Outside Playmakers to Watch for this Season

In todays’ game, your most prolific and talented players more times than not carry your team. Some play wide receiver, running back, corner back, and some play on both side of the ball including special teams. These studs are great examples of players that are key factors for their teams, and will be making an impact in the next couple months.   <h6><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="110094" first="Blaise" last="Nelson"]│Wide Receiver│5’11" 165 lbs│Valley Vista</strong></h6> <h6></h6> It is in his name, this guy is speed. Turn on the tape and the speed jumps off the screen. He won the 100 and 200 meter D1 Arizona state championship, and it correlates to the football field. He runs a 4.65 forty yard dash, and it shows while he is running by corners on go routes. While Blaise might be the fastest player in the state, he is also very clean at the top of his routes, which is rare to see with quick receivers. He sticks it hard and quick at the top and makes his cut, leaving defensive backs backpedaling while he already has the ball in his hands. He has great concentration, looking balls in and having to use one hand at times to bring it in. He start and stop instincts are top tier as well, being able to turn on the speed and using different speeds in routes comes in handy for Blaise. And for being a speedster, he loves to show his toughness by breaking tackles and pancaking some defenders as well. Watch out for him next season, if you can catch him. https://twitter.com/blaisenelson17/status/1525902533453295616?s=20&t=Dlus0L8m5Zop7ASsuz2PhA <h6><strong>Sire LaVallee│Strong Safety│5’11" 165 lbs│Mesquite</strong></h6>   <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/11861758/Sire-LaVallee">While some playmakers play on the offensive side, Sire uses his playmaking abilities to stop the ball.</a> Playing as a strong safety, Sire plays in the box very well when asked to, being a great run stopper and showing versatility by playing both as a high safety as well as another linebacker. When playing deep, he turns his hips very well, not allowing streaking wide outs past him, always being the deepest guy on the field which prevents long plays. He does not miss tackles either. Once you get to him, you are getting stopped and put on the ground. On short passes that are near the line of scrimmage in front of him, he plays downhill and comes down hard on the ball. I would like to see Sire a bit more aggressive on those, knowing he is the last line of defense, he has the tackling skills great enough to come down even faster and lay the boom. Sire will be a force on defense this year for Mesquite high school as they take on the 5A conference this year.   <h6><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="341743" first="Mason" last="VanDerToorn"]│Corner back/Free Safety│6’0" 167 lbs│Horizon</strong></h6> [player_tooltip player_id="341743" first="Mason" last="VanDerToorn"] will actually meet Sire and Mesquite late in the year this season, and that should be a good one! Mason is a transfer from Brophy Prep and has been a key player on the Horizon defense. 42 tackles last season, Mason is all over the football field. He has the size of a linebacker and looks the part as a backer but has the speed and covering skills of a cornerback. He comes up to the line of scrimmage and can press and put his hands on wide outs and is able to stay in front of them. His size and his hands are his two biggest attributes, the hand skill is off the charts. Being able to rip balls out of receiver hands, pressing without his body, and catching interceptions stands out greatly. Watching him play you can see his football IQ in his play, using the boundry as another defender and veering players towards it and knowing when he has help versus when he doesn’t is huge. Horizon played a lot of man to man where they had Mason chasing motioning wide receivers, and he had the ability to chase down from side to side before the snap and still deflect the ball was amazing to watch. Mason even throws blocks in special teams which shows his love of the game and always wanting to be on the field. [player_tooltip player_id="341743" first="Mason" last="VanDerToorn"] is a big reason why I am planning on attending Horizon High School football games this fall, and you should too. https://twitter.com/MasonVanDerToo3/status/1526283002149384192?s=20&t=Dlus0L8m5Zop7ASsuz2PhA <h6><strong>Reid Harris│Wide Receiver│5’9" 174 lbs│Mesquite</strong></h6>   <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtOFbmRkPow">Another Mesquite athlete! Reid Harris is an athlete, and it shows right away.</a> He was named the Northern California Prep Redzone Prospect camp MVP. Runs a 4.63 forty-yard dash, 4.43 shuttle, and an eleven-foot broad jump, it translates to the field. He glides while running, making his speed look so easy (It is NOT), and can make any play a huge scoring play in the blink of an eye. He bursts in and out of cuts with ease, not needing multiple jukes in order to blow by defenders. One cut and he is gliding into the end zone. At 174 lbs, he also has the ability to run people over with that speed, so you do not know what he is going to do when you have him in the open field one on one. Can’t wait to see how he is used this season on (both?) sides of the ball.   These four athletes make an impact the second they step on the field. On both sides of the ball and even special teams, these guys can make any play spectacular and makes their team hard to beat. These guys will compete all season, and even against each other, for the right to be crowned champs in 2022.