Defensive coordinator Tom Mason (photo by SMU athletics).

The 2013 version of National Signing Day has come and gone, and classes and individual players have been scrutinized, criticized and canonized … often by people who are not trained evaluators of talent and have never recruited a single player for any school.

SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason has recruited plenty of players throughout his career, which has included stints at Fresno State, Boise State and his alma mater, Nevada. At SMU, Mason said the job he and the rest of the staff face is not only to acquire the most talented players possible, but also to manage the roster so that when top players graduate, there will be players ready to step in to those roles because of talent and enough experience to let them perform.

“You have to try to balance the roster so that you don’t have a big drop-off anywhere,” Mason said. “When you graduate kids, you have to have that next group ready to play. We feel like we have had that, especially on the defensive line and at linebacker. Look at this year’s linebackers: we graduate some really good ’backers in JG (Ja’Gared Davis), Taylor Reed and Cameron Rogers, but we have got Randall Joyner and Kevin Pope ready to take over in the middle, and we know how good Stephon Sanders is. Now we just have to get guys like Jonathan Yenga and Robert Seals ready to play, but they’re coming. We’re stacked deep enough at linebacker that the kids we recruited this year project to play in 2015 or 2016 or even 2017.

Defensive end Zelt Minor is so polished as a pass rusher that he could end up getting on the field as a true freshman, according to SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason (photo by Lamar HS).

“It’s the same thing on the defensive line. We’re losing a lot of experience and a lot of production there, with Pitt (Torlan Pittman), Kevin Grenier, Margus Hunt and Spike (Aaron Davis), but we feel good about who we have coming back with Beau Barnes and Darrian Wright, and Zach Wood was more highly recruited than any of them — he had about 18 offers. Now we’re doing the same thing in the secondary.”

Mason offered his thoughts on the defensive players in SMU’s 2013 class:

LB Carlos Carroll: Carlos has good speed, and he’s a good, instinctive player who’s going to get a lot stronger. His high school had him playing defensive end out of necessity, but he’s going to be a handful at linebacker when he gets to 235, 240, 245 pounds. I really like his football instincts. He rushes the passer pretty well, but he also made interceptions — as a defensive end — and took two of them back for touchdowns … The thing people don’t realize is that San Diego State and another couple of schools like that came in late and tried to sign him, but he told them no, because he was committed to us, which just backed up what we knew about him having great leadership and being a high-character guy. He’s a very good student, too — just a solid kid … He kind of reminds me of Cameron Rogers. He may be just a little bit more athletic, but Cameron was pretty athletic, too. Carlos could easily be a guy like a Cameron Rogers or a Pete Fleps: a tough, smart, hard-working guy who is going to be in the right position to make plays.

S Myles Crosby: Everyone is talking about Myles’s modeling career, but this is one heck of a football player — I really like this kid. I think he has got a lot of upside left, and any time you talk about a safety who goes 6-foot-4 and can run … you can work with that. He plays downhill — he’s tough, he’s aggressive, he’s really physical. He’s one of those guys who is just always around the ball, making plays. He and Shakiel Randolph are both tall safeties, but they’re not the same player. Shakiel is a little more rangy, but this kid is a little more aggressive. He’s got a lot of (former SMU safety) Bryce Hudman in him — just a great athlete who can do a lot of things, which lets us do a lot of things. We can leave him in coverage, we can blitz him … whatever we do, he’ll really hit you.

Mason said Trey Washington of Gilmer could play cornerback or receiver ... or could grow in to a safety (photo by Gilmer HS).

