South Dakota 2028 Rankings: Meet the 2028 RB and TE Newcomers

<!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>RB3: [player_tooltip player_id='1601649' first='Kaleb' last='Larson'], RB/LB, Elkton-Lake Benton </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kaleb is a 2028 target that just about right away shows off multiple skillsets that intrigued me on tape. He even shows what looks like position flexibility to linebacker as he grows thru the high school rankings which is something to watch for on the Elks next year. He showed off more springy movement and athleticism than I expected at the running back position. He shows off explosive speed and vision thru tight windows as yet another two-way stud coming from Ethan Pearson's bunch at Elkton-Lake Benton. No Twitter yet that I could find on this young man.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>RB2: Darieion Smith, RB, Brandon Valley </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Darieion is another one that you really had to dig for his tape, but it lit a fire once you found it gauging this young man's athleticism, short area vision, and instincts.I've seen athletes flip the field on tape before, but hardly any showed it off as a freshman like like Darieion Smith of Brandon Valley. Darieion is also extremely fluid for his age as that shows on multiple levels of the football field. Darieion also appears to have a sound base of lower body length that intrigues me with his strides, as I can't wait to get measurables on this young man.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>RB1: [player_tooltip player_id='1422534' first='Porter' last='Gregg'], RB, Herreid-Selby </strong><a href="https://x.com/Portergregg4">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1611138,"width":"315px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/07/IMG_8468-crop-512x337-1738022547-crop-409x269-1738022589.jpg?w=408" alt="" class="wp-image-1611138" style="width:315px;height:auto" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Yet another Herreid-Selby Wolverine tipping the scales early on our radar is our RB1 in 2028 running back [player_tooltip player_id='1422534' first='Porter' last='Gregg']. Logging for just about 1000 yards is a tough feat, but when you do it as a freshman it's even more fascinating. The change of direction that Porter has shows off right away as one that you tell quickly how great his vision in tighter areas on the field. For 5'9 170 pounds, I also found him to be more durable with lower body than I expected as Porter runs thru contact without much lower body frustration in the legs. Porter is one that can turn north to south with great instincts and one that verified he has good hands and balance too at the Jamestown camp last summer. Family pedigree is also in Porter's favor, as older brother Chance was a Northern State football commit a couple years back.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"style":{"typography":{"fontSize":"24px"}}} --> <p style="font-size:24px"><strong>Tight Ends</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>TE2: [player_tooltip player_id='1601573' first='Jaxon' last='Dirk'], TE/LB, Lemmon-McIntosh</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Moving to tight ends, we look at our first tight end on our board in the Mount Rushmore State, in Lemmon-McIntosh's [player_tooltip player_id='1601573' first='Jaxon' last='Dirk']. The 6'0 190 pounder from the Cowboys shows off more versatile traits than you would expect from a small school tight end. As a route-runner his athletic movement shows off more like a wide receiver yet, in a blocking sense it's clear with watching the pad-level and great leverage that is there more for the taking on tape for this young man. Not only does Jaxon come in as TE2, his tape shows all the position flexibility that you want on all three levels of the field. Another 2028 prospect I have yet to find on Twitter yet that impresses us!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>TE1: [player_tooltip player_id='1575892' first='Cole' last='Kieffer'], TE, Lyman </strong><a href="https://x.com/Colekieffer_">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1611140,"width":"305px","height":"auto","sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/IMG_1882-rotated-crop-481x316-1738022729.jpg?w=480" alt="" class="wp-image-1611140" style="width:305px;height:auto" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An All-State honorable mention tight end as a freshmen, we meet our TE1 in the 2028 South Dakota class in Lyman's [player_tooltip player_id='1575892' first='Cole' last='Kieffer']. Cole was one of my favorite 2028s in attendance at our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase this winter as in the live eval he shows off the highly sizable catch radius I wanted to see in a 6'3 175 pounder that looks to have the body type to stretch out to be even taller and stronger over the coming years. The testing numbers from Aberdeen showed the athleticsm I watched as well, running a 4.82 40 yard dash and nearly a 31 inch standing vertical which is great for his age and class. The tape shows off a springy release for a tight end off the snap as Cole shows off a capable route runner that can come back to the ball about as swift as you would expect out of a pass-catcher. Constantly is using that long catch radius we saw in person too on tape. Our big word we pride ourselves on is evaluating young men's "upside" and Cole is surely one that defines the term in this 2028 tight end class.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->