Ford Sports Performance's elite defensive back camp highlights Washington talent

Ford Sports Performance invited the state of Washington’s top defensive backs to a two-hour practice of 60-70 intense reps on Saturday at Robinswood Park (Bellevue).

The goal was not only for FSP to get a good look at the state’s top secondary talent, but also to simulate the intensity of an actual game to test the athletes both physically and mentally.

“We wanted to get the state of Washington’s top defensive back prospects and rising DBs on the field for the day,” FSP CEO Tracy Ford said. “We wanted to drill them - speed, agility and quickness and overall movement. The whole point of it is to make them tired and see how they compete and perform. Is there mind going to go before their body, or their body before their mind?”

FSP has worked with several college and NFL defensive backs, including Richard Sherman, Budda Baker, Byron Murphy, Taylor Rapp, Kyler Gordon and many others.

Here is the next wave of Washington defensive back talent - with thoughts from Ford:

Alpha Dog: Andre Piper-Jordan (@Andre_jordan3), Federal Way HS (2023); Committed to Oregon State Beavers

“He had a good day. You can tell he’s the leader of the group. He’s one of the older guys that’s out there. When he steps on the field his physical presence… you think, ‘That’s a guy.’ That’s what they look like. He’s all of 6-foot-1, long arms, twitchy, he gets in and out of his breaks smooth. When the guys are in a room, you can tell that’s the guy. You can tell by the way he carries himself and gets to the front of every line. He did that this weekend.”

MVP: Kyan McDonald (@KyanMcDonald1), O’Dea HS (2024)

“Kyan has a boatload of offers, and it shows in the way he plays. He’s super smooth, he’s super efficient. I think he had zero brain farts on the day. He led almost everything and never messed up. When you go first you’re bound to mess up, right? And he didn’t. He had no mental errors the entire day. That just goes with him being super coachable. When you walk out there and watch him, you leave thinking he stole the show.”

Impact Newcomer: Mario Murphy (@MarioJMurphy), Garfield HS (2024)

“I don’t think the world knows about Mario just yet, but he’s going to have offers here shortly - and they are going to come in abundance. He’s big, he’s super ripped up, jacked up. He’s extremely fluid in and out of breaks. He knows what he’s doing and he’s coachable. Especially at FSP, he’s got all the tools to be a part of the long line of DBs that have come out of here. He’s going to get a lot of attention here shortly. When you turn on the film he’s knocking dudes out. When you watch him work out, it all translates. He’s got the body and frame that everybody is going to want to recruit.” 

Next up: D’Aryhian Clemons (@DAryhianClemons), Spanaway Lake HS (2025); Asa Thompson (@asa_thompson5), Eastside Catholic HS (2026) 

Clemons: "D'Aryhian, he's going to be different. He moves different. He's still raw and needs to continue to keep training. He drives an hour-and-a-half there and back to be at everything. He's 100 percent attendance. He's still raw at the defensive back position, but he moves so fluid. When you look at how a kid moves, I'm not saying he's Budda Baker, but he's Budda Baker-ish because of the way he moves. It's different. He comes in and out of his breaks sharp and crisp and he's still raw. His upside is ridiculous. He's special." 

Thompson: "He made a business decision and came to us this summer and has been training and working his tail off. He's going to be a bonafide national recruit. Asa thinks he's a wide receiver, and he can do that. But I think he could make a lot of money on the other side of the football. He's very similar to a Connor Wedington-type in the way he moves and his frame. But I want to push the other side of the ball for him. I want him to go make millions, and he has the possibility of doing that if he continues to work and develop." 

Stock riser: Diontaye Moorman (@Diontaye8), Archbishop Murphy HS (2024) 

"After this fall, if he continues to work, he's going to just get better. He got better throughout the day. He's got the body - he's all of 6-foot, probably 6-foot-1, long arms, goes to a pretty good high school. I think he's one that's going to rise. He showed that he can play with the other guys at this level. It was, 'I'm one of these guys, too.' This weekend he really raised his stock to show he's one of the best defensive backs in the state in his class." 

Mr. Consistent: Hayden John (@HaydenJohn21), Anacortes HS (2023)

"I think the biggest thing with Hayden was that he was consistent. He didn't have a lot of mental errors and he was consistent in everything he did - he was fluid, he was smooth, he caught the ball well, he has good hands. You can tell he's the guy that when things go wrong he gets everyone else in line."

Late bloomer: Wyatt Gordon (@wyatt_gordon8), Puyallup HS (2023) 

"He hasn't gotten any offers yet, which is fine. Everybody is on the fence about him. He made 140 tackles last year, but I think this year he's going to play more middle-of-the-field safety and he's going to show he can cover. He could be a stock riser. He could be that guy. I think he's in line to go Division I."