Prep Red Zone MVPs – Wide receivers

After re-aggravating a shoulder injury from his sophomore year, Grand Meadow wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="327662" first="Cael" last="Gilbert"] finished a successful football season. Instead of competing on the wrestling mat – which he has done every year since elementary school – Gilbert decided to focus on getting his shoulder back to one hundred percent. One of the first times he competed athletically since the football season was the Prep Red Zone Minnesota Showcase. Based on his performance, Gilbert is well on the road to recovery. "The combine was fun," Gilbert said. "I got into the dome and saw everyone warming up, and I thought there is going to be some competition here. I came in and tried my best to do everything and tried to focus on myself. I was focused on what I wanted to do. All around, I thought it was a great camp." For the previous three months, Gilbert was also focused on himself. "I like wrestling a lot, but I have always loved football. In week five (of football), I tore some scar tissue in my shoulder off an injury I had last season. I decided to take the winter off from wrestling to focus on healing up and making sure I am good for football. I have been training since the end of the football season." The junior needed to put his body through some live drills after the injury. "I wanted to see where I am at right now," Gilbert explained. "I have been training a lot with my buddies; I wanted to see where I was at time-wise and also find out how much I have improved physically on the field. I wanted to get a feel for the one on ones and see how that would go." On top of testing himself, adding some college-level coaching never hurts. "I picked up a lot of little tips and techniques that I can improve on and obviously add up and make a big impact on my game. Things like toe-drags coming out of routes and false steps off the start – getting rid of those things." A two-way player, at the combine, Gilbert had to decide where to put his focus. "I play linebacker and defensive back on defense, but wide receiver has been my main position. I wanted to get more knowledge at receiver. I am going to other camps this offseason and will get time to work on both (sides of the ball)." A nine-man power, Grand Meadow had another strong season. "We had a good season as a team. We were athletic and a solid team. We ended up losing in the section semi-finals to the state champion (Leroy Ostrander). That sucked, but it is motivation for next year." Gilbert feels quick feet – on both sides of the ball – are his greatest asset. "Defensively, since I switched from defensive back to linebacker, I have gotten good at changing direction and quickness. I have a good sense of where the ball is and how to react to it. On offense, my quickness off the ball and my cuts and change of direction." The change in direction in his offseason – from recovery to improvement – should make Gilbert a terror again at the 9-man level and, if he keeps improving – beyond.