CB Everett Dickerson: This is one of the guys June (Jones) might try at wide receiver — he’s that caliber of athlete, so good that he can play a lot of different positions. We probably were helped by the fact that he got hurt and didn’t play a lot in his senior year. We did a lot of evaluating off his junior (season) film, just like most schools do, and he was really impressive. I think there were probably some schools that wanted to see him again this year, and when he didn’t play as much, they went in another direction, and we’re glad they did, because he can really play. That’s one of the pitfalls of recruiting a kid as athletic as he is — if you don’t offer him after his junior year, you’re probably not going to get him. He’s a pure cover corner who can really run, but he’ll really hit you, too — that’s probably why they played him some at safety. He’s one of those multiple athletes who can play a lot of positions, and he’s tough, too. It seems like a lot of those East Texas kids are pretty tough. I don’t think I have ever had a kid from East Texas who wouldn’t hit, and Everett certainly will.

DE Mason Gentry: He really reminds me more of Taylor Thompson when he came out of high school (than Margus Hunt, to whom Gentry has been compared by several). He’s more advanced in his knowledge of the game — he has only played one year, but he has had more exposure to the game than Margus had when he got here. He had seen it before … One thing I like about him is that if you watch his tapes from last season, you could see him getting better every week. At the beginning of the year, he was a big guy who was pretty lost, but by the time they got eliminated from the playoffs, he was already a pretty good football player, and he’s going to get a lot stronger and a lot better as he plays more. A lot of schools rushed him late, trying to get him to change his mind (about where he was going to college), but he stuck with his commitment to us … One thing we do is we look at what we think a player’s ceiling will be, and we think his ceiling is sky-high. Until this year, he was a baseball player, and he has never really spent much time in the weight room, and he’s really athletic. I think he could end up being as good as any defensive end I have ever recruited. He has already got SEC size, and he could get to 290 or 295 pounds. If it turns out he can’t play defense, he could be an NFL offensive tackle — he’s that athletic … but we feel good that he’ll be really good on defense.

CB Nate Halverson: I thought he was one of the top athletes in the state of Oregon. His high school coach played for me, and he said I had to see Nate, and he was right. I think he’s one of those kids who, no matter what you do with him, he’s going to be good … We really like those track guys, guys who have speed and really use it on the field. Nate’s one of those guys — he was the state champion in the 200 … He’s another guy who I wouldn’t be surprised to see June try at wide receiver — I might not ever see him on defense … He has similar athletic ability to (fellow Grant High School alum/SMU teammate) Kenneth Acker, but he really reminds me more of Sterling Moore. When we got Sterling, we didn’t really know what we had. I didn’t know he’d make it to the NFL — at the start of his senior year, I still didn’t know he’d make it to the NFL, and then he had all of those injuries. But Sterling has that really cerebral personality. He and Richard Crawford made it to the NFL because they are smart football players, and Nate is the same kind of player. That’s who this kid is — he’s going to study and he’s going to know his opponent inside and out. He’s going to know their tendencies and how to take advantage of them … Being here for the spring semester, and for spring ball, is huge. He’s already going to go through the growing pains that others will have to go through during two-a-days. With spring and preseason, he’ll have about 45 practices before his first game. It’s almost like he won’t be a freshman at all.

Mason called DB Nate Halverson one of the best athletes in the entire state of Oregon (photo by Grant HS).

NT Spencer Hollie: He played a lot of defensive end in high school, but I assume he’s going to be a nose tackle for us. He’s the size of an SEC defensive tackle, but what’s really impressive about this kid is his feet — he has great feet. He was what (on his official visit to SMU) … 6-4, 310? That’s what Alabama plays with, those 6-4, 320-pound guys. It’s unbelievable how well he moves for a guy his size … His dad played at SMU, also on the defensive line, and I think his dad really wanted him to come here … What a lot of people don’t know is that some other schools tried to get in on him. Spencer wanted to come to SMU, and when we offered, he accepted. But Stanford came after him late, Oregon came after him late. He had some big-time schools that wanted him to change his commitment, but he didn’t. He wants to be a minister and he likes SMU’s theology school, and when you add that to the fact that his dad wanted him to play here, we were able to hang on to him … He’s also a hell of a basketball player, too. You’ve got to see this guy move to believe it. I don’t know that he needs to lose weight — if he can move, he can play at 310 or 320 and really be a force in there.

