The News Tribune’s 2022 class of Northwest Nuggets – the region’s top football recruits
The News Tribune’s annual presentation of the Northwest Nuggets features the top high school football recruits from the region, who are projected to make big impacts in college and perhaps the NFL.
The 35th class includes nine seniors from Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Six signed their National Letters of Intent during the early NCAA signing period in December, and several have enrolled and plan to participate in spring practices. Two are still uncommitted.
TNT has been producing Northwest Nuggets — the longest-running recruiting package on the West Coast — since 1988 when 24 players were named to the inaugural class. Including the 2022 class, 381 players have been honored, including 246 from Washington, 102 from Oregon, 27 from Idaho, five from Alaska and one from British Columbia.
THE NEWS TRIBUNE’S 2022 CLASS OF NORTHWEST NUGGETS
MALIK AGBO
Todd Beamer (Federal Way, Washington)
Offensive line, 6-5, 320
Signed to: Texas
Truly, one of a kind and a gentle giant. Agbo, who towers over his high school peers, always has a smile on his face. “In four years of knowing him, he’s never had a bad day,” Todd Beamer coach Matt Leamer said. “I’ve never seen him not come in with a giant smile, ready to work every day. … I could talk about him all day long. He’s such a special kid.” He’s loyal, too. He stayed at a struggling Todd Beamer program for his full high school career despite people trying to get him to transfer to various schools around the state. Agbo, who wears a size 19 shoe, moves well for someone his size. Leamer put him at running back occasionally for the Titans. His top highlight? A 50-yard touchdown run (sadly, it was called back due to a holding penalty). “Someone that size should not be able to move like he does,” Leamer said. Todd Beamer also used his talents at defensive end. “The fact that he could play D-end at 330 pounds and set an edge and not give it up — normally, we want a quicker guy in that position. But you’d see him get double- and triple-teamed and he’d still get push or set the edge. It freed up so many guys. It’s just impressive on film to watch it.” Agbo will likely slide inside to guard in college, though he has the skill set to play tackle if he cuts some weight. Agbo is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports, the No. 7 player in Washington in the 2022 class and the No. 21 rated offensive tackle nationally. He chose Texas over offers from Miami, Oklahoma, Alabama and others.
What 247Sports.com National Recruiting Editor Brandon Huffman says: “I’ve told Malik, he’s going to be the next Marcus Spears. If he doesn’t end up on television, it’s going to be a disappointment. He’s one of the most jovial, happy guys in the world. He can play tackle. It’s always fun seeing him play tight end in 7-on-7. But his money will be made as an offensive lineman. I think he will slide in and play guard. (Texas offensive coordinator and offensive line coach) Kyle Flood developed Alex Letherwood at Alabama. I think (Agbo) will be developed really well. He’s a physical guy who moves extremely well for how big he is.”
DARRIUS CLEMONS
Westview (Portland, Oregon)
Wide receiver, 6-3, 205
Signed to: Michigan
Westview coach Ryan Atkinson had an inkling pretty early on that Clemons was going to be a special football player. “I felt like in seventh grade, he was going to be different, for sure,” Atkinson said. “I just had a gut feeling about him when he was younger. … All you had to do was throw it deep to him if you wanted a touchdown. He just kind of wowed us all the way through (high school).” Clemons has legit 4.4 speed, but he’s not a one-trick pony — he’s the total package: size, speed, strength. “The speed helps,” Atkinson said. “His strength is pretty phenomenal. He hit 225 (pounds) 17 times (on the bench press) at Michigan. That’s pretty uncommon for a freshman.” He caught 37 passes for 780 yards and 11 touchdowns his senior season, averaging 21.1 yards per reception. Clemons is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports, the No. 1 player in Oregon in his class and the No. 31 wide receiver nationally. Picked Michigan over offers from Oregon, USC, Penn State and others.
Huffman: “He’s an explosive, dynamic pass catcher. Can adjust to the ball, can make the catch in traffic, gets separation. You can use him in the red zone, he’s got good spring and can go up and get the ball. I think he can bulk up even more. He’s not a chain mover, he can run. He’s a legit 4.4 guy, good top-end speed. He does a really good job coming in and out of his breaks. He’s technically sound as a route runner and pass catcher.”
JOSH CONERLY JR.
