Columbus’ Daylen Russell is Miami-Dade County Defensive Player of the Year for 4M-3M
The foundation of Columbus’ Class 4M championship in 2022 was its defensive line and no one was more important to the line than Daylen Russell.
It’s why the defensive lineman is the Miami Herald’s Miami-Dade County Defensive Player of the Year for Classes 4M-3M.
“We feel we have a pretty good defensive line,” coach Dave Dunn said, “and he’s the best defensive lineman we have.”
Although his numbers weren’t necessarily eye-popping, Russell influenced just about every snap with his combination of size, speed and quick-twitch athleticism. He finished his junior year with 62 tackles, eight tackles for loss and eight sacks, and was at his best in the 4M title game last month, recording 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and a forced fumble against Apopka.
His sack came on fourth down to force a crucial turnover on downs late in a game the Explorers would eventually win 16-13 in overtime and the forced fumble was a showcase of everything he does well, chasing down a running back from behind on a screen pass.
“We put on a blitz to come from the weak side, which they moved me to that side to force him to the wide side,” Russell said. “We all thought he was going to run for the first, but he was looking for a pass since they were down and I was like, OK, I’ve got enough time to get to him.”
Columbus finished the year at No. 23 in MaxPreps’ national rankings after beating the Blue Darters in Fort Lauderdale.
Russell has been playing on Columbus’ varsity team since the end of his freshman year. Back in 2020, he and fellow defensive end TJ Capers were obvious future stars, but only got to play one game on junior varsity because of COVID-19, so Dunn pulled both up to the varsity team for the end of the year to see how they’d fare against older, better competition.
A year later, both were first-team all-county selections, according to the Herald, and now they’re two of South Florida’s best for the Class of 2024.
While Capers is a five-star edge rusher in the 247Sports composite rankings and already orally committed to the Louisville Cardinals, Russell is still early in his recruitment, with just a handful of scholarship offers from the Miami Hurricanes, Florida State Seminoles and UCF Knights.
At just 6-foot and 230 pounds, Russell is technically a bit undersized, but it hasn’t mattered.
“When you turn on the film, you notice him each and every week,” Dunn said.
Russell credits his IQ, which is important giving the variety of responsibilities he takes on as he moves all around the line.
On any given set of downs, Russell can line up as a disruptive defensive tackle, kick out to defensive end to wreak havoc off the edge and then switch to the other side of the line to exploit a matchup.
“Once I recognize what the play is, that’s when I shift into either pass mode or, ‘Let’s go for the run,’” Russell said.
The next year should be his busiest. He’s now an upperclassman and unquestioned leader at Columbus, and he’ll balance his quest for another state title with recruiting mayhem.
“It’s been good, just been talking a little bit to coaches,” Russell said, “just to see how they feel about me and what I need to work on.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 7:40 AM.