The Best of the WPIAL: 15-11

The Best of the WPIAL is a feature series running through the most highly-rated players from the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League – or high school football in the greater Pittsburgh area for the uninitiated – in the Rivals.com era. Rivals began releasing lists of the nation’s 100 best prospects in 2002 and the Rivals250 followed that in 2006. This list contains only the top 40 players by high school ranking, not college or NFL production.

Western Pennsylvania has always been a cradle to some of football’s most outsized talents and personalities and many of them come within recent memory. You can read the introduction to the series here, and see numbers 40 through 36, 35 through 31, 30 through 26, 25 through 21, and 20 through 16. Below continues the countdown with number 15.

Patrick Kugler came highly regarded out of Wexford (Pa.) North Allegheny in the class of 2013, earning Rivals100 distinction and plenty of scholarships. Notable among the 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive guard’s scholarships were Pitt, Penn State, Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Florida State, but Kugler racked up over two dozen offers before electing to commit to Brady Hoke’s Michigan Wolverines. Kugler came in with strong bloodlines as the son of former Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler, but he has not had as much success as some predicted. While Kugler is projected to be one of the primary reserves on Michigan’s offensive line, he has played in only four games in his career for the Wolverines through three seasons. A strong finish under the new coaching regime could help, but thus far, Kugler has not lived up to his billing as an elite recruit.

Rushel Shell is one of the most prolific football players. in the history of Pennsylvania high school football, regardless of position. Shell set the all-time career rushing record in the Keystone State when he played for Aliquippa (Pa.) Hopewell, running for a mind-numbing total of 9,078 yards in his four years; he also had more consecutive 100-plus yard rushing performances than any player in the nation’s history. Shell was highly-recruited in the high school ranks, earning offers from Pitt, Alabama, Penn State, Ohio State, West Virginia, and many others, but he followed the path of many other Aliquippa natives and stayed home to play for Pitt. From there, things weren’t all roses and smiles for Shell. While he rushed for over 600 yards and four touchdowns for Pitt in his freshman season, Shell quit the football team to transfer out, initially planning to attend UCLA. However, the Pittsburgh native changed his mind and requested to be allowed back at Pitt, but was rebuffed by then-head coach Paul Chryst. Shell eventually found his way to Pitt’s rival, West Virginia, where’s he put up nearly 1500 yards and 15 touchdowns in two seasons. Shell’s path was a long one, but he will have a chance to redeem himself in his senior year for the Mountaineers, as he’s expected to be a feature back in WVU’s offense.

Paris Ford is fourth (but not the last) active recruit to make the Best of the WPIAL countdown. The athletic dynamo from Munhall (Pa.) Steel Valley’s class of 2017 is one of the most highly-regarded defensive backs in the country. He has the athleticism and ability to play wide receiver at the college level if he so chose, but Ford seems destined for a career at safety, where he’ll be deadly roaming center field. Ford, the country’s fourth-ranked safety and number 55 player overall in his class, drew offers from Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pitt, Penn State, Tennessee, UCLA, and many more. Ford, however, chose to stay at home in the Pittsburgh area and follow close friend Damar Hamlin to Pat Narduzzi’s revitalized Pitt program. Ford will have a chance for early playing time from the moment he steps on campus in Oakland.

Darrin Walls was another recruit from the earlier stages of the Rivals.com era, as he emerged out of Pittsburgh (Pa.) Woodland Hills in the class of 2006. Walls dealt with some injury issues in his senior season for Woodland Hills, but his junior campaign was unbelievable. Walls made his bones that year, briefly earning five-star status as he finished the season with an unheard of 30 pass break-ups to pair with his six interceptions and 53 tackles on defense; he added 780 yards and 14 touchdowns through the air and on the ground on the offensive side of things. Walls left the state of Pennsylvania for his college football, and chose Charlie Weis’ Notre Dame program over offers from Pitt, Penn State, Michigan, Florida, and West Virginia. Walls started over 30 games for Notre Dame, racking up over 100 tackles and five interceptions in his five year (Walls missed the 2008 season). Since then, the cornerback from Woodland Hills has gone on to a respectable NFL career, playing with the Falcons, Jets, and beginning in 2016, the Lions. This will be his sixth season in the NFL.

Robert Foster, much like Jordan Whitehead just a few years after him, was a major national recruit from Monaca (Pa.) Central Valley. An explosive and dominant high school receiver at 6-foot-3 and 187 pounds, Foster terrorized high school defenses regardless of where he lined up. As a senior for Central Valley, Foster caught the ball 45 times for 14 touchdowns and 756 yards while adding another 12 touchdowns and 549 yards on the ground. The Central Valley standout had cemented himself as a legend before that, however, scoring six touchdowns between the semi-finals and finals of the WPIAL playoffs as a sophomore and leading his team to the title. It took little time for his recruitment to take off after that: Foster earned offers from Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pitt, Penn State, Tennessee, USC, West Virginia, and many more. He nearly joined Tyler Boyd at Pitt to give the Panthers a pair of Rivals250 four-stars from the WPIAL at the same position in the same class, but Foster elected to roll with the Crimson Tide. Foster’s numbers for Alabama don’t look stellar on paper yet, but there is buzz around the former blue-chip prospect inside the Tide program. Foster’s 2015 season was cut short by injuries after he started Alabama’s first three games and hauled in 10 catches for two scores and 116 yards. Foster’s return will likely be overshadowed by the sophomore campaign for breakout star Calvin Ridley, but the former WPIAL freak is a player who could break out for Nick Saban’s always-in-contention Crimson Tide.