Jacob Todora
	Height	6-4
	Weight	270
	40-yard Dash	5.2
	Bench Press	300
	Squat	500
	Vertical Leap	28 inches

First-team all-district 9-5A
Second-team All-Collin County
247sports: ***
Scout: ***
Rivals: **
247sports: No. 59 guard in country
Scout: No. 62 offensive tackle in country
Scout: No. 13 offensive tackle in Midland Region
Scout: No. 11 offensive tackle in Texas
247sports: No. 140 player in Texas

Last Year Statistics

Only allowed one sack — in high school career (started all four years)

Strengths as a Player

Jacob Todora is a strong, tough lineman who anchored his team’s offensive line. The Wolverines’ left tackle, Todora is one of those linemen whose personality changes when he steps on the field, helping him to run through (or over) would-be defenders, rather than merely steering them out of plays. He has quick feet and excellent feet, which combined with his strength and technique, allow him to take on defenders single-handedly so the coaches don’t have to help him with a tight end or running back.

Interviews

Wakeland head coach Marty Secord on Jacob Todora:

We’re primarily a running team with some play-action passes — we run a lot of power, counter and stretch plays. Occasionally we would line him up at tight end when we went unbalanced, but that wasn’t to throw him the ball — just creating better blocking matchups. With Jacob, he’s able to set a great edge. His feet are so good, and his hands are so good, that he’s able to run his guy all the way out of the picture … and I can promise you that our running backs appreciate him.

He’s just a dominant player, one of the most dominant in our district. I know a lot of coaches in our district are glad he’s gone.

It didn’t matter who lined up on him — we always felt good that whoever was on Jacob’s side wasn’t going to make the play. He’s tough and very competitive, but he’s also really solid, really consistent. He’s a coach’s dream.

He does kind of have two personalities. It’s funny: when you talk to him, eyeball to eyeball in the office, you think he’s too nice to be a dominant offensive lineman. But when he walks out on the field, it all changes. A lot of schools like athletic offensive linemen who can move, and Jacob definitely can, but he also has that great burst, that explosiveness. He can be an overwhelming blocker. I have been doing this 32 years now, and he’s definitely in the top five offensive linemen I have ever had.

SMU is getting a great player with a huge upside, and they did a great job recruiting him. They got in on him early and stayed consistent with him all along. SMU is a perfect fit for him. His parents won’t have far to drive, and he loved SMU from the first time he visited. He went to games, and they stayed in touch with him. Some schools — Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern — came in and wanted to change his mind, but once he committed to SMU, he never looked back.

He’s good now, but he’ll get better as he grows. He’ll put on 25 or 30 pounds, but it will be good weight — good, lean muscle mass. I can’t wait to see what he can do once that happens.

Jacob Todora on why he chose SMU:

I love the city of Dallas, and I really want to get a job in Dallas when I’m older. I think Coach Morris is bringing a huge change to SMU, and I want to be a part of that. I think Coach Morris is going to push them to the limit, and you’re definitely going to see a turnaround.

I have watched some practices, and Coach (Dustin) Fry is a very good guy. He seems genuine about everything — he tells you the truth, straight-up. He’s different from a lot of coaches, because he doesn’t yell — he actually coaches, he helps, he teaches. It hasn’t been that long since he played, and he relates well to the players.

I knew Nick (Natour), and he told me what a good place it is, how much they love it there. Hearing him talk about it made me want to go there, too.

When I visited other schools, I always compared them to SMU, so I knew it was the right place.

It’s not a good idea to put on weight just to put on weight. You want to shed all bad weight, and then put on lean muscle mass — that’s what I’m working on.