Jake’s Favorite 2021 picks. SD, ND & MN

The 2021 National Signing Day has come and gone, and this article will recap my favorite signings this past year. These picks will include kids I've worked with personally or schools I've worked with and some potential steals for picks. What I look for is of course the athletes play style, something I can endorse; speed, tackling, vision, etc. Next thing I look for is character, usually I ask fans of the high school teams and ask about the kids I'm looking at, yes I want kids to play college ball, but I want to make sure they'll fit colleges will fit them too. Last thing I look for is which schools fit the athlete's play style, never go to a school just because they're  good, go to a school where you can learn more about the game from different points of view. Check out my picks below! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18130" first="Grant" last="Louwagie"], LB, Marshall High school, Southwest MN State:</strong> On a team like Marshall that has been producing a lot of Big Ten talent over the last couple of years, athletes like Louwagie are the signees that I like to hype up. I watched one of their practices and a couple games and Louwagie was a kid that the coaches all said they wanted to see play college ball, he is a good kid and a smart athlete. He was a defensive general at LB and found his way to the ball nearly every play, he also had awareness to rip at the football force turnovers. SMSU is getting a steal at LB in the Class of 2021 with Louwagie. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9983197/5f82495a478ce60a10a45b30">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56298" first="Layton" last="Eide"], LB, Deuel High School, Dakota Wesleyan:</strong> I spoke with Eide in what must have been late in his recruiting process, as I was about to publish a recruiting report on him, he committed to DWU. I switched his report over to a commitment report and wished him the best at the next level. He is one of the nicest kids I have ever interviewed and has a very calm demeanor in his game both on and off the field. He is also a field general at LB and makes his quick reads to fly to the football and make the tackle. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9762845/5f677c92dfe2c50a80eb4d85">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56274" first="Dawson" last="Schmidt"], WR, Watertown High School, Northern State:</strong> Schmidt is an amazing athlete at WR, he was definitely underrated in the first publishing of our rankings, but instead of complaining, he kept his head down and played ball. He runs excellent routes, and catches nearly everything, mostly because he only needs one hand to do so. He has the height to give himself a big advantage over the DB. Northern State land a huge WR in Schmidt with a lot of big play ability. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10543217/5f9f7b66b3c87803c4d847b2">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18188" first="Lashad" last="Smith"], DB, Luverne High School, Valley City State:</strong> One of the first kids I have ever written a report on, though he was a little undersized, he played like one of the biggest men out there. At DB he kept up with some of the quickest receivers and locked them down, he is also has good form in his tackles and reads routes and times his jumps them perfectly. Also a nice kid, always messaging us every offer and thanking us for coverage, very grateful kid. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13155628/5fb9d0fb15ffd40bd866e15d">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18222" first="Zach" last="Ahrendt"], OL, Luverne High School, Southwest MN State:</strong> Ahrendt is one of the biggest linemen I have spoken with, again a kid with great character, happy to receive coverage. Along with size, he has great awareness in picking up blitzes and making blocks to open gaps for his backs. He also has a quick first step off the ball and good hand technique to keep defenders out of the backfield. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/9736065/5f9991ab15f77c0340f0d597">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56256" first="Simon" last="Romfo"], ATH, Langdon Area High School, University of North Dakota:</strong> Romfo is a kid that we made a Johnny Football in his Heisman year reference. A very mobile RPO QB that makes big plays with both his legs and his arm. He has the ball smarts to know whether to run or throw, keeping his eyes downfield and making a good, accurate throw. After having a D3 offer and D2 interest, UND snagged probably the biggest steal in ND, with Romfo receiving some national recognition from PRZ. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/9637214/5fb5d5ba2ab194055416c4e6">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56315" first="Grant" last="Romfo"], RB, Langdon Area High School, North Dakota State:</strong> This Romfo helped make the Langdon football team an absolute nightmare, you focus on one Romfo, the other one burns you. Grant is a bruiser type back with some speed, great vision to find open field, break away speed to bust a big play and the grit to fall forward for extra yards on each play. He is also good at fighting off blocks and still laying a good hit on the ballcarrier with a good form tackle. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/9637210/5fb3179a4df5dd0f6cf089a6">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18110" first="Casey" last="Schultz"], LB, Caledonia High School, University of North Dakota:</strong> Schultz is a defensive captain on the traditionally great Caledonia team. He has a great frame that drew big D1 interest from a few schools, but he is also very physical and aggressive when making tackles. Schultz is one of the many well-rounded, great character kids from Coach Carl Fruecthe and the Caledonia Warrior program, very polite and fun to talk to when I interviewed him a while back. (COVID: Three games as a Senior) <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18047" first="Gavin" last="Wysong"], ATH, Hills-Beaver Creek High School, University of Sioux Falls:</strong> Patience was key for Wysong, his size took him off a lot of schools radar, but anyone that took time to watch his film would be very impressed. Listed at QB for the last two seasons is misleading, he played great taking snaps but he knew, because he listed himself mostly at ATH on his recruiting pages, that he would be in a different position at the next level. He has great speed, vision, agility and plays very physical as well. I could see him as a DB or a RB in college because he has good ball sense to put himself in the right position to make plays. USF was a offer he received right before signing day and I think he'll fit in well there. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/8572718/5f96f2f3f3277305c4478ee1">Senior Film</a> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="18203" first="William" last="Asche"], TE/LB MACCRAY, Concordia-Moorhead:</strong> On my search for small school talent, I came across Asche on social media and was impressed. His team record hid him in the ranks, below .500, but they are in a tough part of the State for their class. His size makes him a good prospect to play either TE or at LB in college. He is also physical and knows his size and how to use it. He lost most his Senior season due to injury so I'm happy to see him still get an offer and commit to play at the next level, also a really great kid to talk to. The Cobbers picked a reliable athlete. Junior Film (Injury) <strong>Cameron Anderson, WR, Blue Earth Area, Bemidji:</strong> Anderson is a defensive coaches nightmare, from personal experience. We spent all week preparing to defend him and he still burned us for a lot of yards and a couple TDs. He runs his routes so fast and clean that its hard to get a DB to stick to him, put his good set of hands and agility and it is nearly impossible to keep him from running wild. Being on the Buccaneers, he is a team-first player along with the rest of the team. Senior Film <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56293" first="Kale" last="Stevenson"], LB, Watertown High School, Dakota Wesleyan:</strong> Stevenson was also a kid we listed as ATH, because he was a LB and RB as a Junior that had to switch to QB as a Senior. If I hadn't have done my research before watching him this year, I wouldn't have know he was not a QB. He was a very good passer, had great pocket presence, and threw well on the run. Defense was his bread-and-butter, he was good in coverage on the slot receivers, great at getting his reads and a good tackler. Senior Season <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="56307" first="Josh" last="Livermore"], OL/DL, West Central High School (SD), Mount Marty:</strong> Livermore was on a excellent Offensive Line at West Central. He was one of the primary pullers, because he could move well and was good at finding the biggest threat in the gap. He did a good job climbing to the second level to make blocks to spring his backs free. While they didn't pass much, he still had good feet and technique to keep the defense out of the backfield. Senior Film <strong>Jonathon Torres, OL, Watertown High School, North Dakota School of Sciences:</strong> Torres is one of the biggest linemen I have ever seen in high school. When watching his film, he looks like he has a lot of potential to be a great blocker in the college level. He has pretty good footwork and can move pretty well, a little work and he will be a defensive lineman's nightmare. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/9988532/5fc667e7d21c9b087488c3a7">Senior Film</a>