LB Nick Horton: Nick can do a little of everything. He can play inside linebacker or outside linebacker. He’s another one of those guys who played defensive end in high school because they needed him to, but he is exactly what we look for in a linebacker, and honestly, he could play inside or outside for us — we’re not sure yet … He’s another one of those kids who missed a lot of his senior year because of injury, and I think he really would have blown up if he had been healthy. Honestly, it would have been hard to hold on to him, because he would have had a lot of schools going hard after him … Those Garland kids are just so tough. You know those kids are going to work hard and they’re going to be physical, and this guy can run, too — we had him at 4.53 (in the 40-yard dash), which is really fast for a linebacker. I think I’d like him to play where Taylor Reed is now, but again, we don’t know yet. That’s going to come down to numbers … He’s a high-impact, high-motor, high-effort guy who just fits what we look for in linebackers here. That’s why we’re “Linebacker U.”

CB Cedric Lancaster: He’s the kid other teams stopped kicking off to. You know that guy who’s so dangerous that once other teams realize it, they just don’t take the chance of getting the ball in his hands? He’s that guy, and that’s something we haven’t had a lot of in the last couple of years, so I assume he’ll be in the mix on special teams. I think he only had one kickoff return when he took it for a touchdown (Lancaster had eight returns during his senior season). He’s a big-time threat in the return game, and on defense, he’s a pretty good bump-and-run corner. He’s not very big, but he has long arms, and that really allows him to play a little bigger than he is. He’s able to get his hands on guys, and he also can reach slightly higher passes than you might respect, too … He’s a highly competitive guy, and he’s just a great athlete, a guy who can do it all. He’s a press kid who likes to bump and run, and he can run with anyone.

CB Ty Law: He’s a good, solid cover cornerback. He can play offense, too — we’ll see where he ends up — but I like him on defense. With that name, he has to be a good defensive player, right? … He greyshirted last season, and I think it’s really going to help him. He’s a little stronger than when we signed him (in 2012), and he’s going to have five-and-a-half years. A lot of guys want to play right away, of course, but in most cases, the chance to greyshirt is really big. He’ll know exactly what we’re doing before we get started in the fall. He’ll be more mature than the other freshmen when we start up in the fall.

Mason said defensive end Mason Gentry of Plano West could have the highest "ceiling" after playing football for just one season in high school (photo by Plano Star-Courier).

DE Justin Lawler: This guy is the 2A player of the year — not for his district or region … for the entire state. You think about how many high schools there are out there, and he beat out a hell of a lot of players for that award. He’s one of these small-town kids who plays three sports. Because of his size, and because he hasn’t spent every year training for football all year long, he’s another one of those high-ceiling guys. He has a huge frame, and I see him being 270 pounds or so and still being able to run … When I first started coaching, I was coaching I-AA football, and we couldn’t recruit the top kids that the big schools were after. We’re a lot closer to that now, but we still have to find some guys who nobody else really considers. Everyone can identify the high school All-America kids — you don’t have to know anything to pick those guys out. But when you look at the success we have had with guys like JG (Ja’Gared Davis), Taylor Reed, Torlan Pittman, Kevin Grenier — guys who were under the radar and ended up being good players — we feel really good about that. Projecting guys to grow and develop is kind of a lost art, but when you look at Justin and watch him play, he has the height, the body frame, the size to be a heck of a football player, and he has that speed — you can’t teach speed. When you find a big guy who can run, a lot of times, you take him no matter what school he came from.

DE Zelt Minor: We think this kid’s going to be a big-time football player. He has got the full package. He’s strong, fast and aggressive, and he uses his hands really well … Honestly, Zelt could play any defensive line position for us. You look at him, and he’s about 275 pounds now, so he should get to 300 — easy. You never want to say before they get on campus who’s going to play right away, but when you watch Zelt play … yeah, I would think he can play this year. He’s just a great athlete and really athletic. He’s a Big 12- or SEC-type of defensive lineman. It’s hard to hold on to kids like this. The big programs go and see guys like this and they realize that they can play anywhere in the country, and we think Zelt can play anywhere. He had a lot of offers, and he would have had a lot more if he hadn’t committed. There were some really big schools who wanted to get in on him late.

