Dexter Scouting Report (vs. Saline)

I have a lot to say about several Dexter players. Although they fell to Saline, there were a number of good performances. Here, I'll share my thoughts on six players that I watched very closely.    Friday's game confirmed everything that I previously thought about Ronny. In short, everything that he's put on tape showed up. Not more, not less.   Right off the bat, Ronny passes the eye test. He's an extremely fit, well-built, elusive running back. During warm-ups, Ronny looked locked in and ready to go.   During the first quarter, Ronny played very well. I thought that the Dexter offense gave him a fair number of touches, and Ronny made the most of his touches. Like you'd expect from a B1G 10 committed running back, he turned what would normally be a 3-4 yard gain into an explosive play because of his skillset. Speaking of skillset, Ronny seems extremely athletic and explosive. He also has solid vision, and does a great job of making people miss at the second level. As his size may suggest, he isn't the most powerful back, but still falls forward. I'm really not saying anything groundbreaking- Ronny is everything you'd expect from a Northwestern commit. Athletic, explosive, and generally a couple steps above most others on the football field.     I am very comfortable with calling Holden the best tight end in Michigan.   Before this game, I had already seen Holden a fair amount. From last year's Prep Redzone Camp, Holden posted some extremely impressive testing statistics. He also dominated the 1on1 portion, and from there, I knew it was only a matter of time before he received B1G / SEC offers. Those offers did come, and they came in waves from schools like Michigan, Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, and SEVERAL others.   Now, let's talk about his performance in-game. I like how he's utilized, lining up both on and off the ball. On-ball, Holden was asked to block quite a bit while being a receiving threat at the same time. His blocking wasn't perfect, but it was worlds better than most other TEs I watch. Specifically, I like Holden's aggression, and he can pancake you if you aren't ready. Though, any experienced linebacker/DL (D2+ prospect) could counter his over-commitment with a simple sidestep. Again, I am in no way disappointed with Holden's blocking, but it's still an area he can improve upon.   In the pass game, Dexter did their best to get Holden a ton of touches. The thing is, Saline covered him up pretty good. When Holden was able to secure a pass (most often running very short comebacks, outs, etc), he did his best to earn YAC and fall forward at the very least. Again, the defense really keyed in on Holden, so it was difficult for him to ever do much after the catch.   Lastly, I like the emotion that Holden showed toward the end of the game. Yes, he was frustrated with how things were going. But it seemed like he channeled that frustration into talking with coaches and other positive things. Nothing I saw indicated any toxicity, which is always a major plus.     During Dexter's first two drives, I focused entirely on the two tackles, [player_tooltip player_id='899494' first='Cameron' last='Clark'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1080316' first='Owen' last='Winder'].   I really liked what I saw from Cameron, and I think he was easily the best offensive lineman on either team (and I honestly didn't know which tackle was who until later).   For someone as tall as 6'7", movement is half the battle. A lot of tall linemen struggle mightily with body control, and Cameron is not one of them. Part of it is experience and practice, while another big part is being at a good weight for the position while staying fit year-round. It's easy to understand why a school like Wisconsin would want Cameron, as someone with his size who moves well is very, very rare.   I liked what I saw from Cameron's first few drives. To start, his run-blocking footwork is very strong. It didn't matter what block he was trying to execute, Cameron always took the right steps and put his body in a great position to make a play. In addition, his tenacity and overall effort were good, but not elite.   Pass blocking is an area where some flaws surfaced. Mainly, his agility. Cameron was going up against some of the fastest EDGE talent in Michigan, and on a good few occasions, the defense was too fast for him. Now, I think he still has solid pass blocking technique (though started to look a bit frantic and off-balance later in the game). Also, when Cameron got a good punch on someone, they were more often than not eliminated from the play. The agility just got a little exposed, and that's something that he'll undoubtedly work on at Wisconsin.   All in all, I still definitely view Cameron as one of the elite OL prospects in Michigan. It was an up-and-down performance, but I'm confident that he'll learn and bounce back.     On the other side of the offensive line was [player_tooltip player_id='1080316' first='Owen' last='Winder'].   I like what I saw from Owen, but I also understand why he's a MAC prospect and not a B1G/SEC prospect. While he has some no-doubt D1 traits, there are a few things holding him back from being that elite prospect.   First off, the things I like. Once Owen gets his hands on you, good luck. I liked his power and tenacity quite a bit as long as he put some real intention into the play. During the two drives that I watched, most plays went opposite of Owen, so it was a little difficult to judge his run blocking. All in all, I thought Owen had good footwork and overall technique.   Now, for things to improve upon. Like Cameron, Owen is not the most agile tackle. Sometimes, he got beat off the edge, as he went up against someone with superior explosiveness and agility. Second, I didn't love the effort Owen gave on a few occasions. There was one instance in particular where I thought he gave very poor effort on a screen pass. There's a chance he isn't meant to play a key role on that play, but I definitely thought he could have made an impact block if he gave 100% effort. On a few other occasions, Owen gave up a little before the whistle. Lastly, his all-around footwork and balance aren't quite up to par with a Power 4 prospect.   It's obvious that Owen is a talented player, and it's even more obvious that he was locked in and cared a whole lot about winning. I really think that Owen is just a few corrections away from being a B1G / SEC prospect.     I focused most of my attention on Nathan while scouting Dexter's defense.   In short, I completely understand why Nathan is considered an elite linebacker prospect.   First, allow me to get my one nitpick out of the way. There were a few occasions where Nathan was a little slow to respond. I like that Nathan is a patient player who doesn't attack until he diagnoses the play, but his reaction time is still a step behind where it needs to be. There were also a few times where Nathan seemed to guess wrong, ran himself into a blocker, etc. I could see that Nathan was frustrated in many of those situations.   Now, for the good.   Nathan is a VERY explosive and athletic football player. When Saline was in goal-to-go situations, Nathan seemed to play with an extra gear. Once Nathan knew where the play was headed, he shot himself toward the ballcarrier like a heat-seeking missile (tweet below).   In addition, Nathan seems like a very smart linebacker. While I think he could have reacted quicker, Nathan was never fooled by pre-snap motions, play-action, etc. Another play that comes to mind is a play-action pass that Saline tried to execute at the goal line. It looked like the play was drawn up to get their TE open in the middle of the endzone, but Nathan's patience and IQ allowed him to drop back into coverage and force a loss of down.   To sum things up, Nathan is one of the most explosive linebackers that I've ever seen. I completely understand the hype, and I fully expect Nathan to be a great contributor to a Power 4 CFB program some day.     Grant had a very up-and-down day. I admittedly didn't watch Grant as closely as others, but his name kept popping up, and it's obvious that he's an extremely valuable player on this Dexter squad.   Special teams are so incredibly important in football. On the opening kickoff, Grant nearly took it to the house. He displayed very good decisiveness + vision, and I was generally impressed with his kick returns all game. However, he made one extremely critical mistake when he failed to pick up the ball on one kick return. But I trust that he won't make that mistake again.   Defensively, Grant usually serves as Dexter's single-high safety. Although Saline threw the ball a lot, they didn't push it downfield a whole lot, so Grant's pass-defense opportunities were limited. When Grant was presented with tackle opportunities, he took them, but he definitely isn't a great run-stopper like some elite safeties. All in all, Grant lived up to his current ranking. Obviously someone that plays a big role, and someone who has the athleticism to make a lot of great plays. I look forward to watching Grant's highlight tape at the end of the season!

I have a lot to say about several Dexter players. Although they fell to Saline, there were a number of good performances. Here, I'll share my thoughts on six players that I watched very closely.