By Trevor Enerson, CycloneFanatic.com Fan Blogger/Recruiting Guru
What he is: To some, Pompey will be seen as the biggest (literally and figuratively) addition to Iowa State’s most recent recruiting class. He is a 6-foot-3, now 319-pound defensive tackle out of Manatee High School in Bradenton, Fla. Yes, that’s the same school as the other Quenton, Quenton Bundrage. He was also ranked by Rivals.com as the 41st best defensive tackle in the country.
What he does: In my opinion, Pompey could play either position on the interior. In high school, Pompey primarily played the three-technique, which allowed him to go one on one with guards. In those matchups, he was dominant. I think if the staff wanted too, he could also be grown into a true nose tackle, although I think he would be much more useful at the defensive tackle position.
Strengths/Weaknesses: Pompey has a lot of the tools that you want in a defensive tackle. He has adequate height and good size already, but has also maintained a quickness that if hard to find in a 300-pound high school prospect. In watching his highlights, I can see that he uses a combination of power and speed to beat his blockers. He does a nice job of not letting guards engage him, allowing himself to maintain space and make plays in both run and pass situations. At times, I would like to see him get off the ball a little quicker and maybe stay a little lower, but I don’t think either of those are things that you don’t find with all but maybe five players at his position. There is certainly a good starting point there in terms of technique.
What’s in store: Like most defensive tackles going to any school, you immediately think that a redshirt is in order. I’m not sure about him. According to the roster at Cyclones.com, Pompey came to Ames at 319-pounds. So unless that is terrible weight, he is certainly big enough to play the position. In fact, he is the biggest that Iowa State has on the defensive line. I think it will come down to technique and since he was here in June and will have some time to brush up, I think that he’ll play this year. How much? I don’t know. Outside of Rump and Jake McDonough, all this team has are question marks. I think that Pompey could go anywhere from playing spot duty and some special teams to being the third guy in the rotation and an outside chance at redshirting. This all assuming his knee is back to 100 percent. In November, Pompey sustained an MCL injury. If that is still not fully recovered, I would think a redshirt is certain.
He looks to me like: I hate to do this but his size and his style remind me of Nick Fairley. I think he could be that type of game changer for Iowa State in three or four years. I’m not saying that he will be as good as Fairley, but I think they have a similar style.
