerous he is as a receiver?
Wherever the nation’s No. 5 athlete ends up, it’s hard to argue with Sarkisian’s qualifications to make an informed decision after seeing Bishop practice for the Longhorns.
“It’s a good problem to have when we can recruit a player of his caliber. We’ll find our way through it,” Sarkisian said. “The good thing is, like I said, this isn’t totally foreign to us — we’ve been down this road before.”
