Off-season top ten report – Ryan Babatz

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>This is the fourth in a series of stories I will be doing. I will talk with as many of Prepredzonemn.com's Class of '25 top ten athletes as possible to see what they have been up to since the football season ended.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Buffalo offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='918768' first='Ryan' last='Babatz'] is done with good regular seasons, only to be followed by a quick exit in the playoffs. He is determined to help his team translate regular-season success into post-season success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"We had a good regular season (5-3) and won our district, but I just want to make a playoff run," Babatz said. "We have had a first-round exit the last two years. We have good players and good coaches; we need to perform better in the playoffs. It was a solid season, though."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Babatz had a solid season on the offensive line, too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It was a pretty good season. I felt pretty dominant the whole year. I played against some really good players here and there. I felt like I competed well against those players. I felt dominant this year – way better than last year."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It was his second year in the starting lineup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I played a little bit of left guard to start my sophomore year. By the second half of the year, I was starting at left tackle."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Babatz started at left tackle all season as a junior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"The switch (from guard to tackle) wasn't big for me. It is different jumping from guard out to tackle, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. It is just a little different how you set things up. Pass pro is a little different, and so is the run game, but I can usually handle it."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Bison big man was a part-time defensive player last season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I played defensive line in some goal line packages. I will probably do more next year."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Offense is where Babatz's home really is.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I am good blocking out on an island and out in space against wide rushers," the 6'5, 290-pound soon-to-be senior said. "I am good at coming down on the d-tackle in the power game. I am all right getting to the second level. It is a little hard because those guys are so fast, but I am okay with that. I feel like have good drive off the ball."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quickness is the focus of his off-season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I am going to work on improving my stance and find ways to get faster coming out of my stance – especially in the passing game. I am working on exploding off my inside leg."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Babatz is a three-sport athlete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I wrestled in the winter. We still got two lifts a week during wrestling. It was my third year in wrestling. This year, I was the varsity heavyweight. I was 28-14, and I went to State. It was a first-round exit, but making it to State was a big goal of mine. I work the upper body, working my underhooks for throws and bear hugs."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I throw shot and disc in track," Babatz continued. "It was my second year in track. I took seventh at State in the shot put.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Babatz will not be slowing down going into the summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I will be lifting four times a week and doing the team camp stuff," the North Dakota State commit said. "I am heading up to North Dakota State for a one-day camp. I will do a little bit of wrestling stuff here and there."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Recruiting went well," Babatz continued. "I had a lot of opportunities all over the country. I felt like NDSU was the best for me. I love the people there. They are a developmental program with a long history of winning and offensive line production. I loved the winning culture."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Babatz—who likes to fish for panfish, four-wheeling, and snowmobiling—expects to move back to guard in college. He had multiple offers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"My top three were NDSU, Wyoming, and South Dakota State. I had other offers, but no one recruited me as hard as those three schools."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hopefully, Babatz and the Buffalo Bison have a long playoff run in them – he will likely have to get used to them with the Bison of NDSU.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->