Senior Standouts: Day 2 Prep Redzone WI Showcase

Today I am starting a short series on the players that really stood out to me at the first Prep Redzone Wisconsin Showcase on December 7-8. I have done the standouts from Day One, so now it is time to dive into the packed Day Two. To organize this series, I will be going through the standouts by class. First up will be our 2021 seniors. Ahead we will take a look at five seniors that stood out to me and what they showed me. Let’s get it! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="30852" first="Riley" last="Christensen"], ATH- Belmont</strong> I came into this event hoping that I would be a bit of a break out opportunity for the 6’2" 220 lbs, lesser known, 8-man league star. He didn’t disappoint. I don’t have his official times yet, but it was pretty clear he was one of the fastest players in his group. I was able to catch one of his shuttle attempts also and he was able to change direction with such ease. There is no question about Riley’s physical attributes. He checks every box and I am confident he caught the eyes of a lot of coaches. At the next level, I believe Riley could be an impactful LB based off how he performed in the drills and one on one battles as well as the impressive film he has put out. It was a great performance by Riley. Big things ahead for him. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="30750" first="Sammy" last="Smith"], LB- Sun Prairie</strong> Sammy was so fun to watch throughout the event. He was definitely a leader among his gr<img class="size-medium wp-image-80356 alignleft" style="font-size: 1rem;" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/12/2-11-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /><span style="font-size: 1rem;">oup and showed up ready to bring it on the field. That fire and competitiveness really started to pass throughout his</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;"> position group and the RB group in one on ones. It led to a ton of great battles. Sammy really proved his desire to play football to me. He didn’t get to play this fall, and maybe that is what brought him out, but he has already been </span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">committed to Upper Iowa for awhile. Yet he still wanted to come out and ball. Sammy lived up to my expectations on the field too. The size he has at about 6’1" 240 lbs and the way he can move with it continuously caught my eyes. He changed directions laterally and came downhill with ease and quickness. In the one on one battles, Sa</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">mmy also proved that he has the athleticism to run with RBs in man to man coverage both on underneath and deep routes. Sammy was a fun watch all afternoon.</span> <strong>Sebastian Jefferson, DB- Waukesha South</strong> <img class="size-medium wp-image-80362 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2020/12/2-6-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="197" /> This was my biggest surprise of the senior class. Sebastian had an amazing day and I know he caught the interest of several coaching staffs in attendance. Coming in at about 6’ 180 lbs, Jefferson looked the part, and he moved so smoothly. He looked awesome in the shuttle. His loose hips allowed him to dip his hips, touch the line, and explode the other direction. In <span style="font-size: 1rem;">one on ones, the DB groups were outnumbered so they had to rotate through a ton. Jefferson never lost a step throughout the battles. I watched a ton of his reps and he did a really good job of getting hands on early to redirect the receiver at the line. His reactive athleticism shown at the breaks of routes really caught my eyes too. Then he did a really nice job of battling for the battle at the catch point. Sebastian was an easy player to cheer for. He killed it.</span> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="31034" first="Cayden" last="Bell"], TE- Appleton West</strong> It was hard not to notice Cayden. He was one of the biggest players on the field checking in at about 6’3" 235 lbs. I got my best look at Cayden in the one on one battles. I wanted to see how he handled the man coverage against some really talented corners. I came away impressed. Bell moves well for his size and he actually had some suddenness in his breaks. Where he was best was at the catch point. He clearly knew how to use that big frame to box out and create a lot of separation between the ball and the defender. I hope the schools that moved to the spring will be able to play because I will be very interested to see the rest of Cayden’s game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="30881" first="Bryce" last="Barbian"], QB- Cudahy</strong> Bryce had a really nice performance. He came in at about 6’1" 190 lbs. He showed off some athleticism in the testing to start the afternoon, but once he was able to get a ball in his hands he started catching my eyes. Bryce has a quick release and is able to generate some nice velocity on the ball. I noticed on a ton of his passes he didn’t have to put much air under it. Even on his passes that were going 30+ yards in the air he didn’t have to float them out there. In the drills, Bryce also showed off that he can be an accurate passer while on the run and while maneuvering in smaller areas. Overall, I came away impressed with Barbian’s performance. I hope he was able to catch the eyes of some coaches just like he caught my eyes.