Minnesota Gophers RTB Prospect Camp 6/16 OL/DL Standouts

Minnesota's final prospect camp of the summer of 2025 will go down as one of the most memorable of my career, in large part due to the underclassmen performances at the Gophers' Gibson-Nagurski Athletic Center last night. Even after a nonstop summer camp circuit with PrepRedzone, nothing continues to get me fired up like scouting high school football talent, and the 6/16 Minnesota Gophers RTB Prospect Camp was one for the books. In front of more than a dozen college football staffs from the FCS to DIII, NAIA, and junior college levels, prospects from around the country did battle under the bright lights of high-intensity coaching and competition, and PrepRedzone has your complete coverage from the star-studded roster that descended on Dinkytown Monday night. Dig in folks, live, in-person, padded up evals are as good as it gets.   --   Offensive Line   Top Performers   Hunter Mallinger (Sussex Hamilton, WI) 2027.   The Alpha Dog of the OL group at the Minnesota Gopher's second & final RTB Prospect Camp, Mallinger came into the camp with some serious recruiting momentum behind him, with offers from Northwestern, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa State, Duke, and Washington State having offered, as well as the hosting Golden Gophers back in mid-May. He proved the size, athleticism, and strength that pops on his sophomore tape live, padded and in-person, winning the vast majority of reps and doing so in impressive fashion for a rising junior of his size. When Mallinger got a good first step off the ball and out of his stance, he was unbeatable, as his lateral agility, great patience in his pass set when waiting to put hands on, consistency at staying square and using advantageous positioning in pass pro reps, and strong, commanding strike and anchor once contact was made was overwhelming for rushers of all different skillsets. The overall technique, strength, and athleticism combination looked worthy of future B1G play and he had a good overall day in Dinkytown padded up and competing.   Reece Mallinger (Sussex Hamilton, WI) 2027.   The second of the dynamic OT twin Mallinger duo, Reece came into the RTB Prospect Camp on offer watch, as his brother held a Gophers offer and he was fresh off an offer from Northwestern, and he played and competed like it was his future on the line. Playing at OT, Mallinger had a great base that he used to stonewall and stuff rushers at the LOS once he got his hands on, and he owned heavy hands that he used with audible effectiveness during 1v1 pass pro reps. Things came to a head when Mallinger went consecutive reps against the biggest stock riser at the event in Eden Prairie's 2029 phenom Jayden Bates, and Mallinger came out on top more often than not thanks to technique, smooth, patient pass set that he used to cut off rushers attempting to work to either shoulder, and going North-South through the Wisconsin product was a huge no-go thanks to his brute strength at the point of attack. While going against the twitched up Bates, Mallinger was also cycled against a JUCO DT whose game was bull rushing, and even though it was a tough, conditioning-heavy, high-intensity few minutes, Mallinger hung tough and fought hard. Reece joined in twin in earning a B1G Golden Gopher offer after the camp concluded.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ReeceMallinger/status/1934987011745566858 </div></figure>   Peyton Seil (Century, ND) 2027.   Back-to-back strong padded showings for Bismarck product Peyton Seil, who was a standout performer at last week's UND Prospect Camp up in Grand Forks. Going against some strong, aggressive DTs in the middle of the LOS, Seil won at the get-off, firing off the ball with leverage and physicality advantages that won at first contact consistently. Big, heavy hands, strong base that was able to easily stuff bull and power rushes from opposing rushers, and won the majority of reps I saw him compete in during the final 1v1 pass pro session in Dinkytown. He'll be playing in the Missouri Valley, and possibly higher, in a couple years.   Ben Coleman (Providence Catholic, IL) 2028!   It was the prospect camp of the underclassmen, and Providence Catholic's rising sophomore Ben Coleman, who I was fortunate enough to recently rank in the inaugural PrepRedzoneIL 2028 Rankings Drop, was one of the 2028s to steal the show. Called up the Big Dog group and competing against upperclassmen and even JUCO opponents, Coleman had my pick for the most physical OL in attendance at the Minnesota Gopher's RTB Prospect Camp, displaying an audible pop and a pad-crunching first contact, doing a great job of squaring up DL and really bringing his hips and hands through contact and knocking them off-balance and freezing them, even momentarily, off the snap. Coleman also did a great job of working inside out, had good balance, both laterally and post-contact, and a technically-sound pass set that could handle both speed and/or power. Coleman did a great job of bringing the fight to the DL and hung in there each and every 1v1 rep, walking away nearly undefeated. Eyebrows were raised tonight, and he tweeted out earlier today that he had received his first offer from the hosting Gophers thanks to his impressive effort. What a move by the Gophers and what a day for Coleman!   