MHSAA Evaluation Week: 1st-Team Defense

May 12 kicked off what I like to call "camp season". From now until early July, evaluation camps and college recruiting are in full swing. Last week, we had nine cheap, accessible, and college-coach-loaded camps hosted by the MHSAA. Throughout the week, I was able to attend eight of nine of these camps. Here's who stood out to me most on the defensive side of the football.   LB | Lathon Groves Jr | L'Anse Creuse   One of the best at the HAWK showcase. Has the size, tape proves he's got the physicality, and camp proves he can drop back into coverage. I'm looking forward to seeing what Lathon will accomplish moving forward. Rankings addition immenent.   LB | [player_tooltip player_id='1337156' first='Gavin' last='May'] | Pennfield   Explosive, athletic, and built very well. Looks the part and has worked his tail off to prepare his body for Division 1 college football. Wish I saw more in the pass coverage department. Still, easily a top linebacker from last week.   LB | Colin Stealy | Marshall   Underrated prospect. Great baseball player, too. Has good size, length, and flashed in pass coverage. Able to close quickly and swat balls out of receivers' hands.   LB | [player_tooltip player_id='567890' first='Javari' last='Funches'] | Lansing Everett   Quick feet, patient, and knows how to play man coverage. Fundamentally one of the best linebackers. Needs to dramatically upgrade speed in order to play D1 football.   DL | Cortney Powell | Ecorse   Raw, but not nearly as raw as most D-Linemen his size. Did his best work on the interior. Explosive getoff, good use of hands, but needs to upgrade bend and pad level. If he's going to play on the interior in college, he'll probably need to transform his body, too. Sky's the limit for Cortney. Very positive impression of him from the Detroit camp.   DL | [player_tooltip player_id='1298716' first='William' last='Reed'] | Oak Park   Keeps on blowing people away. I don't understand why the entire MAC isn't after him. Akron and Buffalo have already offered, which are two very uncommon first offers from a Michigan prospect. Explosive, good size, great hands, I could go on.   DL | [player_tooltip player_id='1264786' first='Recarder' last='Kitchen'] | Muskegon   Showed why he's such a highly-touted prospect. Far too explosive and bendy for the lineman at the Jenison PM camp.   DL | [player_tooltip player_id='1618140' first='Jeremiah' last='Walker'] | Saginaw Heritage   Looks the part and shows a ton of promise. Reminds me of a few GLIAC and MAC defensive tackles I've scouted over the years.   DB | [player_tooltip player_id='1148719' first='Luke' last='Ahern'] | Rockford   Was able to showcase physicality a little more, which is one of Luke's biggest strengths. A ton of great reps, and few major mistakes.   DB | Kanaan Lenton | Redford Union   This Class of 2028 DB has some skill. Plus, he's one heck of an athlete. Got his reps, earned a ton of PBUs, and could be one of the best DBs in Michigan's Class of 2028 when it's all said and done.   DB | Mohammed Salha | Dearborn   Super physical DB. Was giving receivers an extremely difficult time. Even when a receiver was able to gain a step, Mohammed did a great job working back toward the receiver, staying calm, and getting a hand up.   DB | Kobe Jones | Redford Union   Another DB from Redford Union who had a great camp. Fundamentals were inconsistent, but athleticism made up for these flaws. All in all, Kobe got a ton of reps and stood out to me amongst the dozens of DBs I watched last week.

May 12 kicked off what I like to call "camp season". From now until early July, evaluation camps and college recruiting are in full swing. Last week, we had nine cheap, accessible, and college-coach-loaded camps hosted by the MHSAA. Throughout the week, I was able to attend eight of nine of these camps. Here's who stood out to me most on the defensive side of the football.