#Back2Ballin at Iowa 7v7: 2024 Standouts, Part I
CEDAR FALLS, IA– At Prep Redzone, we keep moving the chains from last weekend across the Midwest from the #Back2Ballin 7v7 tournament at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Now it’s time to talk about the 2024’s that stood out,…
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Continue ReadingCEDAR FALLS, IA– At Prep Redzone, we keep moving the chains from last weekend across the Midwest from the #Back2Ballin 7v7 tournament at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Now it’s time to talk about the 2024’s that stood out, the incoming juniors to-be.
We saw tons of talent in the dome this weekend, to raw prospects making some noise, to developed Power 5 prospects doing their usual, and prospects that have grown significant into Spring 7v7 season from their 2021 high school season. Do you want to know which seven 2024 prospects made our list in Part I? You will have to dive in below to find out!
Carsen Newton | ATH | Iowa City (IA)-Iowa Gators | Twitter
You like watching footwork in full motion? Grab a look at Carsen’s short tape from this weekend with him unlocking those hips and making the defense pay for it as he turns a slow motion type play into a lot of speed real quick. I got a glimpse of Carsen’s tape too, and saw this kid do what he does best, crave the outside hash and with one-cut, he is putting the opposing linebackers on roller skates. Carsen is also a threat in the return game as he can flip the field and turn nothing plays into something with his elusiveness. This young man isn’t the biggest kid on tape nor does he have a ton of tape, but heck he is quite the under the radar playmaker that can grew with development in areas where he can get even stronger with two seasons left of high school football.
Dean Donaldson | QB | Creighton Prep (NE)-Nebraska Elite | Twitter
Dean had a hella amount of playmakers in Malachi Coleman, Kyrell Jordan, and others to throw to this weekend and did what a great QB does best make a ton of precision passes that elevated everyone’s game to a new level. Dean showed a solid amount of poise in the pocket and was one of the few QBs I watched this weekend that really didn’t cave under pressure. This kid throws such a pretty ball on his deep routes with a really tight spiral to match. Dean also works his vision at a strong level as when you watch his eyes, it becomes hard to read where he is looking to go with the football which is something I also watch in QBs, is their vision distinctive? Dean’s certainly is from some of the tape I have seen from this weekend and prior weekends of 7v7. Once this young man gets some high school tape and gets into camp this summer, you are going to see a lot of interest come in for this 6’3 185 pound gunslinger that is just scratching the service of his talent level.
Highlights from last Tournament! @NELITE7v7_ @AllenTrieu @SeanDillonNU @CPFootball17 pic.twitter.com/HxEsWt5mkN
— Dean Donaldson (@deandonaldson15) March 16, 2022
Joe Cheatham | QB | Brookfield East (WI)-The Show | Twitter
Joe showed some of the best poise at the QB position from any Class I watched on Saturday at the UNI Dome. He did a fantastic job with his accuracy on all three levels of the field for The Show, by also showing significant arm strength along with it. Took a glimpse at Joe’s sophomore tape and certainly saw some develop from last weekend vs. the 2021 season. Where did I see his skill sets most? 1) Patience, this weekend he went thru his progressions and looked for the open receiver as he couldn’t just tuck it and run in a 7v7 setting. 2) Balance, some of the throws I saw on Joe’s sophomore tape lacked balance as far as his footwork goes and this weekend I saw a significant amount more balance in his footwork by just firing from the pocket. Joe has excellent athleticism, no doubt about it when leaving the pocket, but seeing him develop stronger skills as more of a QB vs. an athlete from his 2021 season makes me think this young man will continue to grow during this summer’s 7v7 season and then take what he learned from working out of the pocket into 2022 for Brookfield East.
Grant Glaussner | DB | Western Dubuque (IA)-Iowa Gators | Twitter
Grant showed some sufficient reps this weekend at the UNI and they all came from the safety position. This young man is a very long strong safety that shows off significant footwork and a quick trigger to react to the ball quickly once he uses his vision to see where it is going. I can’t get over this kid’s length when watching his film, as his length is much longer on tape than what we witnessed in person in my eyes. A sophomore starter at Western Dubuque, you see that burst of speed offensively as well as Grant also plays running back. At running back this kid is a blessing on the inside lanes, as he shows solid agility with his feet from side to side and has a strong gas pedal for his age. I believe he has more juice left in his agility to improve on this offseason and utilizing that quick twitch will also help him in the secondary with even more development on that quick trigger we mentioned above.
Defensive player of the weekend was @GrantGlausser . Grants a Junior to be from Western Dubuque. Grant mainly played safety for us with quite a few pass breakups this weekend. Grant also left a camp and drove 4 hrs just to compete with his teammates Sunday! pic.twitter.com/9uEbggLF1F
— Iowa Gators (@GatorsIowa) April 12, 2022
Javerius Smith | WR | Milwaukee Marshall(WI)-The Show | Twitter
Javerius was one of Joe’s top wide receivers from Saturday afternoon and after rolling his tape, it is easy to see why. He has such efficient athleticism that really comes into play when he uses his vertical and high pointing ability to come down with the football even in high-traffic areas. Javerius also shows great body rotation to get the best angle on the football he can to make a catch on the ball. His best route-running comes into play when he hits into that second level on intermediate routes over the middle of the field, where he use his sound speed to cut up the middle of the field and escape to the outside. I think Javerius has some room to grow as far as his balance around the sidelines, as he can get more aggressive on his routes to that side of the field to formulate a better placement. If this young man can add 10-15 pounds of muscle over the coming years, I believe he has the ability to play on Saturdays.
Dae’Vonn Hall | ATH | Bellevue West (NE)-Nebraska Elite
Dae’Vonn was a straight up gamer this weekend in Cedar Falls. His route-running ability and fluidity in his hips speak high volumes of his game at the wide receiver position as he can twitch, stop, etc. like a prospect that plays way more instinctive than you would expect for a sophomore. Dae’Vonn also shows off some eruptive hands that already show excellent blessings in the Nebraska Elite and Bellevue West offensive. Not to mention Dae’Vonn is developed as an athlete and when we got the chance to watch him live this weekend, he showed just how efficient he is from both sides of the ball. His twitch to adjust to get to the ball is really what stood out to me most in the Nebraska Elite secondary. I am sure college coordinators are going be fighting over this kid over which side of the ball they want him on as a swiss-army knife type of weapon on the field. Dae’Vonn already has as a herd of Power Five offers as just as incoming junior to be, and I am sure he will open up more windows come summer at prospect camps.
One More Prospect to Watch in 2024 from MN:
Ky Kelvie | QB | Buffalo (MN)-GameFace
@KyKelvie and his @GameFaceTr 7on7 team went 3-0 in pool play yesterday in the @iowa7v7football Back2Ballin tournament. Bracket play today, LET'S GO @NWahlScouting @GoBisonFootball @QBHitList @QBFTFootball pic.twitter.com/i6eInp2oTY
— Nick Kelvie (@NickKelvie) April 10, 2022