Morgan State's 18-man recruiting class features four junior college players, three Baltimore-area natives, seven offensive players, nine defensive players, one athlete, one kicker and two sons of players Donald Hill-Eley previously coached. The veteran Bears leader spoke to Recruiting Report this week about Morgan's 2012 football recruiting class.

Overall, what do you like about this class?

Well, we knew early on that we had to address some particular areas in our secondary. We had to get some guys in the back end that could help us vs. the Cover 1, which would free us to do some other things. Also, we added depth at linebacker that gives us much-needed depth at the MIKE ‘backer. On the other side of the ball, we’re pretty set with our offensive line and quarterback. We wanted to get guys we could put around those guys, players such as wide receivers and things of that nature. We got some bigger backs to do more downhill stuff. We’re really pleased to get the guys we needed in those particular areas.

On paper, it looks like a fairly well-balanced class. Do you think that it addressed all your needs?

Yeah. You still sit back and look at the talent now, and you try to add depth to our roster. We’ve got the needs out of the way. Now it comes to adding depth. We still have a need at offensive tackle, we still want another receiver, and another safety. Now we’re just looking to hold positions for transfer kids down the line – kids with experience either in junior college or D-1A transfers.

What position group, in particular, were you happiest with?

Well, I guess the biggest position was the linebacker position with [Elandon] Roberts. He gives us a chance to have a guy in there that’s a very experienced young man as a player. He can definitely add depth to that MIKE linebacker position. And also, bringing in kids like [Andrew] Mitchell and [Armonti] Yharbrough, who are great defensive tackles that will help up front. Those two guys, being 6-3 and 6-5, 280 pounds, gives us guys that are not just run stoppers, but guys that are athletic enough that they can pursue the ball and pressure the quarterback on passing downs. And you also have a former local kid in [Lamar] Montgomery. We’re looking for him to make a move from high school and step up right away at the defensive end position.

Then on the other side of the ball, adding [Wesley] Nichols and [Lavar] Highsmith gives us two big every-down backs. Now we have some power guys. We always had these slasher types, but now we’re going to have two guys that are powerful and come in to a situation where they can come down in pass pro and can wear some guys out. The [Thomas] Martin kid is a receiver, a high school kid down in Naples (Fla.) that gives us speed on the outside that we need to stretch the coverage off us. Those [guys are at] positions that can definitely help us. And Taquan Jackson, a linebacker, will do a good job for us. It’s pretty much a good group of guys that we have to get in and make sure they learn the scheme and move forward from there.

You also landed three local guys in Lamar Montgomery (City), Lavar Highsmith (Dunbar) and Jamil Lee (Joppatowne). What do you like about each?

Well in Lee and Highsmith, you’ve got two power runners that can really load up and come downhill at you and can catch the ball out of the backfield for you. We can do some different things with those particular guys. Those guys are every-down backs. They can run the power game for you, get outside, or keep it inside the tackles. On the other side, the kid Montgomery, he’s just a strong defensive end who can rush the quarterback.

Are the four junior college guys ready to compete right away? What will they bring to the table?

Whenever we recruit a junior college guy, we’re saying to ourselves [that he could play]. Not that we don’t have a guy in that position, but that particular guy may need some time to mature. When we recruit these guys, like Yharbrough, we have D-tackles, but we need to be competitive every year [and have] guys that can compete right away and have other guys mature and come along.

Any other recruits that you think can contribute immediately?

[Deshaun] Summers. The thing about Summers and Taquan Jackson is both those guys, I coached their fathers’. Taquan is just a natural corner, a shutdown kid that can run and cover. He’s a great athlete. We’re looking for both of those guys to do some good things for us. Tajghi Robertson, he’s a safety that can do some things to contribute right away. Those are a couple of guys. We try to stay away from playing freshmen unless they can come in and make it happen. But we always feel freshmen are a year away. But last year, with our quarterback, he changed our philosophy. As coaches, now we get those guys and put them in the fire if they’re able to – if they can stand it and make more of a contribution than the guy in front of them. Roberts and [Thomas] Martin could also come in and play as freshmen.

How does this class position you better to compete in the MEAC?

Well, for so long, when you look at the program and look at the team, we’ve been missing – like I tell all the guys, when you go to games, you want the fans to be able to know the kids’ names. They’re the playmakers, making plays every week. With this class, it will give us the opportunity to have some names in that stadium that people are looking for. These particular guys will make plays when fans come to the game. This class gives us a lot of talented guys that are game-changers, guys who should help us win a championship.