Football verbal Zachary Barlev

COMMITTED!!!@CoachKunz59 @BengalFB @EDGYTIM @DeepDishFB @CoachLoefflerBG @CoachSchoonie pic.twitter.com/3qLxrAqDoT

— Zachary Barlev (@Barlev23) July 4, 2020

There's a new football verbal....his name is Zachary Barlev, and he's from Plainfield, IL.  Plainfield is west of Chicago.

Zach is 6'4" and 290 pounds and is listed as a guard.  He is listed as a 3-star on 247 and the #79 guard in the nation.

Zach had an offer from Illinois and Western Kentucky in the FBS.  There were also a number of FCS offers, including Harvard and Columbia, which tells us that he's a good student.  (More on the Illinois offer here)

He made the all-area team and was all-state as a heavyweight wrestler, which I always think is great training for an offensive lineman.

He is the third offensive lineman among our verbals to date.  Coach says the plan is to bring in 5 last year and 5 this year in order to get our numbers up.  The plan would go to a lower number on a yearly basis.

The point is this.  Teams have won the MAC playing a variety of styles, but even the teams with more contemporary offenses had a quality offensive line.  You cannot win without controlling the line of scrimmage.

Welcome to the Falcons, Zachary.