2018 QB El Julian Jordan prepared to lead King this season

Detroit Martin Luther King will probably enter the 2015 season as the No.1 football team in the state, with all the Division I talent they've compiled to this point. The Crusaders will be expected to compete for a state title with players like wide receiver Donnie Corley, who has over 30 offers, Penn State defensive back commit LaVert Hill, and top running back in the state, Martell Pettaway. But even they aren't the most important players on the team.

No.

The most important player is sophomore quarterback to-be, El Julian Jordan. Or "Ju Ju" as they call him for short. Jordan will be the probable starter for King this fall, with last year's starter, junior, Mikale Washington, leaving the program. But King has already looked to the future, and it starts now with Jordan.

"It feels good knowing that I'll be the starting quarterback for King," said Jordan. "I know what I can do, and having all those Division I wide outs will help me out this year. I don't feel there is a lot of pressure on me really, because I know what is expected of me. I know what my job is this up coming season."

With elite talents like Corley, Hill, Pettaway, Dontre Boyd, Ambry Thomas, and Armani Posey, to throw the ball too, and handing it off to Pettaway, Jordan should have a pretty easy this season. He'll only have to deliver the ball to the team's best players, while protecting in the process. The 6-1, 205-pounder, with a strong arm, also wants to shows what skills he possesses at the quarterback position, and feels that he is an asset to the team as well.

"I just want to go out and do what I do best, and win states," sayid Jordan. "They (King coaches) are going to let me play my game, because that is what I do best, and I do not like to be a robot.

"But yes, the other guys will be a lot of help this season. I like to throw to them all, LaVert, Donnie, Dontre, Ambry, and Posey. Those guys are leaders, and we can all help each other."

This season is championship or bust for King, whether they like to talk that far ahead or not. The 2015 team is regarded as of the best collection of talent King has had in years, and they have a legitimate shot at winning it all in November. Their 2014 team had much of the same expectations, but was bounced out of the first round of the playoffs by Southfield High last November. The last time King won a football state title was in 2007, over Midland.

"All we have to do is stay focused, and work hard," said Jordan on King's state title hopes. "We cannot get the "big head", we have to take it one game at a time, and play as a team."

Warren De La Salle, the defending Division 2 state champions, is King's first opponent of the year in the 2015 Prep Kick-off Classic at Wayne State August 28. Of course, the Pilots will try to make the sophomore quarterback, Jordan, feel uncomfortable throughout the game in his first high school start. He saw some late game action against Southfield, and said either way, he'll be prepared.

"Really, all I have to do is play my game," said Jordan. "I'm very excited for that game, my first official high school game, and I just want to have fun, but most importantly, I want to have a win under my belt."

Jordan also hopes this season will help him get his name out there, and boost his recruitment, which won't be too hard to do playing for King nowadays. He has the potential to be good down the road, if he grows more, and develops his skills, even earning top honors as of the top underclassmen at the Rivals QB Challenge: Cincinnati last month.

"I have not heard from any schools at all, but I wish I did," said Jordan. "I hope to hear from Michigan State, Ohio State,Oregon, Michigan, and a lot more schools too."