Rainier Beach (Seattle, Washington)
Offensive tackle, 6-5, 283
Considering: Washington, Michigan, Miami, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC
The quick feet come naturally for the big man, who grew up playing running back, plowing through defenders on his way to the end zone. Rainier Beach coach Corey Sampson moved Conerly to the offensive line when he was a freshman, and though his technique was raw, his natural ability was obvious right off the bat. “He’s always been the biggest, and one of the fastest kids on the team,” Sampson said. Conerly started to open some eyes during his sophomore year when he neutralized Jason Harrison, a highly touted defensive end from Highley High School in Arizona. “He’s super athletic,” Sampson said. “He can bend, run, pull, he’s smart and he’s really, really violent. I’ve coached some cats that were good football players, but he can really play. He has good hand placement and he’s violent when he gets to you. … He transforms into a whole different person. He transforms into a destroyer. He’s going to intimidate you, trash talk you, be nasty with it. … He’s explosive. He does rare things that people his size can’t do. He’s fast, agile, super athletic, mean, tough. He trains and perfects his craft.” Conerly is considered a five-star recruit, the No. 1 player in Washington in the 2022 class by 247sports.com, the No. 1 offensive tackle nationally and the No. 8 ranked player overall nationally. He holds 30 offers from some of the nation’s top programs. He’s considering Washington, Oklahoma, Oregon, Michigan, USC and Miami. Conerly is not planning to sign on National Signing Day. He’s likely to continue weighing his recruitment and sign a financial aid agreement later in the spring after taking official visits to Miami, Oregon, USC and an unofficial visit to the hometown Huskies.
Huffman: “He’s an elite athlete for his size. He has the frame that you desire in a tackle. Long arms, incredible footwork. He plays with a real nasty streak, a real edge. He’s also very smart and sophisticated. He got offers from every Pac-12 school.”
DAVE IULI
Puyallup (Puyallup, Washington)
Offensive line, 6-5, 315
Considering: Miami, USC, Oregon
It’s probably impossible to have a bad time when you’re around Iuli, who’s always jovial and full of energy. On the football field, he’s got a nasty side that he pairs with immense strength and athleticism. Puyallup’s coaching staff knew immediately they had someone special on their hands. Technically, Iuli was still in middle school when he came out for spring practice with the high school team. It didn’t take long for the team’s senior class to recognize that Iuli wasn’t a typical freshman. “He moved and looked like a varsity player,” Puyallup coach Brian Grout said. “I just knew it then. We had Braeden Bellmer (Columbia University) and Austin Lawrence (Northern Colorado). It was a good group of offensive linemen. They all thought Dave was the real deal from the first time he showed up.” Iuli, who recently decommitted from Oregon after Mario Cristobal left for Miami, is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports and the No. 6 rated player in Washington in the 2022 class. He projects as a guard in college. “He just competes,” Grout said. “He’s really athletic for how big he is. He’s got unbelievable explosiveness for his size. He’s a dominant run blocker. Once he gets his hands under you, he’s hard to shake.” One college coach told Grout Iuli’s frame and skill set reminded him of former UW and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers nose tackle Vita Vea. Miami is considered the favorite to land Iuli at this point, with offensive line coach Alex Mirabal and Cristobal leveraging their existing relationship with Iuli. Oregon, also, remains in the running. Iuli will announce his commitment and sign on National Signing Day.
Huffman: “Just a nasty lineman. He bounced back from an injury that cost him his sophomore year. He was making plays as a freshman. … He’s going to play inside in college, be a guard. He’s got an edge to him. He’s the funniest guy in the world, but he knows when to turn it on.”
COLSTON LOVELAND
Gooding (Gooding, Idaho)
Tight end, 6-5, 230
Signed to: Michigan
Get this: In one game last season, Loveland played nine different positions on the football field for Gooding. On offense, he played quarterback, running back, wide receiver, slot receiver and tight end. On defense, he played free safety, strong safety, outside linebacker and defensive end. “The only time he ever came off the field was kickoff and kick return,” Gooding coach Cameron Andersen said. Everyone knew how good Loveland was, so Andersen and his staff had to get creative to get the ball into the hands of the state’s top playmaker. “Sometimes you have to manufacture ways to get kids like that the ball,” Andersen said. “They’re triple covering him at tight end. … We ran the ball with him like crazy. We ran some zone read, we tossed him the ball, gave it to him on the fly sweep, gave him vertical shots. His football IQ is extremely high.” Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who has an excellent track record of identifying and developing tight ends, probably won’t ask Loveland to do quite that much on offense. Harbaugh, who lifted weights with Loveland while on a recruiting trip in Gooding, adds an intriguing and versatile piece to his tight ends room. “He blocks so well with his hands.” Andersen said. “He’s very physical at the point of attack. He has really good route-running abilities. His junior year, he was our starting corner. He has a knack for the ball. He catches everything and he goes and gets it. You don’t see that all the time — every catch he made was with his hands. He’s got great hands and feet in blocking, really good hip bend and flexibility.” Loveland is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports, the No. 1 player in Idaho in the 2022 class and the No. 10 tight end nationally. He chose Michigan over offers from Alabama, LSU, Utah, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State and others.