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BenjaminCo38637/status/1935010840672874571 </div></figure>   Honorable Mentions   Dylan Frederick (Harrisburg, SD) 2027. - win vs. 83W, win vs. 11G   Richard Dexter (Hamilton, AZ) 2027.   Defensive Line   Top Performers   Jayden Bates (Eden Prairie) 2029! DE.   Ladies & gentlemen, history has been made! In what will go down as an individual performance for the ages, Eden Prairie 8th grader, yes, 8th grader, had himself quite the day of competition, resulting in Minnesota Gophers Head Coach PJ Fleck offering the rising freshman a B1G scholarship (his first) before he even enters high school. It's as big of a deal as it sounds, and I believe is the youngest offer Fleck & co. have ever put out, especially to a Minnesotan. Bates, at 6'3+, length, and a TON of room to fill in, was a twitched up, explosive 1v1 nightmare for competing OTs off the edge, with a seemingly-unstoppable inside move & get-off combination that had OTs backtracking and punching at air as they guessed when and where Bates was going to work to. The Eden Prairie product - whose older brother signed with MSU-Mankato as a SAF and is currently at UW-LAX - was also strong through contact and could bend at the top of the arc, and you knew the Gophers were seriously evaluating the young buck when they lined him up for consecutive reps against a competing OT from Wisconsin, who also happened to earn the Gophers offer that night. It was almost unreal to see, but Bates seems to be built different, and he sure started off his high school career with a bang.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Jaydenbates_/status/1935021149211021487 </div></figure>   Nehemiah Ombati (Waconia, MN) 2027.   One of the biggest winners of the entire Minnesota Gopher's RTB Prospect Camp, familiar face Nehemiah Ombati - a recent PrepRedzoneMN Showcase standout - walked out of Minneapolis with his first college football scholarship, as perennial heavyweight and talent-factory North Dakota State offered the versatile and productive pass rusher. Ombati was bumped up to the Big Dog group from the underclassmen section right as I walked into the Nagurski Complex, and he quickly went to work, asserting himself as one of the most dangerous 1v1 matchups in the building. The combination of size, strength, twitch, and hand usage were an overwhelming combination, and his get-off and pad level made him a balanced and effective rusher from the interior of the LOS. Thanks to his productive offseason and much-sharpened pass-rushing toolbag, Ombati's timing when playing OL's hands, as well as excellent twitch, had OL stunned and punching at air as he easily blew them off off the snap. The light & nimble feet, ability to unlock his hips, and explosiveness earned him a ton of wins over D1-worthy competition, and at the end of the 1v1 reps he really began to showcase his power. Aggressive shock & sheds and bull rush wins were the cherry on top to a hard-fought, highly-successful 1v1 session for the Waconia rising junior. Way to capitalize on the moment, young man!   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Nehemiah_Ombati/status/1934808331144528212 </div></figure>   Honorable Mentions   Israel Goodnews-Amedu - International kid who earned some tough, hard-fought wins over legit OL competition. Hulking frame, pretty sure he had a full beard, and could win with either speed or power. Good get-off, pad leverage, and hand usage from the interior.   Jonathan Riberholt (Sikeborg Gynmasium) - Earned a couple tough wins through 1v1 padded competition.   Maasai Gibson (Sierra College, CA) DT.   Hunter Wahtola (DePaul College Prep, IL) 2027. DT. - Standout amongst the second team DL group.   Zivad Robinson (Minneapolis Camden, MN) 2027. DT. - Standout and Top Performer amongst the second team DL group who won the vast majority of reps thanks to his get-off, power once he locks out, and ability to unlock his hips. Needs to have a good junior season but is very much on track to remain with a D1, and possibly P4, projection going forward.   --

Minnesota's final prospect camp of the summer of 2025 will go down as one of the most memorable of my career, in large part due to the underclassmen performances at the Gophers' Gibson-Nagurski Athletic Center last night. Even after a nonstop summer camp circuit with PrepRedzone, nothing continues to get me fired up like scouting high school football talent, and the 6/16 Minnesota Gophers RTB Prospect Camp was one for the books. In front of more than a dozen college football staffs from the FCS to DIII, NAIA, and junior college levels, prospects from around the country did battle under the bright lights of high-intensity coaching and competition, and PrepRedzone has your complete coverage from the star-studded roster that descended on Dinkytown Monday night. Dig in folks, live, in-person, padded up evals are as good as it gets.