Prep Redzone Minnesota Showcase: D-Line Standouts
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BROOKLYN CENTER– Before the weekend and before I had weekend visitors, we were talking about the Hog Mollies that stood out at the Park Center Dome last Saturday. We now turn our focus to the defensive side of the ball as…
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Continue ReadingBROOKLYN CENTER– Before the weekend and before I had weekend visitors, we were talking about the Hog Mollies that stood out at the Park Center Dome last Saturday. We now turn our focus to the defensive side of the ball as take a look at all the interior and exterior defensive linemen that showed superb skillsets, growing development, and much more.
These 10 defensive linemen had what it took to be standouts at our Spring Prep Redzone MN Showcase!
Wyatt Gilmore Wyatt Gilmore 6'4" | 250 lbs | DL Rogers | 2024 State MN | Rogers | 2024
The defensive line MVP was just spectacular in my second viewing of him. Wyatt really showed off some highly soft hands when working in 1v1s. Wyatt was also the top prospect in our early testing sessions and was able to put up top numbers with size/speed ratio being top-notch. He showed off some lethal physicality within 1v1s last weekend on darn near every rep I got my eyes on. Roll that tape, it is hard to find a defensive end prospect that has such excellent GAME tape like Wyatt does as you can really grasp his game from start to finish and that is why he just picked up his first Power Five offer from Iowa State last week.
Elijah Boutchee Elijah Boutchee 6'2" | 230 lbs | DL Pierre | 2025 State SD | Pierre (SD) | 2025
Elijah was one of a few South Dakota prospects I was excited to watch prior to our Minnesota showcase, and lived up to the hype during it as well. He wasn’t the biggest DE out there, but I loved watching Elijah’s fight thru the duration of the multiple reps I got to watch. Elijah showed a significant reach at 6’2 195 pounds that although the competition was bigger, his athleticism showed off some purity. I took a peek at Elijah’s freshmen tape and saw all those skillsets I mentioned come to light especially offensively as well. I have a great feeling this young man will be one of our top prospects in the South Dakota Class of 2025, based on what I saw in Minnesota and on his impressive freshmen tape for the Pierre Govs.
Reid Permuth Reid Permuth 6'3" | 260 lbs | DL Prior Lake | 2024 State MN | Prior Lake | 2024
Talk about a gritty defensive line prospect, if you are a D1 college coach you will want to look at Prior Lake’s Reid Permuth Reid Permuth 6'3" | 260 lbs | DL Prior Lake | 2024 State MN . Reid showed a significant stance & bend from the reps I got of him in 1v1s last Saturday. I think Reid can develop quicker hands when shoving thru his motion, but I like his stout positioning (nobody is going to move him off his spot) in trying to eat up the gap where the ball carrier is. Another development I can see from Reid in the coming years, is working on his lower-body balance when he caves into the middle of the field, so he can crash even smoother inside. He shows significant speed off the snap to get into the backfield with ease when he gets in on the number of the ball carrier. A top 20 prospect in 2024, Reid for sure has a Division I grade coming from my eyes from a program that has been churning P5 talent from the d-line very very recently, as teammate Martin Owusu Martin Owusu 6'4" | 270 lbs | DL Prior Lake | 2023 State MN committed to Minnesota yesterday.
Ashton Sayre | Alexandria | 2023
I got a great glimpse of Ashton’s footwork in the early testing sessions. His showed deer-like footwork that looked to be very smooth across the duration of reps I saw from Ashton early at our MN showcase. For being one of our top testers and showing ideal measurables (6’4 235) for the next level, I was surprised to not find a junior tape from Ashton to evaluate. This young man will have to do his damage on the prospect camp circuit this summer & post up an great senior year to appear on more radars. Light D3 and D2 interest so far for Ashton, but that should grow this summer.
