Week 1 Scouting Report: Rockford

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite the loss, Rockford should feel really good about their potential and talent. All night long they battled and showed they have the talent to stack up against some of the best teams and athletes in the state. Below are some of the players that really impressed on Thursday night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1148719"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9ce0"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Luke was one of the hardest workers of the entire evening. Besides playing special teams and a bit of offense, he was tasked defensively with covering Saline's TE (Georgia commit) and did a really good job. Multiple times he was able to lock his route down completely, and even when he did allow a catch, he brought him down immediately. One particular play, the TE caught a short throw underneath and Luke made an impressive open field tackle before allowing hardly any yardage. The Ferris State commit was all over the field, and will be one of the best defenders in the state once again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["913846"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9d4a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Brayden really lived up to my expectations on Thursday night. Between last year's week 1 start and this season, he looks like a totally different player. He looked much more calm and confident in the pocket, and was really able to showcase his ability to be a big part of the Rockford run game this fall. Plenty of designed runs, along with some extending plays and buying more time. When he did, he was able to keep his eyes downfield and really only pulled it to run if there was truly no other options. He handled everything thrown at him well and proved his maturity. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1291399"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9d97"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I was so glad to see Sam play to the level I knew he could. He was He had a couple plays where he really showed off how quickly he can diagnose a play, react, get to his spot and make the tackle. Cummings also had a massive blocked punt, which he scooped up and scored himself. Extremely impressive performance for Sam, and I look forward to the rest of this season for him. It will be a big one! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1613782"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9de1"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I'm not sure how many tackles Chase ended with, but it felt like all night long he was in the vicinity of the play and making tackles on a consistent basis. He has really good reaction times and was able to shed blocks and be a force in the run game. He played hard all night and seemed to keep his guys pumped up, showing some leadership qualities. Rockford has somewhat of a hidden gem here with Chase! </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1613796"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9e2a"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I really liked what I saw out of Owen in week 1. He offers a good sized target who runs good routes and a wide catch radius. He's athletic and does a great job of using his mix of speed and athleticism to win against pretty good coverage. I will absolutely be keeping my eye on him this season to see his progression as he starts to get more reps and targets than ever. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"Carter Vandertuig ","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"2026","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"6'4u0022","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"220","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_weight":"field_65b288425ecf6","player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"5926","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"Rockford","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_0_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_0_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-68b34914e9ee6"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Carter is absolutely someone I will be keeping an eye on this season. He was someone I wasn't too familiar with, but stuck out to me early. Great size, good bend, and the ability to set the edge and turn outside runs back into the middle. I will be keeping an eye out for some highlights from him as I think he could be a breakout player in the OK Conference this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->