Friday Film Review Part One (March 17th, 2023)
In this article:
Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! Every Friday during February through April, we’re going to throw on the tape and break down athletes across Oklahoma. Last month, we put out a tweet…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGet 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!
Every Friday during February through April, we’re going to throw on the tape and break down athletes across Oklahoma. Last month, we put out a tweet asking prospects in the 2024-2026 classes to send us their film for our Film Review feature. Over 150 responses later and we’re off to the races. We’ve reviewed 75 prospects all over Oklahoma so far and we’re not close to slowing down. Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma every Friday for more breakdowns on athletes across Oklahoma. This week, we put out not one, but two Film Reviews and this is part one! Check out part two RIGHT HERE!
If you’re not featured this week but have sent us your film, don’t worry! You’re on the list and will be covered in the future. Now, all of these breakdowns are based on the film we have access to. And this isn’t just a puff piece. While the majority of the breakdowns will be positive, it will also include areas to improve, question marks and more for the prospect to work on as we head into the spring and summer. And in this post, get ready because the majority of these prospects shine on the defensive side of the ball, specifically at the defensive back position.
Choctaw 2025 standout Cash Williams Cash Williams 6’1″ | 205 lbs | ATH Choctaw | 2025 State OK is the only 2025 prospect on this week’s breakdown. And we’re going to start with his future as a football prospect. It feels like it’s up in the air right now because he’s pretty strong on the baseball diamond as well. But moving forward, Williams is definitely going to be a 2025 prospect to keep an eye on as he moves into a new role with the Yellowjackets. On offense, Williams was Choctaw’s swiss army knife that could be used in a variety of ways, including at the quarterback position. Now that 2023 QB Steele Wasel Steele Wasel 6’4″ | 210 lbs | QB Choctaw | 2023 State OK is off to Akron, the Yellowjackets need a new guy to step into that quarterback role. Williams is one contender for that spot but he might honestly be more valuable to the Yellowjackets at a few other positions. Williams had his sophomore season cut short to injury and we’re looking forward to seeing him get back on the field for Choctaw. Based on his limited sophomore film, Williams was at his best on the defensive side of the ball and on defense, he was at his best lined up near the line of scrimmage. He was an incredibly hard hitter on defense.
Moore 2024 defensive back Corey Dean Corey Dean 6’0″ | 180 lbs | DB Moore | 2024 State OK has had an outstanding offseason and has certainly made the rounds on the camp circuit. First off, he was the DB MVP at our camp back in January. Dean would also earn MVP honors at another camp down in Texas in late February. The confidence is definitely there in Dean’s game and he’s been a student of the game this offseason, consistently putting in work on his game. Based on his film last fall, Dean is a hard hitter that was left on an island a lot last season but he handled business. In 1 on 1 situations, Dean absolutely flourished and seemed to shine brightest. It doesn’t appear that Dean was challenged very much as quarterbacks looked to avoid throwing his way. The combination of size and speed is something that will attract college coaches. Moving forward, there isn’t a whole lot to critique when it comes to Dean’s film. And Dean has also impressed us every time we’ve seen him in person this offseason. But we want to check him out in person when the pads come on to see how much of what we’ve seen in the last few months translates when the pads and helmets come on.
Highlights
The first thing that stood out to us about Norman North 2024 defensive back Elias Battle Elias Battle 5’10” | 175 lbs | DB Norman North Highschool | 2024 OK is his toughness. He played a lot of his junior season with a cast on his hand. And similar to his toughness, Battle did not back down from any opponent. Standing 5’10, Battle went up against some receivers that had him in the size department but he actually did quite well against taller wide receivers. As a junior, Battle mostly lined up at the cornerback position. He showed strong cover skills but he was really impressive defending the run and making tackles in the open field. We like some of the pieces that Norman North brings back on the defensive side of the ball and we think that Battle could be ready to be a breakout player within 6A-1 this fall. Battle runs into a similar problem as other defensive back prospects that are his size. Where does he translate position-wise to the next level? In high school, he’s a solid defensive back, specifically at the cornerback position but what is his natural spot at the next level? That’s one thing that we’re curious about with him moving forward.
Highlights
Tecumseh 2024 standout Marquan Krush Marquan Krush 6’2″ | 185 lbs | DB Tecumseh | 2024 OK is a perfect example of why we do this feature throughout the offseason. Prior to getting his film submission and taking a look at his junior tape, we hadn’t heard of Krush and had no opinion of him. After checking it out, we think that Krush is definitely a name that is worth taking a look at this spring and summer. He’s listed at 6’2 and 185 pounds and he definitely looks like he has good size based on the film we watched. He’s listed as a cornerback and a safety but almost all of his junior film was at the cornerback position. The first thing that stood out to us about Krush from the cornerback position was his quick reaction time. He does a good job of moving with a wide receiver while also sneaking a peak into the backfield and knowing where the quarterback is going with the ball. And when he isn’t peaking, he does a good job of reacting to the wide receiver on the fly. There’s a lot to like about the Krush film. One thing that we would like to see more of is Krush making tackles in the open field in addition to the coverage highlights.
And we wrap up part one of this week’s Friday Film Review with Southmoore 2024 standout Skyler Mayer Skyler Mayer 6’0″ | 175 lbs | ATH Southmoore | 2024 OK . As a sophomore, Mayer primarily played on the defensive side of the ball, but as a junior, he would end up playing on both sides of the ball. On offense, Mayer seemed to be a touchdown machine. There was clip after clip of Mayer catching touchdowns in a variety of ways. He was a deep threat, he was beating guys after the catch and much more. The thing that certainly stood out on offense was Mayer’s hands and how consistent he was at making catches. On defense, the hands certainly stood out once again as he made some big plays at the safety position. In addition to the hands, Mayer’s physicality stood out. On offense, he could lower the shoulder and showed that hard hitting on defense as well. Similar to Battle at Norman North, Mayer will run into the question of where he fits in at the next level. Is he an offensive or defensive prospect? Right now, if we had to lean one way or the other, we would probably pick offense but it’s incredibly close and that could very well change. It feels like a coin toss at this point.