859 Area Code Prospects to Watch: Part One

We have started a deep-dive on some promising football prospects throughout the 859 area code. This area code stretches from Berea, KY all the way up to the Ohio border right near Cincinnati. We evaluated eight prospects from Lexington to Newport that have the potential from our eyes, to carry their game to play on Saturdays. As an FYI, this is only part one of some 859 area code prospects to watch, as we will keep finding more 859 prospects to evaluate over the next few weeks throughout the Bluegrass here at Prep Redzone Kentucky. To the 502, 606, 270, and the 364 we will keep pumping out content to your side of the state as well! Spencer Bennington | OLB | Lexington Catholic | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerBenn">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GZBGn">Tape</a> Watching Spencer at outside linebacker, you see a prospect that has a contact level that is quite on point, as he hits a solid angle when connecting with the ball carrier. He has good speed off the edge, and I think from a development standpoint can grow even more this offseason working on his get off. Spencer's vision is also significantly strong as he identifies the ball carrier quickly when there are some quick moving counters. He also shows off great hands, to get off blockers quickly. Spencer is a fundamentally sound linebacker, that should draw some attention from scholarship-level college suitors this summer. LeQuon Greer | Nose Guard | Lexington Dunbar | 2025 | <a href="https://twitter.com/LequonJr">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GW6v4">Tape</a> For his age, LeQuon shows a great bend at the waist and that gives him a low drive of leverage on the center. He has feisty hands that just keep working until the whistle blows. LeQuon also has decent movement at 6'1 240 pounds to lock up ball carriers move a few feet to his left and his right. He also can show a light touch with his ability to shed off the offensive blocker while in pursuit of the ball. I really like this young man's upside looking into his sophomore season at Dunbar. Hayden Dawahare | QB | Lexington Lafayette | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/HDawahare">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2FtpRc">Tape</a> Hayden shows some hella arm strength on his shorter routes he throws, if the ball needs to be there in a pinch he can make it happen. He does a consistent job around the corners, by making great ball placement where his wide out can thread the sideline with their footwork in mind. He shows good movement outside of the pocket, although I believe there is some development that can be made to get Hayden more poised. His best looks are on intermediate routes, as he hits his spots where they lie. Would love to see more tape that displays this kid's arm strength as I am sure the college coaches would love to see that too. Hayden is a very high academic kid with a 4.6 GPA and would thrive playing football at a high academic program as so far he has gotten interest to a lot of East Coast schools that match this description. It is clear this young man has recovered from the injury that kept him out part of the 2021 season and is ready to thread the needle at prospect camps this summer. Sawyer Ford | K/P | Woodford County | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/SFord_7">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2GVfva">Tape</a> Sawyer has an absolute boomer of a kickoff leg that will always set his special teams for success when they don't have to worry about gunning down the field to make a play. He also has significant hangtime on those kickoffs, and I think has juice to achieve even better hangtime with work this offseason. Sawyer also brings strong distance from around 40 yards and in and shows enough leg on tape to make it from 45-49 yards out. He also has pinpoint placement as a punter as well, as he scorched a 62-yard punt on tape that had great hangtime and you can tell he has great mechanics as far as the touch he has to control his punts. Need Sawyer's legs on a fake punt, he actually shows good speed for his position and got up the outside of the field quickly on the one tape I watched. I would certainly assume Sawyer is one of the best specialists in the 859. Daniel Daff | Center | Scott County | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielMichaelD6">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/video/3/11640999/61d7a07cda5bd80c703db0f4">Tape</a> Talk about a hog under center and the physicality to back it up, that would be Daniel Daff of Scott County. He starts his tape off like a low-post basketball player, by absolutely denying the defensive linemen access to even come close to his kicker and then stuffing him into the turf. Daniel is a block to the whistle kind of linemen, and his physicality erupts smoothly until the play is over. He has the great movement to advance into the second level of the field, and will continue to get his agile punches there too. What else do I love about Daniel's tape? This kid has that finisher mentality that will assure his defender cannot get up after he's down on the ground. Daniel also hits his DL with great pad level. I think we got a sleeper in 2023 on the offensive line coming out of Georgetown, for sure. Chase Simpson | DB/WR | Grant County | 2024 | <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2G9qJj">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2G9qJj">Tape</a> Chase will likely be one of the top returners from Grant County in 2022. In the secondary, he shows good ball-tracking ability and a significant vertical that extends longer than you would expect when going for the ball in high traffic areas. Chase shows off a mouthful of physicality when it's his turn to make a tackle and this young man has no issue moving up a level to do so. I always love a wide out, that puts his contact as a blocker on tape, as Chase shows quick hands to drive the secondary crazy when in run coverage. He has good instincts to move back to the ball when his vision tells him it is going to be underthrown. He shows a really quick trigger of speed once he advances up 5+ yards and then can take off like a jet from there. This young man averaged nearly 23 yards per catch as a sophomore, so sky's the limit for his potential in 2022. I still think he has some speed that is still untapped, and some offseason work going into 2022 will sure help that out. Another prospect from the 859, that is under the radar in my eyes. Desmond Davie | WR | Campbell County | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/davie_desmond">Twitter</a> & <a href="https://www.hudl.com/video/3/13029996/618dd0c42ab1870a48cb240f">Tape</a> If you are looking for a massive 6'5 225 pound pass-catcher from the 859, you are going to want to look at Campbell County's Desmond Davie. This young man is a destined red-zone threat that just eats up a smaller secondary with his durability in that region of the field. Desmond also has a great football IQ and can run off a smaller linebacker right when he gets off the line to get enough separation to get the football in his hands. He is not the fastest WR I have ever seen on tape, but man watching this kid run downhill on a streak route around the sidelines reminds of a train that just cut their brakes cut loose. Desmond also puts together strong hands. I could certainly see this young man play on Saturdays as a pass-catching tight end that could add to his skillsets by developing this offseason with some added skills blocking inside. The program up the road that made the College Football playoff this season has their eyes on this young man, and I will assume more D1 eyes will be looking at Desmond this summer. Mykell Martin | RB | Newport | 2023 | <a href="https://twitter.com/Mykell_martin28">Twitter</a> & <a href="http://www.hudl.com/v/2EREMQ">Tape</a> It takes a significant army of tacklers to bring this 6'0 220 pound tailback to the turf. This young man is a meat-grinder on the inside hash as on tape it was consistently what I mentioned above on a handful of plays. Mykell in my eyes is still a pretty raw running back that needs to develop more focus on his lower body on churning those feet to drive thru contact a lot smoother. When he is able to grind those feet out of that contact on the first level, he shows good speed for that size in the open field especially once he can get to that second level. This young man needs some bigger holes to run thru and against a weaker front, will continue to have success in the rushing lanes. He also shows good agile movement when he gets his space. A incoming senior to watch out of Newport that is just scratching the surface of his potential.