DB Jesse Montgomery: I really like this kid. His dad played in the NFL, and Jesse has a lot of that ability. He’s really talented and runs well — he’s a good track kid … He’s one of those tall corners who can run. He could grow in to a safety, depending on how much stronger he gets and how much he fills out … He was committed to New Mexico, but I think his mom wanted him to stay closer to home, so that really helped us. He had a good relationship with Coach Phillips, too, which also helped us … His film wasn’t out that much, or I think he would have had a ton of offers — you don’t find a lot of corners out there with his combination of height and speed, and everyone is looking for guys like that. If he had been at Allen High School or something, where everyone would know about him, everybody would have been after him. He’s a Big 12-caliber player, a really tall guy who can run and jump. He kind of went under the radar, I think, and by the time some schools realized how good he is, they had filled up.

S Darrion Richardson: Darrion’s a big, physical safety, a really good safety. You watch him on film, and he’s just really productive, a very physical kid who fits what we look for in a safety … I kind of compare him to Chris Banjo and Jay Scott — they’re pretty similar players. Chris was a little more physical and Jay might be a slightly better athlete, but they’re both smart guys who can do a lot of different things. Darrion is the same way — he’s a smart player who can do a lot of things. He can cover, he can hit, we can blitz him. Getting him is like getting more than one player, because he can do so many things.

CB Trey Washington: Trey’s a really interesting kid. He’s about 6 feet, 160 pounds, and he’s another East Texas kind who is a really quality athlete. He could end up being a wide receiver or a defensive back, and he’d probably be pretty good at either position … He has the size you look for at both positions, and if he stays on defense, he could play corner or grow in to a safety. He’s also extremely smart. He really knows offense and defense, and that will help him when he gets here, no matter which side he plays on … Gilmer is a really good football team, a team that puts out a lot of good college players, and Trey’s going to be the next one. He has a lot of upside to him — he’s a really headsy player.

Mason said cornerback Cedric Lancaster makes up for his lack of height with long arms and elite speed and athleticism (photo by Lamar HS).

I agree with June (Jones, who said on Signing Day that the 2013 class is SMU’s best since Jones and his staff were hired), because we not only got talented players, but we added size and speed. We got big, rangy kids up front who can run, both linebackers are big kids who can run, and we added a lot of length and speed in the secondary. This group really fits what we look for, from a defensive standpoint. You can’t evaluate a class for two or three years, but right now, we’re excited. We really think this is our best class.

You have to look at the overall athleticism of this class. How many guys did June talk about who could play different positions? There are a lot of guys who could play receiver or DB, some linemen who can play on offense or defense. A lot of guys do that in high school because they’re the best athletes on their teams, but to be able to do that at the college level is an entirely different thing, and we feel like we got a bunch of guys who could do that.

I think the closest call was Zelt. Every team in the country is looking for pass rushers, and he was a great pass rusher this year — him or Mason Gentry. TCU wanted him bad (as an offensive lineman), Colorado State wanted him. If defense doesn’t work out for him, I think he could be an NFL offensive tackle. Same thing with Spencer Hollie — if defense doesn’t work, what would he look like as an offensive tackle or guard? Pretty good … but we feel really good about those guys on defense.

The highest ceiling? That’s hard to say. We got a lot of guys who we think can get better — a lot better. I’ll say Mason (Gentry). Watching the progress he made from the first week of the season — that was the first time he ever played football — to his last game, it was incredible. He was a completely different player. At the beginning of the season, he had no idea what he was doing out there, but by the end of the year, he was a pretty good football player, and we think he’s going to get better — a lot better.