Jamal Peters has a ton of athleticism, and as his skills improve, he could be one of college football's best.
Jamal Peters is one of the top safety recruits in the country. Out of Bassfield (Miss), the 6'3, 200-pound safety looks and hits like a linebacker. His Mississippi Grind team fared well at the IMG7v7 NFA National Championship June 21-22 in Florida, making a deep run but ultimately coming up short.
I chatted with the four-star defensive back throughout the weekend. Peters now has 20+ offers, and has released a top ten. But he got more specific Saturday when reporters asked him about his top five schools.
"I'd say LSU, Florida State, Mississippi State, Alabama, Ole Miss," Peters said, but specified that the list was not in any specific order.
Why does Peters have those schools in his top five?
"They feel like home and give me a chance to play," he said.
Peters recently visited LSU, and the visit caused the Bayou Bengals to become more of a player in his mind. He spoke well of coaches Les Miles and Corey Raymond, who instructs defensive backs. Peters knows LSU has a long history of producing defensive backs. And the school is just under three hours away from his home, though Peters, like most recruits, says distance is not a determining factor in his recruiting.
Peters also will make visits in late June to Florida State and Florida with his mom, who also accompanied him on his trip to LSU.
He is being recruited to Florida State by Tim Brewster, who coached at Mississippi State in 2012. The Seminoles have several connections to Mississippi, with recent players Taiwan Easterling and Dan Hicks hailing from the Magnolia state, along with former Florida State and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Mario Edwards, who is now an assistant defensive backs coach.
Peters is not sure if he will commit before his senior football season, or if he will wait until after he has taken his official visits. He does know that he does not want to be a player who commits and then decommits. He says he did not have a favorite team growing up, and was a basketball player until after the seventh grade. He does try to model his game after former LSU safety Eric Reid.
Peters also will likely take a return visit to Mississippi State in July.