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          On The Trail

          Sights and sounds: The Opening Oakland

          • Erik McKinney, ESPN Staff WriterMay 23, 2016, 01:29 PM
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            • Covers recruiting in the Pac-12
            • Joined ESPN in 2009
            • Graduated from USC
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          EL SOBRANTE, Calif. -- The Northern California stop on The Opening Regional tour saw nine players invited to The Opening Finals and four quarterbacks earning spots at the Elite 11 Finals.

          Running backs Najee Harris and Salvon Ahmed, cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Alex Perry, tight end Colby Parkinson and defensive linemen Hunter Echols, Marlon Tuipulotu, Jay Tufele and Greg Rogers will take part in The Opening Finals in July.

          As for the quarterbacks heading to the Elite 11 Finals, held in Los Angeles, June 3-5, Michigan commit Dylan McCaffrey, Alabama commit Tua Tagovailoa, ESPN 300 quarterback Jack Sears and Jake Heaner were all tabbed.

          Harris, the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect and an Alabama commit, was phenomenal from the beginning, and authored one of the plays of the day during a one-on-one drill between running backs and linebackers. Harris is a recruit that a number of schools are keeping an eye on, as the Crimson Tide commit is anything but a lock to stick with Alabama. Cal, Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA, USC and Washington are just a few of the schools showing interest.

          Both McCaffrey and Tagovailoa threw the ball well all day, with both taking advantage of a very talented group of tight ends.

          Tagovailoa committed to Alabama this spring, but said Sunday that he still plans to take all five of his official visits.

          Three ESPN 300 tight ends were in attendance, with Jimmy Jaggers and Josh Falo joining Parkinson. Stanford tight end commit Tucker Fisk and Erik Krommenhoek, who has seen his recruitment increase dramatically in recent weeks, were also there. Parkinson and Fisk give the Cardinal an opportunity to continue their strong run at the position.

          Tufele, Tuipulotu, Rogers and Echols were standouts along the line, and all four could be headed to the Pac-12. Echols is committed to UCLA and Tuipulotu was a huge recruiting win for Washington. USC is in the mix for Rogers and Tufele, though Utah could be tough to beat for Tufele and Cal, Oregon, UCLA and Washington will push for them as well.

          Ahmed had a nice weekend in the Bay Area, as the nation’s No. 103 prospect took a visit to Stanford before competing on Sunday. The No. 10 running back worked out at cornerback during the event, but said the Cardinal want him at running back. He was able to spend time with Christian McCaffrey and said the Stanford staff told him he would be the only running back in this class if he were to sign.

          Fellow defensive back Jaylon Johnson also had a huge day, taking home defensive back MVP. He was also the fastest man of the day, running a 4.49 in a four-way sprint-off between the four fastest players.

          Sears has as many eyes on him as any prospect in the region, as he is the top-rated uncommitted pocket-passer and picked up recent offers from UCLA and USC. Sears said he is still working on narrowing his list, which he hopes to finalize in the next few weeks and then visit, “two or three schools and go from there.”

          Sears said he doesn’t know of any schools that will make that final group at this point, but he hopes to make a commitment in early July. He added that he won’t look around at any other schools after making that commitment.