2026 Derrek Cooper 5* RB/ATH from Chaminade Commits to Texas

[Carolinacane83]

When I was younger, my dad would always say..

There are only two people you can always count on, me and your mother…….and I’m a little concerned about your Mom.

 

[bobbydigius]

Unpopular belief, but for me, he's not. Fletcher has great hands, elite pass blocker. He's underrated and Cooper is a little over.

Just my opinion.

But he'd thrive with us, obviously, due to OL.

I think we severely overrate Fletcher here. Decent back and thats it. Nothing special.

 

[JHallCanes]

I think we severely overrate Fletcher here. Decent back and thats it. Nothing special.

Watching people flip flop back and forth who was better between him and Martinez was peak CIS

The gap was huge

 

[DC3]

How do y’all feel about Cooper as a prospect ? Better prospect then Fletcher and Lyle ?

I like him better than both and can walk into 100+ carries his freshman year.

 

[CaneLife93]

As a RB prospect, how does Cooper rank with other SFL RB's over the past 20+ years?

 

[Damiencane86]

As a RB prospect, how does Cooper rank with other SFL RB's over the past 20+ years?

He reminds me a lot of Kenny McIntosh

 

[JamesQuall]

Watching people flip flop back and forth who was better between him and Martinez was peak CIS

The gap was huge

While not to the same level, it reminds me if the Yearby vs Cook debates. One is clearly better than the other in both instances.

 

[JHallCanes]

While not to the same level, it reminds me if the Yearby vs Cook debates. One is clearly better than the other in both instances.

I just hope Lyle is who everyone keeps trying to tell us he is or we are ****ed

I do think Fletcher will have a good season though. Bad injury to recover from last year having this offseason to just put in work should help

 

[OrangeBowlMagic]

While not to the same level, it reminds me if the Yearby vs Cook debates. One is clearly better than the other in both instances.

I've been very vocal here for 2 years in saying Fletcher is NOT a stud RB1, high NFL pick type player....but I think he's still very good and I'm wondering if we see an even better version now that he's had a full off-season. We have to remember, that foot injury was very up in the air, I'm not sure how much work he really got at all from December until the summer.

I'm intrigued to see how he looks with zero restrictions, and being able to put in daily work at 100.0% for the entire off-season.

While he was definitely not as good as Martinez last year, he did average 5.42 YPC, which isn't bad at all.

Last year, the breakdown was:
Martinez 159 carries
Fletcher 112 carries
Lyle 54 carries
Allen/Johnson 30 carries

I think Dawson and Mario would tell you they really like those types of splits.

So I expect it to be similar this year with Fletcher getting close to 160, Lyle getting close to 120, Pringle getting 54 and CWH/a portal kid getting 30

I think we can win with that. It'd be nice though if Fletcher really is able to improve with the full year of work and Lyle can take a sophomore bump. We'll miss Martinez but I think we can be pretty close to as efficient as we were last year. The Top 3 backs combined for just over 2000 yards and 23 TDs. I don't think it's crazy to expect something very close to that from these Top 3 this year, assuming they're all healthy.

 

[Ya Boi]

I just hope Lyle is who everyone keeps trying to tell us he is or we are ****ed

I do think Fletcher will have a good season though. Bad injury to recover from last year having this offseason to just put in work should help

Lyle worries me at times because he missed a lot of holes (PAUSE) last season and just ran into traffic. That was my biggest gripe about him at times... his vision

 

[bobbydigius]

I've been very vocal here for 2 years in saying Fletcher is NOT a stud RB1, high NFL pick type player....but I think he's still very good and I'm wondering if we see an even better version now that he's had a full off-season. We have to remember, that foot injury was very up in the air, I'm not sure how much work he really got at all from December until the summer.

I'm intrigued to see how he looks with zero restrictions, and being able to put in daily work at 100.0% for the entire off-season.

While he was definitely not as good as Martinez last year, he did average 5.42 YPC, which isn't bad at all.

Last year, the breakdown was:
Martinez 159 carries
Fletcher 112 carries
Lyle 54 carries
Allen/Johnson 30 carries

I think Dawson and Mario would tell you they really like those types of splits.

So I expect it to be similar this year with Fletcher getting close to 160, Lyle getting close to 120, Pringle getting 54 and CWH/a portal kid getting 30

I think we can win with that. It'd be nice though if Fletcher really is able to improve with the full year of work and Lyle can take a sophomore bump. We'll miss Martinez but I think we can be pretty close to as efficient as we were last year. The Top 3 backs combined for just over 2000 yards and 23 TDs. I don't think it's crazy to expect something very close to that from these Top 3 this year, assuming they're all healthy.

I think the total carries will be higher this year than last year.

