Previously: Last year’s profiles. P Tommy Doman Jr. S Rod Moore. CB Ja’Den McBurrows. LB Jaydon Hood. LB Junior Colson. LB Tyler McLaurin. DE Kechaun Bennett. DE TJ Guy. DE/DT Dominick Giudice. DT George Rooks. DT Rayshaun Benny. NG Ikechukwu Iwunnah. C Greg Crippen. C/G Raheem Anderson. T Giovanni El-Hadi.

Alexandria, VA (via Choate in CT) – 6’8”, 282
[Rivals]		247:               3.76*	3*, 88, #468 overall #47 OT, #3 CT
		Rivals:               3.99*	4*, 5.8, NR overall #25 OT, #2 CT
		ESPN:               3.68*	3*, 78, #75 East, NR Ovr #59 OT, #3 CT
		Composite:               3.82*	3*, .8850, #419 overall #35 OT, #3 CT
		Other Suitors	Notre Dame, VT, UVA
		YMRMFSPA	Andrew Stueber but Long
Previously On MGoBlog	Hello post by Ace.
Notes	Early Enrollee. Twitter.
Film:
Junior highlights (senior year canceled): More Film: Hudl page.

The last two OL were true Go Blue guys. Another OL archetype is someone who doesn’t like to lose.

“Somebody was telling me a story about how he beats his five-year-old in mini-golf.”

So, would a 6-8, 285-pounder really show no mercy to a five-year old?

“I don’t like to lose at all,” Bounds replied laughingly. “That’s probably one of my least favorite things. So, it wouldn’t be surprising if that was something I did at some point.”

That is also the type who pushes 4x4s up hills, or pulls them up hills, or pushes Expeditions up hills. This type also plays basketball, or invents new strongman sports (and lets us know who won).

While Bounds was posterizing gravity, Michigan was missing on tackles. It was a banner year for those, one of those cycles where you have so many Tier 1 options that you kind of sigh when you have a shot at an underrated late riser. Then those Tier 1s started slipping away to LSU, Northwestern, Iowa, and there was no more reason to wait. I mean the guy slaughtered that five-year-old. And he’s 6’8”. And you know Notre Dame’s people are going to find him any moment.

[After THE JUMP: Do you fit in elevators?]

Hang the Meat on the Frame. The first thing you notice about Tristan Bounds is HOLY MOTHERFSHI-- THAT’S A BIG DUDE. The way to say that in recruiting is “Frame.” This is Brian Dohn, 247’s East scout, using the industry lingo to avoid swearing on Sam’s show:

Bounds has the frame and upside that college offensive line coaches are bullish on. He has a great frame with left tackle length, and he slowly added weight while improving his technique during the offseason. He is a tireless worker and smart. …Bounds bends at the knees, and he is able to get out and pull. He has shown an ability improve his athleticism and flexibility since the end of his junior season in workout films he sent me. He is not challenged often with speed around the edge at Choate but his length and his patience in pass protection are assets.

This is Dohn explaining why Bounds fell short of a fourth star:

I thought Tristan, all the time was on the edge of getting a fourth star. He's a kid that I've liked a lot. You can't teach the length. He's got great work ethic. He added very good weight. … And if you look at what Notre Dame likes to take at the offensive tackle spot, his profile fits it. Length, athleticism (and) can move laterally.

Allen Trieu handles the Midwest but drew the “How the class came together” article and for Bounds focused on the HOLY M—I mean Frame:

[Kechaun] Bennett had wreaked havoc on opposing offenses, but one of his toughest matchups was junior year against Choate Rosemary Hall and offensive tackle Tristan Bounds. Bounds was 6-foot-7, 260 pounds at that point with the length and feet to make it tough to run around him. He was strong enough to handle guys trying to run through him as well. He had gone to camps and even run routes and caught the ball at some just for the heck of it, but he was clearly a good athlete with the kind of frame schools liked in an offensive tackle.

The Notre Dame interest meant we got a film review from Tim Prister, who held it together for several paragraphs before going OH, FRAME:

Of course, getting underneath the pads of defensive ends is difficult for Bounds because of his extreme length. He tends to go along for the ride with defensive players as opposed to disposing of them. But that’s not all bad either because most defensive ends will have difficulty getting off his block or around him as he continues to churn his feet. That’s a big frame for an opponent to navigate.

