Isaiah Chambers Discusses Top 10: Where Will the 4-Star Sack Specialist Land?

Houston's Isaiah Chambers hears the stories from other defensive ends. He'll attend combines, camps and various events and listen to players reminisce about their memorable football seasons.

He hears them—and then he'll think about his season.

What Chambers did during his junior year at Aldine MacArthur was borderline mesmerizing. The 4-star talent, who recently announced his top 10, finished his junior year with 21 sacks, according to Angel Verdejo of the Houston Chronicle. What makes Chambers' sack stat even more impressive is that he did it playing Class 6A ball, Texas high school football's largest classification.

Chambers' list, in alphabetical order, includes Baylor, Houston, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and Washington.

Where does that stack against some of the well-known stars of the defensive line during their junior years of high school? Ole Miss' Robert Nkemdiche had 18 sacks his junior year. Houston Texans defensive end and former South Carolina star Jadeveon Clowney had 23 sacks and followed that with 29 ½ his senior season.

One of 10 schools will land a player in Chambers who has all the tools to be college football's next great sack master. Ranked as the nation's No. 6 strong-side defensive end, per 247Sports' composite rankings, Chambers is an athlete with great size, legitimate speed off the snap, a high football IQ and an ability to make plays.

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I want to thank every school that offered me a scholarship ! But I want to narrow my list down to these 10 schools ! pic.twitter.com/mxQ8vwKrXD

— Isaiah Chambers (@esta_guapo) June 14, 2015"

"I think I play the pass pretty well," said Chambers, who measured in a 6'3 ½" and 258 pounds at The Opening Dallas regional in March. "I had 21 sacks playing Texas 6A ball; that's where the competition is going to b higher. I know they've got good ball in Florida and California, but playing Texas 6A ... to me, it meant a lot."

In addition to his 21 sacks, Chambers also had 78 tackles (32 for loss), four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for Aldine MacArthur last season. He said narrowing his list to 10 from 27 offers was tough, but he's very comfortable with his list.

"There was a reason why I took so long to hold off," Chambers said. "I kept putting schools in and taking schools out. It was kind of hard, because so many schools could have gone in. It was hard to weed good schools out, but I'm happy with my 10."

Chambers said his 10 includes schools that were the most relentless in recruiting him. He said he was able to build solid player-coach relationships with his recruiting contacts, and he feels he can fit in at any of the locations.

"The coaches that were recruiting me, a lot of times, they didn't even talk about football," he said. We talked about what the school could do for me and made sure I stayed on top of my grades. They went into detail about what I could do after football. I like that."

Wherever he ends up, Chambers wants to be an immediate impact player. He's improved, physically and technically, as a defensive end with the assistance of his defensive line coach. Steve Strahan was an All-Southwest Conference lineman at Baylor who was a sixth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in the NFL draft.

"We work on my hands a lot," Chambers said. "All the stuff [Strahan] learned got him to the league. He teaches me about my hand placement, coming off the edge, going down and dropping my shoulder, stuff like that. I've got a pretty good D-line coach."

Good enough to turn Chambers into even more of a menace on the defensive side of the ball? Chambers said it's possible. He has his own personal goals as he prepares for his senior season.

"I think it's possible to get 28 or 30 [sacks]," he said. "I can get three in a game. I know Clowney had a lot his senior year, so why not?"

Of Chambers' top 10, five are in-state schools. Baylor, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M and Houston all would be ideal spots. The big question, with him being a Houston athlete, is if the near-meteoric rise in recruiting at the University of Houston is good enough to lure him.

Chambers is well aware of the "H-Town Takeover" campaign the Cougars are pitching to athletes in the greater Houston area, as Houston is looking to keep all the best talent as close to home as possible. Houston already has a defensive tackle combo of 5-star Ed Oliver and 4-star Jordan Elliott committed, and the program picked up a defensive end pledge Tuesday in 3-star Hasaun Glasgow.

"A lot of guys are talking about it around here," Chambers said. "It's pretty smart that they're trying to build a legacy. I wasn't looking at going to U of H at first, but they've really been preaching about the legacy thing. It definitely makes you think about it."

Of the 10 schools, Chambers said Houston, TCU, Michigan and Washington have been recruiting him the hardest. Playing out of state is an intriguing option for him, but he said he wants to take some official visits before making anything final. He said he's planning on going to Michigan later this summer.

With Michigan, Chambers said the coaches check in periodically, and he's a fan of the energy head coach Jim Harbaugh brings to the table. Washington, however, may be the school recruiting him the hardest. He said the Huskies have made him their top priority, and he's built good relationships with head coach Chris Petersen, defensive line coach Jeff Choate and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski.

Along with a trip to Michigan, Chambers said he has plans of visiting Baylor and TCU before the start of the 2015 season. He said he's hoping to have a top five at that time.

Whatever the case, he knows he can't go wrong with his final choice. And he expects to be a sack master in college, as well.

"All of the programs on my list are good schools, and they're recruiting me hard," Chambers said. "It's just a matter of me getting to them and finding out more. I know I've got some pretty good choices."

Damon Sayles is a National Recruiting Analyst for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand. All player ratings are courtesy of 247Sports' composite ratings. Follow Damon via Twitter: @DamonSayles