Davidson Mega Camp Offensive Players To Watch

This past weekend, Davidson College hosted an Academic Mega Camp where several college football programs with high academic standards and reputations were present to evaluate over 350 players over two sessions for recruiting and potential offers to play on the next level. Several players on the offensive side of the ball were in attendance, and they are going to be players to watch this upcoming season here in the state. Let's take a look at some of these talented young men. I was able to get a good in-person look at the offensive linemen and special teams, specifically who were in Session 1 of the camp.    Brady has stacked some impressive accolades so far in his career, earning first team All-Conference and 2nd team All-Region honors last season. Brady reports a 4.4 GPA, fitting in well with the academic focus of this camp. I thought Brady moved well athletically throughout the agility circuit and individual drills portion of the showcase. Brady picked up an offer from Oberlin College after his strong camp performance, which was well deserved based on what I saw.     My colleague Will Helms has been high on Gavin after seeing him live, so I was excited to see that he was in attendance for this camp, allowing me to take a good look at him as well. Gavin has been coached well fundamentally, as offensive linemen were doing some pretty technical drills. Gavin took coaching well and moved with some good fluidity throughout a number of the bag drills throughout the beginning of the showcase. Gavin's 4.35 reported GPA also fit the profile of this camp well.     Derrin, or "DC" as he goes by is another player that I have been wanting to see up close. DC has been having a good offseason, and it continued with this camp. I like DC's reach - he does a good job of using his hands and arms to keep defensive linemen from getting into his body immediately at the snap. DC does a good job of keeping his feet moving and doesn't overextend too much in pass protection. As an interior offensive line prospect, I think DC has the size that colleges like, and I expect his interest and offers from college football programs to continue going into the fall.     Coming into this camp, Elijah reports a 4.375 GPA, which is a great fit for this camp's focus. I have been high on Elijah's potential for two reasons: his physical frame and his athletic ability. Elijah did have some moments where you see he can add more weight and strength to his frame; however, as a left tackle, he has excellent footwork to mirror speed rushers already. His footwork also shows well in the running game - specifically in a pull & fit drill, Elijah moved with nice agility to complete the drill.     I watched some of the kickers, and there were some good ones in attendance. I like Aidan because I thought he showed some consistent leg strength from a couple of long field goals the special teams were attempting. Charlotte Catholic consistently has good special teams and kickers, and Aidan appears to be the next talented one in line to keep that tradition alive. The most impressive kick Aidan had went 68 yards and deep into the end zone for what would have been an easy touchback. Impressive stuff. Aidan also sports a 4.2 overall GPA.     Carson came into this showcase with a reported 4.0 GPA and the accolade of being in the National Honor Society, strong stuff right there. On the field, Carson can operate out of the slot or on the outside and shows a propensity to make contested catches over the middle of the field. Carson shows a disciplined ability to run routes to create separation against man coverage, and he enhances his ability by running both indoor and outdoor track in the offseason.     Playing for Durham Riverside last season, Tre has switched over to Hillside HS in Durham. In his film, Tre shows some dual-threat ability with a nice way to get out of the pocket to throw instead of immediately running. I like his mechanics and calmness that he shows in the pocket, and Tre delivers the football with nice timing when protected well by his offensive line. Tre was a productive player and I am interested to see how he fits into a good Hillside program this year.     Jayden came into this camp with a reported 3.9 GPA as well as a 4.5 40-yard dash time, so he was a player to definitely keep an eye on. Playing for a talented program and behind some talented seniors last season, Jayden was able to contribute and show that he can handle what will definitely be an increased workload this year. Jayden used his speed and strong agility to win consistently in 1 on 1's against linebackers at this camp. I liked what he showed as well previously at the Gardner Webb camp, and with a strong start to the season, I can see college programs showing a lot of interest this fall & throughout the season.     Carter is a player that I have seen throughout his years on JV, and he has always impressed me. Carter always seems to play in control and places the ball well with good accuracy all over the field. Carter has definitely hit a growth spurt and now stands at a strong 6'2 and 190 pounds. I have heard some people give some strong observations of him so far this offseason, so it looks like the Sabres will have a good player to distribute the football to their playmakers this upcoming season.     Keonta came into this camp with a very impressive reported 4.5 GPA, along with some impressive production from last season. Keonta had over 700 yards of total offense and nearly 1000 all-purpose yards. 534 of those yards came as a receiver on 37 catches, which is where Keonta competed at in this camp. I like Keonta's hands and his footwork in running routes the most from a technical perspective. However, Keonta's speed is the most impressive part of his game. In the open field, he doesn't get caught from behind. He ran a hand-timed 4.5 40-yard dash at this camp, and he's going to be an important player for the Raiders to have another strong season this year.

This past weekend, Davidson College hosted an Academic Mega Camp where several college football programs with high academic standards and reputations were present to evaluate over 350 players over two sessions for recruiting and potential offers to play on the next level. Several players on the offensive side of the ball were in attendance, and they are going to be players to watch this upcoming season here in the state. Let's take a look at some of these talented young men. I was able to get a good in-person look at the offensive linemen and special teams, specifically who were in Session 1 of the camp.