Josh Newkirk did not last so long:

In football the one thing you can’t teach is size and Bounds has it. He’s a legit 6-foot-8, 285-pound frame.

This too was the reaction of people who coached the people playing against Bounds. Brunswick head coach Michael Hannigan:

“Seeing him on the hoof is impressive, because he’s just so massive,” Hannigan exclaimed. “Bounds is lean though, and his weight is distributed very well. He just looks the part of an elite lineman. … “Bounds not only looks the part, but also played the part from snap number one against us. He’s every inch of the 6-8 he’s listed at, and our offensive coordinator asked him afterward if he fits in elevators — he was like ‘no, not really.’

Rivals’ EJ Holland:

Bounds is definitely an upside prospect, but I was really impressed with his build and how far along he is. I would grade him at a high three or low four. Right now, Rivals has him at a low three. …. To me, he looks more like a heavyweight boxer than he does a player in the post — definitely more Vitali Klitschko than Shawn Bradley. I would describe him as lean as opposed to skinny. As mentioned, he's up to 285-290. From a physical standpoint, he's more developed than Jeff Persi was last year, and I see them in the same mold.

Coaches and very serious writers know how to watch their language; not so bloggers. MnB’s Jonathan Simmons:

Listed as 6-foot-7.5 and 285 pounds, Bounds’ frame is by far his best asset as a prospect.

And Lorenz is just reporting how the coaches talk behind closed doors.

Bounds wasn't a tip-top target for Ed Warinner but was close. Michigan did not have to dig deep on their board on this commitment and the staff is excited about Bounds' potential. He fits the mold of how the staff has approached tackle: long, athletic and a frame built to add weight.

November update: Bounds has eclipsed the 300-lb. mark as he's used no fall season to work on his body. He would have had a chance to rise this fall with a senior season of film.

Ring way, way around the rosie and fall down. As you might imagine, a guy as long as Bounds is “very hard to get around.” Dohn told Bound what he needed to work on—agility and bend—to earn a fourth star, and got workout tapes in lieu of senior film.

Bounds developed a lot during and after his junior season, and I was eager to see him in the spring. He sent me workout tapes in the spring that showcased his athleticism and his ability to move laterally as well as bend. He is accurate with his hand placement and his initial punch has purpose. He is able to control the defensive end in the running game because he gets his hands out quickly. There are times he just engulfs defensive ends because of his length.

But this was all cased in “now I have to see it on the field.” Trieu said Bounds had “the length and feet to make it tough to run around him,” and the strength to stop them (think of the cars). It was Prister who had the most fascinating comment about Bounds as a pass protector:

Bounds pass protects with a massively-wide base and a pretty powerful use of his hands. He has a quick jabbing thrust into the opposing player’s chest and outstanding balance. He does not allow defensive players to get into his kitchen with an aggressive use of hands and extremely long arms. In fact, there’s no “lunge” to his game as a pass blocker or run blocker. He maintains a good center of gravity in both areas.

He also noted Choate liked to pull with Bounds, and use his agility downfield:

What you’ll see is a raw run blocker, mainly because of his extreme length that makes it difficult to get underneath the pads of an undersized opponent. But there’s an athlete there, one that also shows up on the basketball court and clearly distinguishes himself fundamentally on the football field, regardless of the level of competition in Connecticut. …

He maintains good balance and even shows the ability to engage in contact in the open field while keeping his weight underneath his pads. Bounds’ balance allows him to stalk block downfield like, well, a tight end. He even shows some quick-twitch ability when a pass rusher changes directions on him off the edge.

That agility is serious against this level of competition. MnB caught a reach block in the wild:

He also pulled clips from Kechaun’s highlights against Bounds’s team, noting “he usually shows a great ability to fight away the defenders’ hands and make them widen their pass rush to keep the pocket clean for the quarterback.” [Clip]

Light as a feather, was stiff as a board. There absolutely were things for Bounds to work on—upper body strength, lower-body strength, middle-body strength—not looking like a tight end. That [bleep] can hold 330 to 350 pounds, and he’s still at just 282 after trying to get to 300 before he enrolled last spring. Dohn had a list.