Huffman: “The first thing you notice is that he’d be a fantastic player no matter what state he lives in. When you see players in a small town, they may look the part but not dominate. He dominated. You can play him as an inline tight end, flex him out wide, he can play any of those receiver spots. He’s a plus blocker, a matchup nightmare. DBs won’t out-physical him, linebackers can’t run with him. He’s a really good route runner, good ball skills, can get some yards after the catch. Decently elusive in the open field. … Jim Harbaugh is one of the best tight end evaluators in college football.”
JUSTIUS LOWE
Lake Oswego (Lake Oswego, Oregon)
Wide receiver, 6-1, 182
Signed to: Oregon
No one saw his stock rise more sharply last fall than Lowe. Before his senior year began, he only had Big Sky offers after playing his first three high school seasons at Lincoln High School in Portland. In fact, he only started playing football in his sophomore year of high school. He transferred to Lake Oswego ahead of his senior year, joining an offense that gave him more opportunities to showcase his skill set. He did just that, hauling in 42 receptions for 858 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging 20.4 yards per reception. “It didn’t take long to watch him and know that he was gifted,” Lake Oswego coach Steve Coury said. “You could see his ability, speed. He worked his way into it in the right way.” The offers started rolling in, with Oregon State extending first. Offers from Oregon, Notre Dame, Florida and others followed in the fall. “He’s got great athleticism,” Coury said. “He can tweak his body and contort himself to get into all types of weird spots, where it’s like, ‘How did he get to that ball?’ On offense, he’s got great hands, very soft hands. You can’t even hear it when he catches it. He’s just really blessed with so many talents. This was only his third year of playing. He doesn’t really know how to fully play the game. I could see him getting better weekly with us.” Lowe is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports and the No. 2 player in Oregon.
Huffman: “Nobody in the Northwest saw a bigger rise than him. … He can play either side of the ball. He was more of a track guy playing football before he really developed as a football player. He’ll play receiver at Oregon. Shows good instincts, good in his reactions, good ball skills. He’s got all the makings of a really good safety. With his speed, you want to utilize him as a downfield threat.”
TOBIAS MERRIWEATHER
Union (Camas, Washington)
Wide receiver, 6-4, 185
Signed to: Notre Dame
There’s fast, and then there’s Tobias Merriweather fast. Merriweather, who comes from a track family — his sisters Jai’Lyn and Dai’Lyn Merriweather are sprinters at Oklahoma — clocked in at 10.95 seconds in the 100-meter dash in the spring of his junior year (a time that would win a state track title in most classifications most years). That speed makes him a matchup nightmare for opposing defensive backs, who see their cushion disappear before they can blink. “His speed, his burst — his stride is so long,” Union coach Rory Rosenbach said. “He gets up on you so quick. You think you have a 10-yard cushion, then he takes three steps and he’s past you. I think that skill set will translate even better into college when he has guys that can get it out there 60 yards. His length is extraordinary. His physicality, it’s overlooked. He became a really physical blocker, took pride in that. He had that mindset of, ‘I’m going to physically dominate the guy across from me.’” It’s not just speed, though. Merriweather has the total package: Height, length, soft hands and elite route-running ability. It wasn’t unusual for Union players to watch in awe as Merriweather hauled in an unlikely acrobatic one-handed catch during practice or took a bubble screen — which would be a modest 6- or 7-yard gain for most players — 50 yards to the house. Merriweather is considered a four-star recruit by 247Sports, the No. 2 player in Washington in the 2022 class and the No. 14 receiver nationally. He stuck with his Notre Dame commit, signing with the Irish during the early period despite former coach Brian Kelly bolting for LSU. Chose Notre Dame over offers from Michigan and the entire Pac-12.
Huffman: “He’s a long, athletic guy who can stretch the field. He can make catches in traffic. A natural pass catcher, has the length to be a red zone target. … As he continues to bulk up and develop physically, he’ll be an absolute weapon in college.”
