PSR Big Camp Series, New Jersey: Defensive Backs, Volume I

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Saturday, May 10th, 2025 I was welcomed back for the third year in a row to cover Coach Nick Pennisi's&nbsp;<em>PSR Big Camp Series</em>&nbsp;hosted at Monroe High School in Monroe, New Jersey. As I have come to expect, this event was packed with participation, loaded with talent, and ran extremely well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Different than other events, Pennisi opted to have three different check-in times, based on position groupings. This afforded me the opportunity to get a closer look at many of the prospects in attendance. Below are just some of my notes on the position group mentioned in this article's title.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I really like how [player_tooltip player_id='1282546' first='Elias' last='Pagan'] exercised patience when covering. Pagan stayed even keel throughout his reps, waiting until he clearly saw what was occurring before him. I did not note one time he was beat... [player_tooltip player_id='463107' first='Rylei' last='Gray'], a product of North Penn (PA), was a defender who liked to be physical with his matchups. Rather than doing so at the line, more than anyone I noted, Gray was particularly handsy at the stem of the route he was defending. Objectively speaking, it will probably depend on the crew calling his game if those are called for PI.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Based on my raw notes, Millville's [player_tooltip player_id='1476891' first='Reggie' last='Holley'] might have take reps at receiver as well, which is where I took note of him. I would describe Holley's route running as violent. He made a lot of herky-jerky movements while running his routes in order to initially put defenders on their heels and create space for himself... A prospect I recently watched film on and happen to like was Hillsborough's [player_tooltip player_id='1276018' first='Jayden' last='Carter']. Watching him live in-action I left impressed with his performance. No matter who he was lined up across, Carter's eyes were disciplined as he read his man-to-man matchup accordingly. Despite his assignment's best efforts, not once did he get faked out whatsoever.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With Mainland having played the last two seasons all the way out until the final whistle of the state championship game, [player_tooltip player_id='1097478' first='Chase' last='Hoag'] is a prospect and name I have become well acquainted with. Hoag is extremely well coached. We see this with how well his eyes are trained. His eyes first start on the receiver to diagnose what sort of route they are running as they progress through the depths of the route tree. For passes in front of him, Hoag then transfers his eyes to the quarterback. The results of this eye discipline were superb. The first time I saw him, Hoag drove like a maven, through the receiver, for a clean pass break up. Later on he total stifled a pivot route, doing so from a trail technique.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">PSR Big Camp Series, New Jersey Event Coverage</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/05/psr-big-camp-series-new-jersey-defensive-backs-volume-i">Defensive Backs, Volume 1</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/05/psr-big-camp-series-new-jersey-quarterbacks-volume-i">Quarterbacks, Volume 1</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->