With high school scrimmages kicking off across the state on Friday, BadgerBlitz.com enlisted the help of Rivals.com's Clint Cosgrove to help break down the top rising juniors from Wisconsin.

The following quotes have been edited lightly for clarity.

Offers: Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin

From Rivals.com's Clint Cosgrove:

"Turn the film on for Donovan, it is very impressive. This is a big, thick body who is extremely athletic. He plays hard and gets after people. He gets into people and you see the nasty and he finishes the blocks. The kid is already on the ground but he wants to punish him. He can cut off one defender and work to the second level. He’s great at blocking in space and I really love his run-blocking ability.

"Pass-blocking, I’m not sure where he’s at right now - that is going to be the thing he has to develop the most. I think he does have some position versatility - he plays tackle in high school, obviously. But the thing you like is that he doesn’t stand straight up all the time. You see him do that side step to work to the second level. He’s got great feet and he’s extremely athletic. There’s not a lot of guys who can do that at this size at the high school level. No matter the level of competition, to be able to move like that - both laterally and getting out of his stance, the twitch and the nasty - he’s a Wisconsin-style lineman. You see why he has all the offers that he does.

"What I want to continuing seeing out of him is to continue coming to our camps and competing against top-level competition. He’s very raw right now but the twitch, the flipping of the hips, getting around and getting his hands on a guy and getting him to the ground… he just flashes levels of greatness.

"You can see that he’s being coached up, it’s just that he’s raw and relatively young. We forget that these kids are sophomores in high school, but there is a lot to like about Donovan and you can see why he’s blowing up. I think he’ll continue to, especially if he continues to develop. If this guy becomes as good as he has the ability to be, he has a chance to be a very special player."

Offers: Boston College, Central Michigan, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Purdue, Syracuse, Tennessee and Wisconsin

From Rivals.com's Clint Cosgrove:

"The hard thing with running backs is that there’s a lot of them out there and there’s a lot of talented guys in the south, the southeast and the west coast. When it comes to rankings, we’ll have years that don’t have a five-star running back. It comes down to position value, but you look at (Smith) and the dude is rolling. Look at his leg turnover, and then for a guy to have that straight-line speed after that lateral cut, that could have been a TFL (looking at film). He makes a guy miss and usually you have to make a guy miss in the backfield, and that gives time for the second-level defenders to at least get in place to be able to wrangle him up and get in front of him. But his speed and his explosiveness is just so great - he just splits it up the middle.

"I’d argue that he’s faster in football pads than he is out of them. And then you see him run down the field and catch the ball with his hands… he can do it all. He can line up in the slot if he wanted to. The way he hits the edge and carries it high and tight is really impressive.

"You look at his field vision and you look at his burst, speed and just multi-faceted skillset - his vision and the breaking tackles… he can stop on a dime and get to full speed right away. He does have pretty good size. He’s a little different than some of the backs that Wisconsin has had in the past, but he does have the frame. He’s going to continue growing but he brings a skillset to the running back position that we haven’t seen out of Wisconsin in a long time. And that says a lot because there’s been some good running backs.

"I love everything about this kid. He makes people miss in the open field, he runs hard, his vision, his lateral quickness. Guys with that straight-line speed… That 11-flat (100-yard dash) speed can be concerning when it comes to a national recruit as a running back, but he’s just a sophomore."

Offers: Iowa State, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin

From Rivals.com's Clint Cosgrove:

"You can talk about the frame and the size, but he’s only a sophomore and this is a big growth period. One comparison - and I’m horrible with comparisons - but when I look at his film, I kind of think of Will McDonald, the kid who went to Iowa State from Wisconsin. This is a kid who can rush the passer, come off the edge and he can bend. They have a similar skillset and to see his ability early on… he’s got the intangibles on the field. He understands the game and it’s going to come down to development. I’m a fan of his ability and his upside. The rankings as we progress will reflect that.

"My original worries about him were obviously size and how big is he going to get. And then can he play in space and can he play in coverage? Is he just going to be a guy who can rush the passer? Or is he a guy who can play in the curl, in the flat and also rush the passer - that true rush end who can drop into coverage. You look at the overall athleticism and the motor - the motor stands out and you can not teach that. Also the bend off the edge when he is rushing the passer… he has a chance to be special.

"The teams that have offered him have seen him in person. He explodes through contact, he bends and he has that want-to ability. It’s just going to come down to how big is he going to get. He does have some thicker lowers to him and I love the way that he celebrates with confidence after he goes and just destroys the quarterback. He’s playing with technique and he stays lateral, moves lateral and stays connected. He got rid of the blocker, sees the ball carrier and he did it all with his eyes in the backfield and seeing what is around him instead of burying his head. So he sees progression as far as technique and how he’s been coached. The motor and the bend off the edge, there’s just so much to like about him. If this kid fills out, he can be an absolute beast."

Offers: Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Syracuse and Virginia

From Rivals.com's Clint Cosgrove:

“He’s got that prototypical tackle build that is hard to find. So the second you see a guy like that who has some athleticism and has some twitch in his feet, you automatically think tackle because those body types are hard to find - the guys who do have that twitch and size. Athletically and the way he plays, his highest upside might come as an interior guy playing guard.

"Some of the things that you really like about him… you start with foot speed and the way he gets moving out of his stance. He snaps up. The one thing he really works on is that he plays high and he can bend at the waist some times. What you also see is that when he gets in his stance, the playing high and bending at the waist - to me it’s more of a habit that needs to get broken than it is from lack of ability. You do see him bend, and when a lot of guys are this tall at the high school level, they are playing against guys who are much shorten than them, especially is Wisconsin. So it can automatically make them look like they are bending at the waist because they actually have to get down and on top of guys. The biggest things he needs to work on is obviously bend and just the overall body control, because when you do play that high you can get away with it when you’re as talented and big as he is at that level. At the college level it will slow you down. That lateral movement won’t be as fast and he’ll struggle with the speed and power against big-time defensive ends in those cases.

"At the same time, he has that great lateral foot quickness and he does a great job of reading the defenders. He’s got some nasty to him and you see him throw guys (on film). I love how quick he gets out of his stance and out to the corner on that pull. But at the same time you’d like him to get lower and explode through contact and maybe not go one for one. When a guy doesn’t go one for one, he can take out a guy and move to the next level. That’s a trait that you’re looking for in an offensive lineman.

"I really like a guy that size to have his feet and his twitch and really get into people and show a little bit of nasty - I would say those are his biggest traits right now. The thing I like the most about him right now is his upside, natural ability and size. You can’t teach that and I’m going to continue to evaluate him, but I think he has a chance to be pretty good."

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