Dalton Muehlberg Dalton Muehlberg 6'1" | 370 lbs | DL Cambridge Isanti | 2024 MN | Cambridge-Isanti | 2024
Dalton might be the most raw defensive line prospect on this list, but there is a skillset is certainly there for the taking for this young man. This young man has some feisty hands and was one of a few prospects that at our showcase, had the finish when the whistle blows mentality. Dalton’s biggest development comes with his inside speed to the ball, as I think he has quicker speed he can add this offseason to really seal off those gaps for the Bluejackets. Dalton always will have a sizeable mismatch to his advantage, so if he can increase that get off speed to the ball, it is only going to help his chances show up at the next level. With some development, I think this kid has those next-level tools.
Joe Miller Joe Miller 6'5" | 240 lbs | DL Holy Angels | 2023 State MN IV | Academy of Holy Angels | 2023
Joe was a defensive line prospect that really crushed the size/speed ratio I saw last Saturday. coming into our MN showcase at 6’4 nearly 240 pounds, Joe was one of our top five prospects in the top testers piece we wrote yesterday. Joe’s tape comes out like a bull ready for a rodeo, as he runs well downhill with a chip on his shoulder and then uses his extended reach that he uses on both ends of the ball to not let the QB get that extra step to get out of the pocket. I do think Joe can work to be more physical and improving his pad-level when getting his hands around guys. He has a strong pull off once he gets off the OL, but he doesn’t show off the quick feisty hand speed I like our defensive ends to have. That physicality showed off best in his game tape against Chanhassen last year, as I felt he was fully unlocked and providing an A-level attack game when it came to that skillset, as he unlocked his hands quickly off the field and just showed a sufficent presence when he tapped into the backfield. I see Division I football in Joe’s future, as he would be a excellent fit at the FCS level in my eyes.
Langden College Langden College 6'4" | 220 lbs | DL Armstrong | 2024 State MN | Robbinsdale Armstrong | 2024
When I pointed out measurables vs. speed in our top testers article against defensive lines last night, you probably saw Robbinsdale Armstrong’s Langden College Langden College 6'4" | 220 lbs | DL Armstrong | 2024 State MN on there several times. This kid painted very strong athleticism for just an incoming junior at 6’5 around 205 pounds. With a brother that’s a FCS signee at South Dakota, Langden plays in a much different position than Kayden. Langden has a few years to develop a better trigger off the snap. He has the speed to make up for the lost seconds to get inside, but that is just one development I saw in this young man. When Langden is on the move with his rangy frame, I was impressed with his contact-level, as consistently on tape he showed the same solid level of contact with even room to become even more physical in the coming years. Langden also has a powerful stance with great stature and could certainly use his time in the weight room adding some mass to his 6’5 length. I believe Langden, certainly has the skillsets to develop in to a prospect playing on Saturdays.
Jameson Nebel Jameson Nebel 6'3" | 265 lbs | DL Hamlin | 2024 State SD | Hamlin (SD) | 2024
I love seeing the growth by school at PRZ Showcases, as Jameson Nebel Jameson Nebel 6'3" | 265 lbs | DL Hamlin | 2024 State SD was one of two Hamlin Chargers that made the near 4 hour trip to our Minnesota Showcase. How did he end up? Jameson was one of only a few prospects I am kicking myself I didn’t get to watch more reps out of. In the clips I received, Jameson positioned an OL to the far outside and then very quickly swept thru contact, with strong speed to get to the ball ASAP. There is no doubt on tape, Jameson has great hand speed, but I think he can work on his positioning over the coming months into camp season. He has a huge size advantage against most in interior lines in South Dakota 9-man football, but becomes slightly impatient with engaging with the defender and makes a attempt sometimes too soon when he doesn’t have his full 100% balance. I think Jameson’s next level position serves well at defensive end, as working on his physicality and conditioning with his athleticism will only help this young man in the coming years. Will be a 2024 watchlist prospect at the moment, but will climb into our rankings by next update.
More Tape on Stout Defensive Linemen from Park Center:
Jide Abasiri | Prior Lake | 2024
Tysean Hughes Tysean Hughes 6'0" | 265 lbs | DL MPLS Patrick Henry | 2023 State MN | Minneapolis Patrick Henry | 2023