Dakota Scouting Report (Vs. IKE)

I remember playing Macomb when I was on the Youth Birmingham Patriots team. They were always the biggest, fastest, and strongest team. We always got blown out.   A lot of those youth players grow up to attend Dakota High School and develop into phenomenal football players. For as long as I can remember, Dakota has been a blue blood in D1, and they're always in the State Championship mix. Yesterday, I saw why they're always in the mix. Although they came up short, Dakota was the more physical team, and I never saw a Dakota player give less than full effort.   Here are my notes on six Dakota players!    Elijah was a must-see for me. I've seen a lot of tape, but it was finally time for an in-person evaluation.   Defensively, Elijah has sky-high potential. I honestly didn't watch him as much as I wanted on this side of the ball, but he's great on tape and as I'll mention in a moment, has the twitchiness to be an elite DB.   Offensively, Elijah made a few very good plays. Early in the game, Elijah was mostly utilized as a decoy as Dakota attempted to establish the inside run. later on, he got a few carries on jet sweeps.   During his first sweep. Elijah made sure to follow his blocks and wait for a hole to run though. That hole showed up late, and he ended up being tackled from the backside. During that instance, it's tough, but Elijah may have been able to gain positive yardage if he turned upfield sooner. During the second sweep, I had a great view of Elijah patiently working through traffic, making a man miss, and quickly turning upfield. The play was called back due to a hold, but I saw great open-field vision and phenomenal change of direction + stop-and-go.   Another area I watched was his blocking. He was tasked with a few blocks (as a WR) but generally failed to be effective. Elijah would get his hands on a defender, but didn't do much to drive him back. It's a difficult skill, but I know that colleges LOVE WRs who can block (and it will help with overall physicality at DB).   Time will tell where Elijah is ranked (I will add 100+ more 2027 prospects soon), but I'm confident he'll be a top-100 player throughout his High School career. Right now, I'd say Elijah has a GLIAC floor and a Power 4 ceiling, that is, if he works his tail off this offseason.     I finally got to watch Brady play, and now I know the hype surrounding him. Linebacker is a position that, in my opinion, is very difficult to scout behind a computer screen. In person, I'm able to get a much better understanding of a linebacker's competence.   I've (in person) scouted nearly every linebacker currently ahead of Brady in the rankings, and I can tell you that Brady will definitely be moving up in the next rankings update. Time and again, Brady attacked the football with great pursuit angles, quick reaction time, and an overall mentality + play speed that I rarely see in linebackers. Against inside runs, Brady is oftentimes able to react quicker than the linemen trying to block him, and I must say, IKE barely ran the ball between the tackles. Against outside runs / screens, Brady sprinted to the football and laid the wood a few times.   Brady also played quite a bit of offense, mostly at RB. He's a power runner who's consistently able to earn a few extra yards. I honestly don't love his vision or contact balance, but his play at RB doesn't affect my opinion of him whatsoever.   Great player. Great leader. Ferris State develops LBs extremely well and I hope to see him play on Saturdays in a few years!     Jeremiah had his time to shine late in the game. There was a point where I thought the IKE defense looked gassed, and that's when Jeremiah was put in to provide more elusiveness in the run game. He had a handful of carries late in the game and I was very impressed with his between-the-tackles play. He was decisive yet patient, navigating through tight traffic with great burst. The sample size isn't great, but I loved what I saw from his carries. There's no reason to think Jeremiah can't be a dominant RB in the MAC Red starting next season.   Love the upside, and Jeremiah will be ranked during the next update!     DiMari was much more involved in the game than I expected.   Defensively, he's a very well-established linebacker. Great effort, great pursuit angles, and a willing pass defender. He's committed to Michigan State to play linebacker, and he's obviously phenomenal at that position.   Offense is where I watched DiMari the most. There, he lined up as an RB, H-Back, TE, and WR. He got a few touches, and did generally well. DiMari is strong enough to run through traffic and fall forward. Though, I honestly wasn't impressed with his vision or contact balance. I know it's not his primary position, so I don't knock him much for that. DiMari was also utilized as a lead blocker, and he did well. There was one moment in particular where I watched DiMari grab his teammate in a pile and pull him forward, earning Dakota extra yards.   I've watched DiMari a number of times during the offseason, and his linebacker tape is undeniably great. He rarely if ever came off the field, and he's obviously a phenomenal player. Can't wait to watch him develop at Michigan State!     #5 made a few very high-effort plays. Especially in the first half, Dylan flew all over the field.   Whenever a play was ran his way, Dylan immediately got off of his blocker and shot toward the ballcarrier. Love seeing DBs play like LBs against the run, and Dylan is one of those guys.   In the passing game, Dylan played solid coverage throughout the game. In the first half, Dylan secured a very impressive interception on a slightly underthrown ball downfield. It was single coverage, so if the receiver came down with the ball, IKE likely would've scored. Later in the game, Dylan lost a step on his receiver, and that receiver made a great play on the ball. You win some and lose some, but Dylan definitely won more than he lost. Another very high-effort player for Dakota, and I was very impressed by his defensive performance.     Austin has very obvious talent. Few high school programs have a talented kicker, and Austin provides immense value for Dakota.   He two long field goal attempts. While both had plenty of leg, both were missed. One close, one pretty wide left.   On kickoffs, Austin is able to kick it deep with great hang time, oftentimes forcing IKE to receive a high kick inside the 10.   Finally, Austin kicked a great onside kick at the end of the game. IKE recovered, but it was kicked exactly how you'd want it to be kicked- a fast-spinning ball with unpredictable bounce.   It's obvious that Austin is an extremely talented kicker. He has a huge leg, and I have no doubt he could hit from 50+. Fix up the accuracy, and Austin has incredible college upside.

I remember playing Macomb when I was on the Youth Birmingham Patriots team. They were always the biggest, fastest, and strongest team. We always got blown out.