Byron Cowart was considered one of the best recruits in the 2015 class and was ranked as a top-10 player in that class. It sounds like he might have overrated. That's how Marcus Tatum tells it anyway and compares him to a guy he lined up against in high school. Jachai Polite is going to be a freshman on Florida's campus next year and could be a huge defensive presence that Cowart was supposed to be for Florida before he flipped to Auburn to play for Will Muschamp while he was still there.
Tatum took on the challenge of blocking Cowart at a camp in central Florida and has had to defend Polite in practice at Daytona Beach Mainland. Tatum claims that the matchup with Cowart paled in comparison to his battles in practice with Polite.
"I never faced anybody better than him," Tatum said of Polite. "Jachai is way better than Byron Cowart, by a lot. I went against Byron when I was a sophomore at the UCF camp and I was kicking his butt on a sprained MCL. I played right tackle and he was this big-name guy.
"When I go against Jachai, it's a different story. He's got better moves than Byron, better pad level, better speed, everything. In that same camp, things just clicked for (Jachai) and he was dominating. That's really when he started becoming a beast."
That's some serious praise for the incoming freshman and a lot to live up to if you're Polite. USC coaches told Polite that he could be "the next Leonard Williams" who was taken sixth overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.
[h/t SEC Country]
