SI All-American Watch List: 7 Purdue commits and 7 key Boilermakers targets named

Top 10 position rankings start this week; preseason SI99 out in August

Quarterback Sam Jackson headlines seven Purdue verbal commits and seven other rising high school seniors considering the Boilermakers who are candidates for the 2020 Sports Illustrated All-America team.

Jackson, 5-11 and 170 pounds, compensates for his lack of traditional size with elite quickness and overall athleticism. Though most dangerous as a runner, the Naperville (Ill.) Central High School star also boasts the arm talent needed to threaten all three levels of defense through the air.

Listed below is the full breakdown of Purdue verbals and prime targets on the SI All-American watch list. 

VERBAL COMMITS

OT Jaelin Alstott-VanDeVanter/6-7, 260/Mooresville, Ind.

CB Brandon Calloway/6-2, 175/Griffin, Ga.

QB Sam Jackson/5-11, 170/Naperville, Ill.

OG Zach Richards/6-3, 300/Mooresville, Ind.

DE Khordae Sydnor/6-5, 230/New Rochelle, N.Y.

WR Preston Terrell/6-3, 180/Brownsburg, Ind.

ATH Bryon Threats/5-10, 190/Dublin, Ohio

TOP TARGETS

LB Emile Aime/5-10, 205/Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

LB Andrew "Bam" Booker/6-3, 220/Cincinnati, Ohio

LB Yanni Karlaftis/6-3, 205/West Lafayette, Ind.

S A.J. Kirk/6-0, 200/Dublin, Ohio

ATH Marquael Parks/5-9, 160/Orrville, Ohio

OT Joshua Sales/6-6, 285/Brownsburg, Ind.

RB Cam'Ron Valdez/5-10, 187/Rockdale, Texas

More than 1,000 student-athletes, representing every state in the country, are SI All-American candidates. Video highlights, scouting analyses and a list of each player’s college verbal commitment and/or top college contenders can be found on their bio pages, broken down by state, at SIAllAmerican.com.

Over the coming weeks, SI will unveil its preseason top 10 for each of 14 position groups (kicking off with quarterbacks this week). SI will unveil its initial top 99 ranking, the SI99, on August 24.

The evaluation process will continue throughout the season “until the list of 1,000 contenders coalesces around just 25 young men who can say proudly they are the best of the best -- they are Sports Illustrated All-Americans,” said SI Director of Football Recruiting John Garcia, Jr.

The candidates will be narrowed to 250 in October and 99 in November, and will culminate with 25 first-team Sports Illustrated All-Americans saluted at SI’s annual Sportsperson of the Year banquet in New York in December.