Hard-Hitting California Safety Joins Buffaloes Recruiting Class

Colorado has had an interesting run of safeties in the Mike MacIntyre era. The first class obviously paid off, with Tedric Thompson becoming a three and a half year starter and an NFL Draft pick. Then Evan Worthington (then Evan White) was a huge in-state get who has turned into a four-year contributor (after taking a year off halfway through). Nick Fisher is another big piece on the team for next year. But after those three, there are precious few safeties out of the high school ranks for MacIntyre. Afolabi Laguda was a great junior college pickup, as was Kyle Trego, and many of the depth pieces there for next year are converted CB’s or WR’s. This system has been working out fine so far, but I’d love a return to the Tedric Thompson’s or Nick Fisher’s of the world.

Enter Mark Perry. The 6’1, 190 pound bruiser from Rancho Cucamonga High School added a little extra fireworks today and became CU’s tenth commitment. The Southern California product was part of the monster visiting group on June 22nd, and despite scheduling later visits, he saw all he needed to see. The Buffs beat out the Arizona schools and Nevada for Perry, who is the 65th best prospect in the state of California (according to 247 Sports).

Let’s check the tape. Perry is definitely a natural fit at safety. He reads the quarterback well and breaks on the ball HARD. One thing I appreciated is that he plays the ball rather than the receiver. Sure, he blows up a few people in the highlights and plays physical, but the main priority was always making sure the pass was incomplete. He reads run plays surprisingly quick for a high school player, and does a great job sifting through the trash to make the tackle. Perry is a well-rounded prospect who is physically ready to play soon.

Welcome, Mark!