2023 Hidden Gems (MN)

These are the type of articles I love writing. They take a lot of research and can be frustrating when there isn’t film where you hoped it would be. However patience is just as big as a scout as it is as an athlete and after waiting a good deal of time I can confidently put together a good list of Hidden Gems. Kids like these were inspired by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="112088" first="Joseph" last="Forsberg"], </strong>of Martin County West. I spotted this kid as a freshman for the Mavericks getting a good number of snaps on both sides of the ball. The amount of work he has put in has paid off and now has him with a lot of schools after him to play for them after his Senior Season. Players that made this list will follow a criteria such like his, small school, maybe not the biggest or the fastest, but a kid that will fight with everything he has to win his team some games. I tried to spread the love around the Southwest hopefully getting a good amount of kids on the radar, that aren’t on our rankings either. OL/DL: <strong>Max Olson</strong>- Martin County West Olson has a great motor off the snap. I like his strength then his quickness once he gets off his block. His pad level is a little high, but he makes up for it by chucking his blocker and making a firm, form tackle on the ballcarrier. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GRDDz">Junior Season</a> LB: <strong>Wyatt Williamson</strong>- Martin County West Williamson is a technically sound LB. He gets his reads off the snap then flies to where he needs to be to make the play. He flows to the gap and fills the assignment and makes a good form tackle. He can sit and cover his zone in pass coverage and finds the man in his zone and makes the play. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GV1gr">Junior Season</a> TE/LB: <strong>Evan Weber</strong>- Canby Weber is a playmaker, on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he flies around and finds the football, both pass and run. He has a lot of pop in his tackles and makes nice hits, but wraps up to finish tackles. Offensively, he is quick into his routes and makes plays on the ball to make a big play in the pass game. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2G7hKu">Junior Season</a> RB: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="313280" first="Ashtin" last="Johnson"]</strong>- Springfield Johnson is a grinder, bruiser type back. He’ll run through any defender that runs into his gap. He can accelerate quickly once he gets into open space and make a big play. He is also a good target out of the backfield, a good safety valve and screen guy. He is also good in pass blocking as well. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GWGYT">Junior Season</a> WR/DB: <strong>Aiden Swenson</strong>- Dawson-Boyd Swenson is a good route runner and has good hands to be a reliable, possession receiver. His footwork is good when getting his steps down on routes, then elevates well over top of defenders and comes down with the ball. Defensively, he does a good job positioning himself on pass plays. He does an excellent job playing the football, high-pointing it and coming away with a takeaway. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13269721/617ea5aabd6ae10ba0bf8e86">Offensive Highlights</a> <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13269721/617ea4063df4d30ba8198c2d">Defensive Highlights</a> FB/LB: <strong>Levi Olson</strong>- Dawson-Boyd Olson is a pretty filled out athlete. He has a good size, speed and is very elusive. He accelerates quickly and explodes into the open field to break away from the defense. He slips out into pass routes and gets himself open to be a good target. He can also run through tacklers pretty easily as well. Defensively, He flies around the field and makes good form tackles. He also sits well in pass coverage and can run with anybody out of the backfield. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GFutX">Junior Season</a> QB: <strong>Andrew Flaten</strong>- Yellow Medicine East Flaten is very poised when throwing the football. He is very patient, getting his reads and making a good throw to his receivers, not forcing anything. He rolls out of the pocket and throws the ball on the run well, very accurate. He can be a good runner when no one is open and can rip off good chunks of yardage. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GJJBf">Junior Season</a> TE/DB: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="312946" first="Stevie" last="McMath"]</strong>- BOLD McMath was the big play guy this season. He starts off with being a good blocker for the run game, washing down defenders on down blocks, good pad level and quick first step off the ball. He releases off the ball quickly and gets into the defensive backfield quickly, making himself a good vertical threat. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/12271551/62277d04b3c8600a84b902b2">Junior Season</a> WR: <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="312945" first="Ryan" last="King"]</strong>- BOLD King could be a vertical threat, or a small-ball threat. He has the speed to outrun any defender, also the agility and vision to make moves and turn big plays out of screens. He has a good set of hands and can out jump his defender to be an extremely reliable target for big plays in the pass game. He is very hard to corral and bring down by just one defender. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/10934064/624b48af3452ed06d0bdda7a">Junior Season</a> K/P: <strong>Peyton Gillund</strong>- Minneota Not very often that I add a kicker, because they hardly upload film. Gillund came up and post some good kicks on his film. He kicked many touchbacks on kickoffs and split the uprights with good height and distance. He really flipped the field on punts, he had good hang time and good placement of his punts. <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2H9ekT">Junior Season</a>