 

[JamesQuall]

I've been very vocal here for 2 years in saying Fletcher is NOT a stud RB1, high NFL pick type player....but I think he's still very good and I'm wondering if we see an even better version now that he's had a full off-season. We have to remember, that foot injury was very up in the air, I'm not sure how much work he really got at all from December until the summer.

I'm intrigued to see how he looks with zero restrictions, and being able to put in daily work at 100.0% for the entire off-season.

While he was definitely not as good as Martinez last year, he did average 5.42 YPC, which isn't bad at all.

Last year, the breakdown was:
Martinez 159 carries
Fletcher 112 carries
Lyle 54 carries
Allen/Johnson 30 carries

I think Dawson and Mario would tell you they really like those types of splits.

So I expect it to be similar this year with Fletcher getting close to 160, Lyle getting close to 120, Pringle getting 54 and CWH/a portal kid getting 30

I think we can win with that. It'd be nice though if Fletcher really is able to improve with the full year of work and Lyle can take a sophomore bump. We'll miss Martinez but I think we can be pretty close to as efficient as we were last year. The Top 3 backs combined for just over 2000 yards and 23 TDs. I don't think it's crazy to expect something very close to that from these Top 3 this year, assuming they're all healthy.

Definitely agree that he isn’t a stud. I don’t think he’s bad. I think he’s more average-ish to good but thankfully has a great Oline to run behind.

He was good at blocking for Cam and we will rely on him to do a lot of the same for Beck.

I just wish we had more great backs like Martinez because we are going to need them this year even more so than last year.

 

[Marcelo2988]

I think we severely overrate Fletcher here. Decent back and thats it. Nothing special.

I would say he's above average and a future NFL draft pick. I'll never understand our fans always downplaying our talent

 

[bobbydigius]

I would say he's above average and a future NFL draft pick. I'll never understand our fans always downplaying our talent

I’m not disputing this but I don’t think he will be a day 1 or 2 pick. Decent is above average. I think the fanbase’s most fanbases’ problem is that they overplay their talent as well.

 

[Marcelo2988]

I’m not disputing this but I don’t think he will be a day 1 or 2 pick. Decent is above average. I think the fanbase’s most fanbases’ problem is that they overplay their talent as well.

Yea we definitely do but sometimes the hate or lack of patience for a player developing is annoying.

I can see Fletcher going 3rd or 4th round. He'll test faster in the 40 than Martinez did IMO

 

[htownkidd]

Yea we definitely do but sometimes the hate or lack of patience for a player developing is annoying.

I can see Fletcher going 3rd or 4th round. He'll test faster in the 40 than Martinez did IMO

No shot at him running faster than a 4.51 (what Martinez ran). Fletcher will be a day 3 guy, and that’s okay.

 

[ST26]

I think we severely overrate Fletcher here. Decent back and thats it. Nothing special.

Completely disagree- Fletcher is undervalued on this board. A lot of people on here did the same thing with Martinez at the beginning of the season, when folks thought he was overrated and wasn't RB1 material. Last year, Fletcher spent the whole offseason rehabbing from injury and likely wasn't 100% during the season, yet he still had 600+ yards and 9 tds. This is his first full offseason at Miami, so let's see if he can take that next step

 

[bobbydigius]

Completely disagree- Fletcher is undervalued on this board. A lot of people on here did the same thing with Martinez at the beginning of the season, when folks thought he was overrated and wasn't RB1 material. Last year, Fletcher spent the whole offseason rehabbing from injury and likely wasn't 100% during the season, yet he still had 600+ yards and 9 tds. This is his first full offseason at Miami, so let's see if he can take that next step

I’d argue that the contingent that went after Martinez was the pro Fletcher crowd. Fletcher is a decent back who will get his in the ACC. I don’t believe he is a true RB1 and Lyle is better. He does bring certain things you like to the position though and think eventually he is a day 3 pick, maybe even after this year. His lack of agility and vision, are his biggest drawbacks IMHO. When career here is over, I think we will all look back on it as being a successful career all in all.

 

[Trav]

Completely disagree- Fletcher is undervalued on this board. A lot of people on here did the same thing with Martinez at the beginning of the season, when folks thought he was overrated and wasn't RB1 material. Last year, Fletcher spent the whole offseason rehabbing from injury and likely wasn't 100% during the season, yet he still had 600+ yards and 9 tds. This is his first full offseason at Miami, so let's see if he can take that next step

Which was stupid because it was obvious those first few games that hew as consistently running into 8/9 man fronts. When Cam started dicing everyone up and they backed the safeties off, he looked like he did at Oregon St.

 

[fatnasty187]

Martinez was a finished product, time alone he should be better than Fletcher. Let's circle back after he's a senior.

I am not saying anything other than compare Martinez soph year to Fletcher.