Breakout Watch: Players Making Noise Early

I selected a handful of players who are making big impacts on their teams during the first leg of the season. Some of these players are flying under the radar, and deserve to be highlighted for their great work! Let's dive into it!    Casten has been having himself a nice start to the season. Casten measures in at 5'11 235 pounds. He has good athletic ability due to good acceleration, lateral agility, and speed. He has very good strength. Good get off speed and times his block shed with the player running by him. Very good block shedding skills. Casten has a good quickness out of his stance, engaging with the OL first. He stuffs up gaps and stops running backs in their tracks. One thing I noticed on his film, is that he consistently plays through the whistle and finishes each play. Keep an eye on Casten.     Pankey measures in at 6'6 225 pounds, and is a very versatile player. He plays TE, DE, and P. He has good athletic ability due to very good jumping, good acceleration, and speed. He's a big body that is slippery to tackle after the catch. Pankey has very good strength and is a very good blocker. He leads the way for his RB in both the first and 2nd level creating lanes. As a DE, he has good get off speed, paired with relentless pursuit. He doesn't give up on the play, and plays through the whistle. He'll put his hands up at the LOS to create pass deflections as well. Smart player. On a screen pass, he fooled the defense into thinking he was blocking, and scooted out for a TD. As a punter, he has a big leg to flip the field and put his defense in good position. Kid's a stud and I'm excited to see how he continues developing throughout the course of the season.     Lacy had himself a game against Mesa Ridge. Playing both sides of the ball. As a QB he went 6/9 for 80 yards. As a safety, he had 2 INTs, 3 PDs, 3 tackles, and one of the pass deflections turned into an interception. Lacy has good athletic ability due to very good speed, jumping, good acceleration, and change of direction. As a safety, he has been thriving. He shows off his very good read and reaction speed. Lacy will come down into the box from his deep safety position, and still provide very good run support. Very good tackler. Lacy has very good timing on pass breaks up, and very good ball tracking. Very good catching. He uses his suction hands to pluck the ball out of the air. He'll also put his hands underneath on low ball INTs, so it doesn't hit the ground. Lacy still demonstrated his QB traits by staying poised and use his good throw on the run skills to find open receivers. Watch out for him to make a statement this season.     Coyle is continuing where he left off in his junior season. The powerful safety is also getting reps at running back as well! In Week 1 against Ponderosa, he had 8 tackles (5 solo, 3 assisted), and 1 rushing touchdown. He has very good athletic ability due to very good speed, acceleration, jumping, and good change of direction. Lines up mainly as a deep safety, but can line up at slot or in the box. He's one of the first players to get contact with the ball carrier, and he's a deep safety. He is a strong tackler. Coyle gets low and stops them in their tracks. Coyle consistently watches the QB's eyes and knows where the ball is at all time. Very good awareness. Very good read and reaction speed as well. Coyle is dominant in his zone coverage as well. I love watching his film, and can't wait to see more of him this season!     Kramer has had himself a phenomenal start to the season. He has 14 total tackles (11 solo, 3 assist), and 4 TFL. He has very good athletic ability due to very good acceleration, change of direction, good speed, and lateral agility. Kramer has good read and reaction speed. He trusts what he sees, and attacks. Due to his athletic ability, he can cover tight ends out in space and shows very good range. As proof with the stats, he is a strong tackler. Stops the ball carrier in their tracks. He'll make himself smaller to squeeze through gaps and meet the RB in the back field. Watch out for Kramer as he continues to terrorize offenses this season.

I selected a handful of players who are making big impacts on their teams during the first leg of the season. Some of these players are flying under the radar, and deserve to be highlighted for their great work! Let's dive into it!