Top football recruit Jashon Cornell now healthy and ready to wreak havoc

His numbers wouldn't reflect it, but Jashon Cornell wasn't 100 percent healthy last season.

That's amazing considering how dominant he was at defensive end.

As a sophomore, the young phenom from Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.) wore a cast on his left hand the majority of the season after breaking a bone in his wrist. Even though Cornell was playing at "85 percent," he amassed 52 tackles, 14 sacks, 26 tackles for loss, forced three fumbles and blocked a field goal.

Cornell even missed one of his team's nine games.

"I'd like to see him when he's got two full hands, and as much as people are going to pay attention to him, they're going to see a different cat," Cretin-Derham Hall coach Mike Scanlan said.

Cornell is already garnering a boatload of attention nationwide. Recently, he was named the No. 1 recruit for the Class of 2015 by ESPN, and is ranked No. 19 overall by 247Sports. Cornell was shocked when he heard he was rated the top player in the country.

"I'm pretty young and pretty raw, but I feel like I deserve the No. 1 position because of what I did in the summer," said Cornell, who attended a couple Nike Football Training Camps and the adidas Showcase.

Cornell joins the likes of Joe Mauer (2001) and Seantrel Henderson (2010) as top overall recruits who attended football tradition-rich Cretin-Derham Hall.

Scanlan, who has coached at Cretin-Derham Hall for 25 years and instructed Mauer, Henderson, Chris Weinke and Michael Floyd, was slightly taken aback by Cornell being named the best in his class.

"I get very distressful of kind of universal statements like that, ‘Best in the country,'" Scanlan said. "He's good and he's certainly going to play at the next level, but are there versions of Jashon in California and Florida and Ohio? Probably. But he's good enough for us."

At 6-foot-3 1/2, 245 pounds, Cornell is a fearsome pass rusher. Last season, he played on both ends of the Raiders' 3-4 defensive scheme and constantly wreaked havoc. Cornell's speed off the perimeter is what impresses Scanlan the most. Cornell, who has been clocked at 4.65 in the 40-yard dash, is able to maneuver quickly around tight ends and offensive tackles and lock in on the quarterback or running back.

Scanlan tries to keep defensive alignments simple to allow Cornell to line up where he sees fit; he then can adjust accordingly to what the offense is showing.

"Our needs are best met if we just put him in a spot and let him go. Just let nature take its course," Scanlan said. "When he's out on the edge, he's a tough guy to handle."

Scanlan knows teams are going to account for Cornell more this season and try running away from him. That's especially true since Cornell will be playing at 100 percent.

Cornell dedicated himself over the summer to getting better by attending camps and working out, and he's primed for his junior season.

"It's not like he's not a weight room guy, he's worked hard," Scanlan said. "If you look at him in a tight T-shirt vs. me, you'll see the guy who's getting the scholarship offers. … I think he understands that regardless of what people call him that there's plenty of people with ability out there that are working hard, and he's got to be one of them. You can't just put your feet up and coast."

Offensive powerhouse

Cretin-Derham Hall has produced its fair share of top-notch offensive players over the years, but defensive stars have been rare. Cornell is trying to change the perception of Cretin-Derham Hall just being an offensive powerhouse.

"As much as you hear about our offense, when we've had good teams it's because our defense is getting us the ball back," Scanlan said. "We've had guys that maybe just haven't got the high-profile exposure as the offensive guys. We've had some guys that can play defense."

Speaking of offense, Scanlan believes Cornell can be a weapon at running back or tight end, and might throw him into the mix this season.

"He's just a specimen, and you'd like to find a way to keep him involved," Scanlan said.

"I'm happy with staying at defense, but I actually want get a chance to run the ball sometimes, just to hit some kids," Cornell said. "Just to see how it feels to be on the other side of the ball."

Recruiting circus

Cornell is the most heavily recruited player Scanlan has coached in quarter century at Cretin-Derham Hall.

"But is he the best? I'll take issue with that," Scanlan said. "As good as he is, I'll choose Michael Floyd. How about that for a brave statement? I think Michael Floyd was one of the highest profile guys we ever had. But then let's not forget about (Steve) Walsh, Weinke, and (Matt) Birk. We've been very fortunate, let's put it that way."

Nearly every big-name college is after Cornell, and he's already received offers from 24 Division I schools, including Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, USC, Stanford and California.

"In the spring, I was busy being his caddy as I've been with anybody else — Seantrel Henderson, Michael Floyd," Scanlan said. "Nobody's gotten this much attention this early."

Cornell doesn't have any frontrunners at this point, but he's planning to make some unofficial visits to schools this fall and attend some games.

"It's really early on, but I'm planning on making my top 10, top 15 real soon," Cornell said. "Probably do that in the middle of the season."

Cornell has been soaking up the recruiting process and Scanlan said Cornell's been handling himself very well.

"You always get worried about when the spotlight goes on somebody this young, but he's responded what I would say would be according," Scanlan said.