The Line Showcase: Offensive Line Standouts Session 1

We are back with more coverage from The Line Showcase in Elkhorn, WI held this past Saturday. Today I want to continue looking at Session One of the event, but we are going to flip sides and take a look at the offensive linemen that caught my eyes. I really had fun watching this group. It had the top end, older talent and it had several underclassmen that were really showing out. I have a pretty balanced representation from both of those groups below. Let’s not waste any time and dive in. Here are the offensive linemen that caught my eyes during Session One and how they did it! <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118302" first="Luca" last="Kowalik"], 2022- Milwaukee Marquette</strong> Luca was my top performer overall for session one. I first watched him a couple weeks ago while working on the Prep Redzone Wisconsin rankings. He dominated on film making him one of the kids I had marked down as someone I had to watch at the showcase. Luca did not disappoint in any part of the workout. He had the longest powerball toss that I watched. The craziest part of the toss was the ball never got higher than three feet off the ground. There was no arch in the ball’s trajectory. It really showed off the upper body force that Luca can generate. That power also shows up on film. In the positional drills, Kowalik was a super easy mover laterally, forward, and backwards. He carries the 6’4" 275 lbs with ease and has the frame to continue to add more size too. Luca also had a strong one on one session. Any defenders that tried to win with strength were shut down by Luca’s strong anchor. Overall, Luca was the most talented prospect during session one for me. Big year coming for him. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="118458" first="Alex" last="Pethan"], 2022- Oak Creek</strong> When I first saw Alex I was really impressed with the frame he has built. He has developed a wide and thick body that generates a ton of power, and also moves well. Alex was another prospect with an impressive display of power at the powerball toss and when he got to the positional drills he went from showing that raw power to showing consistent technique and athleticism. In the one on one session, Alex won his battles with ease. His size and strength combination allowed him to maul interior defensive lineman and his reactive athleticism allowed him to easily mirror speed rushers. The 6’3" 290 lbs OL prospect somehow went under the radar on me, but now that I have been made aware of him I will be following his senior season very closely. He is going to be a name to know, and for me was one of the biggest breakouts of the day. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="31292" first="Samuel" last="Yager"], 2022- Racine Case</strong> Samuel really impressed me during session one. Racine Case didn’t play this past fall, so during our rankings update I had to rely on his sophomore film. The player that showed up in Elkhorn on Saturday was a far more developed player than what he was a year ago. Yager has the size every school looks for at 6’4" 270 lbs and he uses it. I like the way his frame is put together too. He has a big, strong upper half and an athletic looking lower half. In the head to head battles Yager really showed how much he has developed. He used his length to get his hands on quickly and then from there he could control the defender. His short area movement was really nice too. He could quickly react if the defender tried to cross his face or use a counter move. No matter how he was attacked he maintained his technique. Samuel is looking like he is going to be rising up our rankings and also rising up a lot of schools boards as well if he continues developing like he has. <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Aidan Duerig, 2023- Mount Carmel (IL)</span></strong> Up next we have our first underclassman of the group and my lone Illinois prospect for this group. Duerig caught my eye from the minute I saw his 6’5" 300 lbs frame walk through the doors of the facility. Aidan is built for the position and that size and length is going to get him a lot of attention. I really focused on Aidan in the drill work sessions of the showcase. I wanted to see how well he moved at that size/age. I left impressed. Aidan moves with ease in every direction and he can keep good technique throughout his movements. The potential is off the charts for Aidan. With two more years of high school ball ahead of him plus a spring season coming up there is a lot of opportunities to continue to improve and become a big prospect by his senior year. Definitely a kid to know! <strong><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Max Stuhlmacher, 2024- Shorewood</span></strong> This was a fun prospect to watch. Max had actually caught my eyes a few times early in his session before I was able to dive in further and see exactly who he was. I just kept noticing bib #41 having really nice drills and an impressive display of strength on the powerball toss. When I checked the name I was more than surprised to see that it was <strong>FRESHMAN</strong> Max Stuhlmacher. Max had a great day and has a very bright future ahead of him. It was wild to watch him be able to more than hold his own against much older and more experienced defensive linemen. Max’s agility and reactive athleticism at this age and at 6’1" 275 lbs is special. Not to mention that he has already developed the anchor strength that shut down the recruits he went up against. I hope I get the chance to watch Max a lot more throughout the next four years. He is going to be a good one. <strong>Griffin Rousseau, 2025- Stoughton</strong> I couldn’t wait to watch Griffin. The <strong>EIGHTH GRADER</strong> already stands 6’6" 275 lbs and he benches over 300 lbs. His weight room posts, along with his older brother’s, are some of the craziest posts I see on Twitter. The potential is definitely there after keeping an eye on him all session. Clearly he has been growing a lot, so he is still growing into his body and I am confident the body control will develop over the coming years. What I did see that gives me a ton of excitement is that he didn’t look like he was in over his head. Some of the kids he went against were five years older than him, but he was able to compete with them and hold his own. I could see the technique for the OT position really showing up in the one on one battles. He used his elite length really well and he is able to slide and react to the defender pretty well already. I can’t wait to watch his development as he gains more and more body control and flexibility in his ankles and knees. Gaining more and more experience against higher competition is going to be huge for him too. If he can continue developing the sky is the limit for Griffin. Make sure to check back tomorrow as I dive into my Standouts from Session Two!