Breakout Watch: West Michigan

Every year, on every team, several players have Varsity breakout seasons. Today, I'll be featuring five West Michigan prospects who have been stepping up in a big way on Varsity.    We expect Camden to eventually grow into a Division 1 prospect at linebacker. So far this season, he's proved that he can be an elite running back as well.   Portage Central blew out Forest Hills Central last week. A big part of that was due to [player_tooltip player_id='1687693' first='Camden' last='Noe'] in the run game. Super simple evaluation here- Camden consistently bulldozed his way through the defense. Watch his week 2 highlights and you'll see several instances of defenders, sometimes multiple at once, bouncing right off of Camden. Super efficient north-south running that is extremely hard to stop.   Absolutely looking like Camden is a breakout player this year. We saw it a little at the Wayne State mega camp, and we're seeing it in full force now.      So far, so good for the Forest Hills Central receiver.   Carson has had a good first two weeks of the season. Tape shows that he came into this season improved. 0:30 is a pretty crisp deep out. Solid break at the top of the route, and a nice catch near the sideline. Next, at 1:35, a nice job getting what he can on the jet sweep.   No super impressive explosive plays yet, but I honestly care more about his route running and all-around effort. Routes look good, as does effort. Little doubt that his best highlights are yet to come.      Dallas is here. After missing the entirety of the 2024 season with a torn ACL, Dallas is back and playing very well.   No tape, but I did have an opportunity to watch him up close and in person last week against Byron Center. Pregame, Dallas was hype, focused, and physical. In-game, he was just as focused and hit just as hard. Not a ton of run-stopping opportunities because he's playing DC, but still a reliable tackler. I feel that Dallas could play DC or LB at a very high level this season, with some extra work on offense.   I also feel that Dallas should find recruiting success this coming offseason. If no D1s show interest, I'd expect the GLIAC to be all over him.     Beau is back! Love seeing Beau back on the field after injury sidelined him for the entire 2024 season.   His week 1 tape against West Catholic begins with a massive 3rd down stop. Just about the entire defense goes after the RB, but Beau wasn't fooled, and he makes an excellent solo tackle. Next, another run stop. This time, Beau attacks the slow-developing play, shoots the gap, and makes another great solo tackle.   The rest of Beau's tape shows a couple of carries and a few more tackles mixed in. I'm extremely impressed with how Beau attacks the run, especially because he's playing safety.      Man, am I excited for Braylon this season!   Braylon showed UP against West Catholic. The first highlight is a perfectly accurate deep ball to his receiver running a post. The coverage was pretty tight, but the throw was perfect. His second highlight is even more impressive. Pressure in his face, forced to throw off his back foot, but still hits his receiver in stride, again running a deep post. Braylon's week 1 tape shows accurate ball after accurate ball. I heard a little about Braylon's performance on the Local Legends podcast, but I didn't expect the tape to be this good.   This highlight tape alone moves Braylon up the rankings. As long as Braylon plays similarly for the rest of the season, he'll earn a rankings boost. Big-time breakout player.

Every year, on every team, several players have Varsity breakout seasons. Today, I'll be featuring five West Michigan prospects who have been stepping up in a big way on Varsity.