DISHAWN MISA
Eastside Catholic (Sammamish, Washington)
Linebacker, 6-3, 220
Signed to: Boise State
Usually when players approach Eastside Catholic coach Dominic Daste and advocate for a specific play or concept to be called, it’s so they can get the ball or be featured. With Misa, it comes from intense film study and his ability to quickly diagnose what he’s seeing on the field. “He might be one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around,” Daste said. “The conversations I have with him and he has with our defensive coordinator are far beyond the level of a typical 16-, 17-year-old. Conversations during timeouts, the information he conveys to us during a series is really valuable. It’s really like having a coach on the field. … Mid-series, if we have a timeout, he knows based on film study and tendencies, he’s telling the guys in the huddle, ‘This is what to expect next,’ just based on the flow of the game, down and distance, etc.” Pair that with good speed and an unrivaled open-field tackling ability and you have one of the region’s top linebackers. Misa, who is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports and the No. 4 rated player in Washington in the 2022 class, chose Boise State over offers from USC, Oregon, UW, Penn State and others, thanks in large part to his relationship with Boise State head coach Andy Avalos, who originally offered Misa when he was a freshman. Misa is the top-rated recruit in Boise State’s 2022 class, which is the top-rated class in the Mountain West. If he adds a bit more weight to his frame, he projects as a middle linebacker in college. “He’s really long, tall, slender,” Daste said. “His wingspan is big. Sometimes, it’s tough for those people to tackle. He’s put a lot of time and practice into it. … His ball skills, he has an uncanny nature to get the ball out, to be around the ball. That has to do with effort. Anytime you’re flying around, that creates good opportunities for people around you. Every one of our turnovers, he was around it or caused it.”
Huffman: “He’s one of the best open-field tacklers I’ve seen in the region in some time. His long length, you could put him as an edge rusher. His ability to read, react and diagnose a play is uncanny. Really high football IQ. You can watch in coverage, if a running backs gets to the second level, that guy is going down. When he bulks up to 245, 240, he’s going to be a problem as an inside linebacker.”
RYAN OTTON
Tumwater (Tumwater, Washington)
Tight end, 6-6, 225
Signed to: Washington
One thing is certain: When it comes to blocking, Otton is going to be as advanced as any true freshman tight end in the country. Tumwater, which has long run its Wing-T offense not just at the high school level but the youth level, doesn’t pass the ball much. So Otton has been honing his blocking skills since he was a little kid, growing up around the T-Birds’ program. He’s the grandson of legendary Tumwater coach Sid Otton, Washington’s all-time winningest high school football coach (394 total wins), and the younger brother of Cade Otton, who just wrapped up a career at UW during which he was named an All-Pac-12 selection in 2020. Ryan, in many ways, is a mirror image of Cade, though he’s an inch taller — something he loves to remind his older brother of regularly — and is a bit leaner. “He comes from a great football family, has a great football IQ and then the potential is just unlimited,” Tumwater coach Bill Beattie said. “He’s a kid that can grow in so many different directions. To me, he’s just a big-time player in waiting. … No. 1, when you play in a system like ours, you better be a doggone good blocker. He does a great job getting off the ball. His reach is incredible.” Otton didn’t have a ton of opportunities in the passing game but made the most of his chances when the ball came his way. “He has great hands,” Beattie said. “He can really corral the ball really well. … A kid with that size, what he keeps learning is how to use that body to his advantage. He puts himself in a good spot to be a physical mismatch.” Otton is considered a four-star recruit by 247sports, the No. 3 rated player in Washington in the 2022 class and the No. 9 tight end nationally. He chose the hometown Huskies over offers from much of the Pac-12.
Huffman: “He has tremendous bloodlines. … He’s bigger and stronger than where Cade was at the same age. In limited opportunities to catch passes, he made the most of the limited targets. He’s a big, physical pass catcher. Phenomenal blocker. In a day and age where we look at tight ends as receivers more than blockers, he has the blocking part down pat. He just needs more opportunities to see touches.”
BEST OF THE REST
S Trejon Williams, Jefferson (Portland, Oregon)
Committed to: Oregon
S Tristan Dunn, Sumner (Sumner, Washington)
Committed to: Arizona State
DE Emar’rion Winston, Central Catholic (Portland, Oregon)
Considering: Florida, Oregon
WR Tao Johnson, Thunder Ridge (Idaho Falls, Idaho)
Committed to: Utah
OL Vega Ioane, Graham-Kapowsin (Graham, Washington)
Considering: UW, Minnesota, Penn State
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
