Great read. Thanks

http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1462085&PT=4&PR=2

January 20, 2013

The
Rivals.com analysts tackle some questions
about the final rankings process in a
roundtable format.

Coming out of the final rankings
meetings, which player from your region do
you still feel deserved a bigger bump?
...
Woody Wommack, Southeast: The guy I
really like after we saw him perform well at
two different all-star events is Lewis Neal .
The only thing that kept him from making a
big move up the rankings is concern about
where exactly he'll play at the next level. I
think he has the talent to play defensive end
or perhaps a hybrid linebacker position; but
in the end, he didn't quite get the bump that
I fought for because he doesn't have a true
position.

NationalUnderclassmen.com named him a Top Performer of the Shrine Bowl:

... Below are the top
performers as seen by NUC National Analyst
Barry Every.
...
Lewis Neal, DE, 6-1/235, Wilson Hunt
...
Assets: Neal is a versatile athlete that could
either project as an outside linebacker or a
pass rushing specialist in the 4-3 defense.
He is quick off the edge and when blocked
he knows how to get his arms up in the
passing lanes. His overall body structure is
ideal for adding more muscle mass. The LSU
Tigers have a knack for finding speedy edge
rushers.

His arms look huge in his pictures. Here's a similar post made on another LSU forum:

Just for comparison, some Rival stats:
Neal bench 350 squat 500 vertical 32"
Vanderdoes bench 305 squat 500
Golden (A&M) bench 295 squat 505
Pretty much says it all...his legs are probably
like a lot of players being recruited but he
blows away these guys in the bench (arms)
by around 50 pounds. Explains why he looks
so strong on his videos throwing guys
around.
...
He basically
bench presses 50 lbs more than his peer
DL and OL prospects

nice to see a high bench from long-armed
guys. Very strong.

10 months ago, Keith Niebuhr, the Southeast Football Recruiting Analyst at Rivals.com, did an interview with an Ohio State sports publication, The O-Zone, where he said this about Neal:

"he is a high-character kid... a very coachable kid"

Niebuhr got a chance to see Neal in
person at the Rivals.com/VTO Sports Elite
100 camp at Mallard Creek High School
down in Charlotte.

Neal was working with the defensive
linemen at the camp in Charlotte, and that
is really the only position he has played
on that side of the ball in high school.

"He’s quick and explosive off the
line. He gets into the body of an offensive
lineman so quick that it leaves very little
time to react.”

"He’s a very good athlete. ...
He has tremendous quickness at the
snap, which is something that can’t be
measured,” he said.
“There is no combine drill for that. When
the ball is snapped, he is on the other side
of the line before the guy across from him
has even moved.”

Here's what this guy and Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Analyst Adam Friedman had to say about Neal at the Shrine Bowl:

Adam Friedman
Recruiting Analyst
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Last week,
Rivals.com analysts Adam Friedman and
Woody Wommack were in Spartanburg,
S.C., for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas,
which included multiple practices leading up
to Saturday's game. Here are their awards:

TOUGHEST TO BLOCK

Lewis Neal, DE, Wilson (N.C.) Hunt:
Simply put, Neal is a beast. He was easily
the toughest assignment for any offensive
lineman, especially in the game. His size,
strength and quickness at the snap made
him almost unstoppable, and he was
disruptive the majority of the time.

LSU Football @LSUfball 45m
Welcome the newest Tiger: Lewis
Neal! #LSURoar

Shea Dixon @Sheadixon
North Carolina DE Lewis Neal becomes the
first player to send his fax into #LSU .

Welcome aboard, Mr. Neal! Heard a lot of good things about you. We love our defense! I'm sure Chief will do you good.

Like many have been saying, Gerry Hamilton (National Recruiting Analyst for 247Sports) names Neal as the biggest sleeper in LSU's recruiting class

http://247sports.com/Article/Sleepers-heading-to-the-SEC-for-the-Class-of-2013-120695

Class of 2013 sleepers: SEC ... there
are always those recruits that don’t
necessarily get the fanfare that end up being
top-level players at the college level and
beyond. The “sleepers” if you will.

LSU
Lewis Neal, WDE, Wilson (N.C.) James Hunt
- Neal may not pass the eye ball test at
around 6-foot-1 and 235-pounds, but he
certainly impresses with his overall
athleticism and agility. The three-star Neal
not only has a quick first step, but an
understanding of playing with a low inside
shoulder and the feet and agility to turn the
corner. As impressive as his pass rush ability
is his physicality with his hands, and his
ability to turn and pursue.