Jesus Machado Jr. is just trying to be a normal 8th grader about to head into his freshman year of high school. He'll be attending Champagnat High School in Hialeah, Florida for the 2016-17 academic year. He'll already stand over his peers though by the time he steps on campus considering he's already 6'1" and 195 pounds.
Machado has a body that more closely resembles an NFL safety, but he plays linebacker and Machado Sr. stands 6'6", which could very well mean that "Little Zeus" could still be growing and turn into the prototypical linebacker he hopes to play at the next level. He already has verbal offers from N.C. State, Iowa State, Michigan State, West Virginia and SEC powerhouse Alabama.
Mike Farrell, national recruiting director for Rivals.com, told Bleacher Report what he likes about Machado and why he is pulling in these offers at such a young age.
"He's a big kid obviously for his age, and he is more advanced when it comes to ball recognition, not just relying totally on his athleticism. What I am seeing is football instincts, football technique and actual football IQ rather than a kid who is just bigger and stronger than anybody else. It doesn't surprise me that he's getting offers."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't shocked by the Alabama offer," Machado's former coach, Travis Thomas, said. "But I just knew that he was going to be one of the top players of this class. Just being around youth football, you know when a guy like this is special. I expected offers to come in after this year."
Thomas also witnessed Machado finish a game with a ridiculous 20 tackles as a 13-year old! Since Champagnat is a private school and teaches sixth grade to 12th, Machado could enroll their for his 8th grade year and play on the high school team. He finished the season with 97 tackles and 12 sacks. The only reason he didn't reach triple digit tackles was because he missed a game due to food poisoning.
If Machado can stay humble and not worry about the recruiting process for a couple years until coaches can really get in contact with him, then he should be just fine. If Machado grows a little bit and fills out his frame more then he could really be something special for whichever school he decides to attend.
