MHSAA Eval Camp: Jenison Defensive Impressions

Now for a few defensive impressions! I was able to get a good look at a handful of defensive players today. Here are my most confident quick evaluations, with a few others probably coming throughout the week on Twitter.    Big shoutout to one of the hardest workers of the day. Chase caught my eye in both the AM and the PM sessions. Thats right- Chase attended both sessions (DB first session, RB second) and he did pretty well in both areas.   At DB, he was a little more raw, but had a few stopped a few short routes and was extremely vocal in encouraging his teammates. As a running back, I was impressed with the routes Chase ran. He can plant a foot in the turf and change direction as well as any D3 college prospect I've seen. Hands were hit-and-miss.   Big props to Chase for working out from 9:30-3:00 on the first 80° day this year. Excited to see what he accomplishes during his senior season.     I regrettably didn't get a great look at Brandon during our Prep Redzone camp, but I did get a good look at him at this MHSAA camp.   Overall, Brandon did well. On several occasions, he flashed his great athletic testing numbers with good change of direction, great top speed, and solid recovery. His fundamentals still need work- hips need to be looser, needs to change direction quicker, especially out of his backpedal, etc. Though, those testing numbers have me very excited for his upside. A handful of great reps against seniors + great athletic traits usually = college offers in a year's time.     I'm happy to have gotten a good look at Luke today. In the positional drills, Luke was as good as any. Looked decently quick, worked hard, and was all-around a step faster than the pack.   One-on-ones were hit or miss. Luke featured a solid inside swim move and a cross chop that won on a couple of occasions. When the initial move would fail, Luke would oftentimes fall back on a spin move. Luke won more times than he lost, but still needs to work on perfecting his moves, plus getting better at countering when the primary move doesn't go his way.   Still, Luke has excellent run-stopping tape and really made his money in the run game. Interested in seeing if Luke ends up being more of a 5-tech or a 2i-3 tech moving forward- he got reps all over the defensive line. Still a year until most D2s and below take a super close look at Luke. Confidenet he'll show even more improvement in a year's time.     I was a bit surprised to see Recarder at camp, mostly becuase the top-tier D1 prospects tend to skip camps like these (vast majority D2, D3 coaches in attendance).   Still, Recarder came, worked hard, got some coaching, and still dominated. Recarder won with a small but very effective move list. Rep started with a great getoff, helped out by Recarder's 500+ lb squat. Then, he could dip and rip around the offensive tackle, showing good bend. He also mixed in a spin and push-pull.   Like literally every single high school prospect, Recarder still has room to grow. He wasn't perfect, but he's explosive and fundamentally sound enough to dominate most high school offensive linemen with ease.     Dacari was one of the biggest surprises of the camp! I'll be honest, he was by far the best Class of 2028 prospect that I scouted, and I tried to get a look at all of them.   In a nutshell, Dacari has excellent size, alongside above-average athletic traits. Plus, he had a number of good wins in pass coverage- something I see even the best run defending RBs struggle with. Dacari still has a ways to go when it comes to reaction time and all-around pass coverage, but he's WAY ahead of the curve compared to the rest in his class. I'm fully expecting Dacari to grow into an awesome college prospect relatively quickly.

Now for a few defensive impressions! I was able to get a good look at a handful of defensive players today. Here are my most confident quick evaluations, with a few others probably coming throughout the week on Twitter.