Last fall as a junior, Northwest Rankin (Miss.) defensive end Wil Freeman used his 6-foot-6 and 230-pound frame to disrupt opposing offenses in several ways. Overall, he had 64 tackles, eight sacks and also used his height to collect nine PBUs and block three field goals.

While his top goal is to always get in the backfield, Freeman displayed that not getting a tackle doesn't mean he wasn't producing.

"I just try to get in the backfield and then get a big stop," said Freeman, who also had three fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles last year. "And if I can't do that, I try to get my hands up and knock down as many passes as I can. You may get blocked well but you can still stop the play."

This spring, Freeman is seeing several schools interested in his talents and ability to provide those skills off the edge.

"I am hearing mainly from Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette," said Freeman. "I am also getting a few letters from Tennessee and Arkansas State."

And Freeman took the opportunity to visit a trio of schools this spring in MSU, USM and ULL.

"It was good to visit those three schools," Freeman noted. "I really like ULL and their coaches and how they are talking about building something good down there. I liked it at Southern Miss, too, and I liked how they stress academics. They have the highest graduation rate among their athletes in the state.

"And Mississippi State was an awesome experience, too. I loved it there and they were really the first school to show interest and send me letters. Their spring game was a lot of fun and I think they could be very good this year. I loved seeing how their defense plays."

Later in the summer, Freeman plans to return to those three schools to get a better look at their programs as well as impress coaches at camp.

"I know I am going to camps at Southern Miss, ULL and I am going to try to make it to Mississippi State," said Freeman. "I will also go to a few camps with my school. All of the schools showing interest want to see me at summer camp so I hope to have a good showing."