Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase: Nate's QB Standouts

SIOUX FALLS-- We brought our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase back to Sioux Falls last Saturday as we hosted again at Kirkeby-Over Stadium at Augustana University. We had beautiful weather, and even better plenty of talent to show off to a sound plethora of college coaches in attendance. We start off our Dakotas Showcase coverage with the quarterback group, in which this group saw a ton of reps, a ton of elevation and plenty of selections that were to-tier in this group of Gunslingers.    A newer name at the quarterback position that caught my attention on a handful of reps at the Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase was Rapid City Stevens 2027 [player_tooltip player_id='2139770' first='Thayne' last='Leichtnam-Skeen']. He was one that I saw his progression from his first reps to his last reps take shape while working with college coaches in attendance and Thayne proved that he was coachable, and had a rather quick learning curve with his development. He has a well-versed frame that caught my attention early off the early eye-test at 6'2 200 pounds as he certainly saw his improvement most in delivering his throws in tight windows on intermediate routes in what I watched throughout the day in Sioux Falls.     Without question, the best athleticism we saw on Saturday in Sioux Falls at the quarterback position belonged to Groton 2029 quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='2044788' first='Asher' last='Johnson']. He tested in our top 5 in attendance with a 4.77 40-yard dash on lasers, showed off his elusiveness with an inside a top 10 finish in the L-drill at 7.34, and the explosiveness is surely going to elevate even further with an 8'10 broad jump which finished #10 overall at our Dakotas Showcase, all for a quarterback prospect just about to enter his sophomore year at Groton. He got out of the pocket swiftly in the reps I watched and I became more intirgued with his release outside of it the more I watched Asher's reps on Saturday at Augustana. He also has sound mechanics I felt for his age, that have so much time to still grow as he has three years left under his belt of high school football to develop. Surely one that will be a surefire new name to our 2029 South Dakota rankings update.   <a href="https://x.com/asherjohnson05" id="https://x.com/asherjohnson05">TWITTER</a>     Brody made the 4 hour trip from Grand Forks on Saturday morning and finished his day at our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase as one of my top-tier graded quarterbacks in the group, that surely got a ton of reps to elevate his game. He was one of the more efficent gunslingers out of the pocket. Not only inside the pocket, but Brody had one of the quicker releases I got to watch nearly immediately once he was getting out of the pocket. He was another gunslinger in this group that also intrigued me with his coachability, as you could see the value he took with his attention to detail. The keys I saw from Brody in the end? His release got quicker and quicker, and that will elevate this 2028 quarterbacks game just in time for this summer's camp season.   <a href="https://x.com/Brodyleddige" id="https://x.com/Brodyleddige">TWITTER</a>     The next two quarterbacks have something in common, as they have both been on my radar since they were 8th graders and yet again on Saturday, it was another top-tier performance from Sioux Falls Washington's [player_tooltip player_id='1555919' first='Javi' last='Vazquez']. I just got a very recent live eval of Javi at the 612Qs Camp in St. Paul around a month ago, but even in that short time, I thought his poise in the pocket grew quite a bit especially with the high amount of reps the quarterback group got on Saturday. He could make every throw that was given to him on all three levels, and from all the reps I got to watch, he hit on just about all of them as Javi has always been one that grows his chemistry with his receivers, very quickly. I've said it recently and I'll keep saying it, I surely think this young man is an early offer college coaches should make this summer at camps as his stock only continues to grow.     -QB MVP   Making the triangular trip from a St. Thomas (MN) visit on on Friday to our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase on Saturday in Sioux Falls, was our QB MVP [player_tooltip player_id='458050' first='Cael' last='Kongshaug'], who like I said is no stranger to us in the Midwest since his middle school days. The 6'3 210 pounder from Cedar Rapids Prairie, placed in the #3 overall in the L-drill with a 7.25, which is superb at his size as Cael has the ideal next-level frame, but that agile movement elevates what he can do outside the pocket and he showed that on Saturday time and time again. Every throw I watched from Cael inside or outside of the pocket, showed off persistency with the proper arm strength, ball placement and man, the poise was cool, calm and collective from everything I got to watch. I am very very surprised he doesn't have his first offer yet, but there's no doubt that Cael's time to prove his stock is very soon to change that narrative in front of plenty of college coaches he will see this summer at camps.

SIOUX FALLS-- We brought our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase back to Sioux Falls last Saturday as we hosted again at Kirkeby-Over Stadium at Augustana University. We had beautiful weather, and even better plenty of talent to show off to a sound plethora of college coaches in attendance. We start off our Dakotas Showcase coverage with the quarterback group, in which this group saw a ton of reps, a ton of elevation and plenty of selections that were to-tier in this group of Gunslingers.