There was a notable cringe when Washington’s director of player personnel Courtney Morgan offered a couple of seemingly off-the-radar Detroit defensive linemen shortly after his arrival in Seattle.
”I’ll be honest, at the time I thought, ‘really, in Michigan’s and Michigan State’s backyard? Why didn’t those schools offer them?’,” recalled RealDawg.com high school recruiting analyst Trevor Mueller.
Much like the Parker brothers, Washington’s offensive lineman commit Davit Boyajyan missed a significant portion of his high school career due to Covid lockdowns.
“I didn’t start playing football until my freshman year. Then I didn’t play my sophomore season so my first varsity snaps were my junior year,” the North Clovis offensive lineman said. “It was a bit frustrating the whole process.”
The ignored messages to coaches, the low-ranking—the everything. It tested his faith.
”I’m a Christian and I believe that God put me in this position for a reason,”Boyajyan said. “It’s a blessing to be in this spot.”
That didn’t mean that he doesn’t have doubts about his future, but he focused on the positives that he would bring to a team.
There’s an advantage that Davit sees with the limited playing time.
”I feel like I’m healthier now than a lot of kids my age,” Davit said. “There’s not as much wear-and-tear on my body.”
There’s not much film on him either.
And that’s where Courtney Morgan’s eye for talent come in.
“I can see what Courtney likes. Physically, Davit is every bit a Power 5 starter checking in at 6-5 and a shade over 300 pounds,” Mueller said. “Watching how he moves I had to remind myself that he’s over 300 pounds and packs a considerable punch”
One reason he appears to be light on his feet is that he’s 25 pounds lighter after making better dietary decisions in the off season.
Even so, like the Parkers, there wasn’t much buzz around Davit’s recruiting.
The twins had few offers. Jayvon had an offer to Grand Valley State and Armon had one from Illinois. And both had walk-on offers from Michigan State.
Before his visit and subsequent commitment last month, Davit picked up a pair of offers from Sacramento State and Fresno State.
At 1506th overall, Davit is considerably higher-rated than the Parkers coming out of high school. Armon was the higher-rated of the two, ranked 1742nd player overall. Jayvon was 83 spots lower overall and the 250th best defensive lineman in the 2022 recruiting class.
However, Parkers created a considerable buzz in Spring Football and Fall Camp this year. Expecting to hear the names like Tuli Letuligasenoa or Ulumoo Ale, multiple offensive linemen commented that Armon and Parker were going to “be a problem” for offenses.
In fact, in last season’s Apple Cup Jayvon picked up his first career sack—not bad for a true freshman, recruiting afterthought . Due to injuries, Armon hasn’t appeared in a game yet.
Seven games into his senior season Davit has helped Clovis North to a 7-0 record.
RealDawg.com will look at the rest of Davit Boyajyan‘s journey in Part Two tomorrow.
