Trent Irwin is one of the best receiver recruits in the country. Find out why in our scouting report.
Trent Irwin is a top offensive playmaker from one of the top football states in the nation, and he's getting serious interest from big-time programs.
Irwin attends Newhall (Calif.) Hart High School, and is projected to play wide receiver at the next level. He is listed at 6'2 and weighs in at 190 pounds.
The wide receiver is a consensus four-star recruit, receiving the rating from 247sports, Rivals, Scout and ESPN. All four consider him among the top 40 wide receivers in the nation, but Rivals is by far the highest on him and ranks him eighth at the position in the class of 2015. The 247sports composite -- which aggregates the ratings of all four major recruiting services -- rates him a four-star, considering him the 19th-best wide receiver in the nation and the 24th-best player in the state of California.
Irwin claims offers from California, Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, Colorado, Indiana and Penn State, among others. His impressive highlight tape can be seen here.
Derrell Warren, West Coast recruiting analyst (@yssd): Irwin is a talented receiver. One of the first things that stand out on tape is his ability to separate deep. Also, he is exceptional in his ability to win on contested throws
Irwin tracks the ball downfield very well. He shows good vision picking up the ball early in flight and shows the ability to come to the ball and fight for it versus defenders. He has the body control to adjust on to off-target throws. Has good game speed and can get on top of corners early in routes, but it's his exceptional late burst to ball that creates of lot of deep separation. Has a gift for being able to accelerate once he whips his head around and picks up the ball in the air.
As good as Irwin is at plucking contested throws, he doesn't allow himself to get matted up with defenders downfield too often. He makes plays on 50/50 balls when the chances present themselves, but creates enough consistent separation that you're not worried about that aspect of his game as you tend to do with a lot of kids who are asked to win a ton of jump balls on tape.
Off the line of scrimmage, Irwin shows really good quickness. He does a great job of "getting skinny" versus defenders and gaining clean releases. This is especially true when he leverages himself inside versus press coverage. He doesn't give defenders a big target area to attack his frame and knock him off of his routes.
Heading into his final high school season would like to see Irwin show a bit more wiggle at the top of his routes. As he is more of a speed cut guy at this stage. I would like to see how he does when challenged at the line by taller, longer defenders who employ better jamming technique.
Though Irwin can separate deep, would like to see him break down his frame at the top of his stem and get in and out of his breaks with more suddenness. That would allow him to create more space on intermediate routes such as curls and 12 yard digs. Improvement in this area would allow him to project better as a featured target in the passing game at the next level. As of right now he shows the most proficiency on vertical routes and in the red zone.