Edmond Santa Fe Team Camp Report – Defensive Standouts
In this article:
Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! It’s team camp season and we’re out in full swing all over Oklahoma, checking out some of the state’s best teams and their players. Be sure…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGet 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!
It’s team camp season and we’re out in full swing all over Oklahoma, checking out some of the state’s best teams and their players. Be sure to check back every day as we’ll have more camp reports coming out. On Wednesday, we were in Edmond to check out Santa Fe’s team camp where they hosted Norman North, Putnam City North, and Jenks. There was plenty of intense competition all throughout and we left impressed with several teams and a number of players. Today, we’ll be hitting on a few defenders from Wednesday’s sessions that stood out or made some big plays. If you missed it for any reason, make sure to check out our Offensive Standouts from the camp to stay up to date with news and analysis from the top camps around the state.
Cade Stacy Cade Stacy 6'2" | DB Jenks | 2022 State OK – 2022 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back – Jenks
For what it’s worth in the month of June, Jenks may have had the best all-around team performance Wednesday in Edmond. Perhaps the biggest contribution to their success, at least on the defensive side, was the security that Cade Stacy Cade Stacy 6'2" | DB Jenks | 2022 State OK and the rest of Jenks’ secondary provided for the Trojans. Stacy lined up at WR quite a bit on the day but was at his best while playing CB without a doubt. He was locked at the hip all day with just about every WR he went up against and made some impressive plays on the ball when it came his way.
Cedric Christon – 2022 Defensive Lineman – Edmond Santa Fe
In our offensive standouts piece, we mentioned that Gavin Frakes Gavin Frakes 6'4" | 210 lbs | QB Norman North | 2022 State OK was scrambling away from rushers more often than not on Wednesday. What we didn’t mention was that a lot of those rollouts or scrambles were to get away from Cedric Christon and a few other players on this list. Christon played at Nose Tackle for the Wolves whenever their first-team defense was on the field and there were not many reps where the opposing teams’ center could keep him out of the backfield, much less try and move him in the opposite direction. He was not the tallest or most agile D-Lineman in attendance, but he played with a solid anchor/base all day and was one of the more productive bull rushers at the camp.
Duncan Parham Duncan Parham 6'3" | LB Norman North | 2022 State OK – 2022 Linebacker – Norman North
Parham is another player we have gotten pretty familiar with through the 7on7 tournaments this off-season, and we think it’s safe to say that a lot of his improvements in pass coverage this spring have already begun to transfer over to the field on Friday nights (or Wednesday morning in this case). Parham was physical as always in the run game and was quick to close in on ball carriers before they got going, and he looked pretty comfortable in coverage throughout the session. By the end of the day, he came away with a couple of interceptions, one of them coming in the half-field scrimmage session against PC North.
Gavin Anderson – 2022 Defensive Back – Norman North
Gavin Anderson was one of a few guys on this list that we had not seen much of before the camp, but by the end of it, we left with some optimism when we saw what his potential ceiling could be this season. Anderson did not win all of his reps when matched one on one with WRs and RBs, but he battled back and forth all day with some of the premier skill players in the state such as Jaiden Carroll Jaiden Carroll 5'10" | 180 lbs | RB Jenks | 2023 State OK and Talyn Shettron Talyn Shettron 6'3" | WR Edmond Santa Fe | 2022 State OK . Anderson knocked a good number of WRs off their routes early with some violent hand usage off the line and he also showed off some nice straight-line speed to break up the pass on a few plays where he missed with his initial punch and had to make a recovery in a hurry.
Haydn Thornton – 2022 Linebacker – Putnam City North
Due to PC North’s base alignment on defense, it is somewhat crucial to have LBs who have the instincts and power to crash down on run lanes quickly, while also having enough speed and change of direction ability to fire out to the edge as it’s needed on plays where they are in 2-high safety looks. Coincidentally, we saw a lot of those traits at this camp from the Senior LB, Haydn Thornton. Thornton was constantly making plays at or behind the line of scrimmage in the run game and even came away with a turnover or two in the passing game. Thornton looked like he was playing free and in control for most of the day, which has to have his coaching staff excited for where he could potentially be as a player going into the season if he can continue to improve.
Jaleel Johnson Jaleel Johnson 6'5" | 240 lbs | DL Putnam City North | 2022 State OK – 2022 Defensive Lineman – Putnam City North
Similar to the point made above, it is also important for PC North’s defense to have a few D-Lineman who can create pressure by themselves or at least give the opposing O-Line enough trouble to warrant some extra help so that their LBs can have a cleaner path to the ball carrier on run plays. The first part of that statement basically describes the kind of day Jaleel Johnson Jaleel Johnson 6'5" | 240 lbs | DL Putnam City North | 2022 State OK had. He was one of the most consistent rushers at the camp in terms of creating pressure on each play regardless of where he was lined up along the line. From what we saw, he has picked up right where he left off after his breakout season in 2020 and may have gained a step or two off the line as well.
Jalyn Stanford – 2023 Running Back/Defensive Back – Jenks
In addition to his success at RB, Jalyn Stanford was also one of the most physical DBs at the camp. Defensively, Stanford played mostly at Safety for Jenks and laid down a few hard hits on pass catchers and ball carriers over the middle of the field to break up plays before they could get going. We were very impressed with the energy and intensity he brought on each play along with the explosiveness and power he demonstrated on multiple occasions. It is yet to be determined where his full-time fit will be when September comes around if the Jenks staff decides to have him specialize on one side of the ball. Either way, Stanford has the talent and instincts to be a potential x-factor in all 3 phases of the game moving forward.
Ty Walls Ty Walls 6'0" | 175 lbs | WR Jenks | 2023 State OK – 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back – Jenks
Our last player on this list, Ty Walls Ty Walls 6'0" | 175 lbs | WR Jenks | 2023 State OK , is yet another member of the Jenks’ secondary that had quite a day at the Santa Fe team camp. Ty initially made it into our 2023 rankings for his receiving ability last season, which was again on full display Wednesday morning as he made big play after big play on his deep routes. However, we would be remised if we didn’t talk about his day at safety as well. While Jalyn Stanford was roaming on one side of the field looking for ball carriers to hit, Ty was usually on the other side of the formation making sure nothing got behind him in the passing game. Walls read the field well from the back end and seemed to be in the right place at the right time more often than not as he finished the day with a pair of interceptions.
Other Notable Standouts
Edmond Santa Fe
Chris Fitzpatrick Chris Fitzpatrick 6'0" | LB Edmond Santa Fe | 2023 State OK – 2023 Linebacker
Jenks
AJ Brown AJ Brown 6'1" | 300 lbs | DL Jenks | 2022 State OK – 2022 Defensive Lineman
Jackson Standlee – 2023 Defensive End
Putnam City North
Phil Jackson – 2023 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back
Reece Moffett – 2022 Wide Receiver/Defensive Back