He has to continue to develop his kick step so he can cover the outside against elite pass rushers. … needs to continue to develop his upper body strength, which is usually the case with long-armed offensive tackles coming out of high school. He does a good job with leverage despite his size but he has to continue to work on sinking his hips so he can stay low and be more physical when driving his legs after being engaged. … Adding strength to his lower body will also aid him. There are times he gets pushed back a little because his base has to be stronger, but he has the ability to recover and still execute the play.

This was a common theme (I’ll use Simmons’s version):

Even when Bounds gets a good target on a defender, I worry about his functional strength. Too often, it’s the defender directing where the pair goes rather than Bounds clearing the path for his back.

There’s also the bend. Dohn:

You just want to see a little more bend and stuff like that. But I think he's a kid that could really develop at Michigan.”

And MnB’s Simmons:

With that size comes some issues. The first is his pad level. Unsurprisingly, it’s tough for a 6-foot-7 kid to consistently bend low enough to get a good enough target on defenders.

And general quickness. Hanningan (the opposing head coach):

“A quicker first step off the ball,” the Brunswick School head man confirmed when asked if he saw any potential flaws in Bounds’ game. “If there is a defensive end coming at him from the inside, that could potentially be the same thing.”

Brandon Brown pointed out that Notre Dame’s Mike McGlinchey was the exact same prospect coming out of high school, and grew into a top-ten pick. That took two years, and McGlinchey was a three-year starter who considered leaving after four.

I had to know. What happens to most 6’8” tackles? I took everyone in the 247 database who was listed at least 6’7.5”, sub-300 pounds, and rated above 3.4 stars (.8350) on the composite. The majority turned to be guys worth taking (yellow) but there was only one other McGlinchey in Kolton Miller.

There was also Jonah Pirsig, who got a lot of giggles around these parts for getting run by so easily. I also noted a few schools—Virginia especially—appeared multiple times. They’ve done well with these guys, and can’t be happy about (Choate and) Michigan taking Bounds off their hands.

Etc. I loved you in Blue Chips.

Why Andrew Stueber but Long? You have to remember Stueber, also from Connecticut, before he was THE HUGE DUDE. Back when Scout.com still was a thing:

…engulfs defensive linemen  … quick off the snap, has a tremendous burst and is strong with his initial punch. … drives his legs well while maintaining engaged on the defender. He can scrape and get to the linebackers quickly, and he has the body control to make the block. … needs to improve his pass protection. … needs to widen his base and sit back more. … needs to work on his kick step. … natural right tackle, but he could develop into a left tackle.

Stueber ended up ranked a titch below Bounds but he’s also an inch shorter. He arrived at 285, redshirted, then was thrown in at right tackle as a redshirt freshman against OSU’s Chase Young and the mercenary ninjas of Florida, and was not a problem. Stueber is now up close to 340 and plays with a nasty streak, and I’ve been advocating for a move to guard because he’s such a mauler, but I have to admit he grades out very, very well at tackle. He is going to leave Michigan a four-year starter.

Add some length and agility to Stueber and you get…Well you get Jake Long.

Guru Reliability: Low-plus. They tried, but Bounds had no senior season and they were already working with a reclassified Virginian who transferred to Connecticut. Rivals went up from a 5.5 (low 3*) to a 5.8 (low 4*) based on ND and Michigan interest plus his workout videos, as best as I can tell 247 debuted Bounds as an 87 (decent 3*) the summer of 2019 and bumped him to an 88 (high 3*) after his junior film and ND/Michigan fight.

Variance: Moderate-minus. Rivals has him a four-star but barely a four-star, while 247 is hovering below that, and explained that Bounds stopped trying to get re-evaluated because he decided he didn’t care.

Ceiling: Vast. Jake Long but longer.

General Excitement Level: High-minus. The little study I did is what did it for me. This is a boom or bust tackle, but with everything in between on the table.

Projection: Holy lock to redshirt, and we’ll let Abigail and Ben go to work. I think El-Hadi is more likely to play early since Bounds has a lot further to go to see the field, but if he can get there, well it’s not often you find a guy with that kind of (children cover your ears) FRAME.