June 2nd Minnesota Gophers Prospect Camp: Nate's Notebook Part 1

On Tuesday night we checked in at the Minnesota Gophers Prospect Camp in Dinkytown where over 300+ athletes were in attendance with dozens of college programs evaluating talent across all divisions of college football. If I am a Midwest prospect, this camp is a must-attend to get on the radar of college coaches and for the young bucks, getting out to a camp like this early is going to advance your exposure the more developed you get in your high school career. Because of the depth of athletes in attendance this will be a multi part series throughout the next day or so. These 10 prospects caught our attention from the jump!    Even though he's just a 2030 prospect, I can recall Leiland has hit on a couple live eval points already in 2026. He's got a ways to go when it comes to his size and frame, but from what I have grasped his skillsets are on point for his age. He has swift yet controlled hands that he showed off at camp on Tuesday as Leiland shows off early that he could be a grinder type offensive linemen in this 2030 Minnesota class. He's a offensive line prospect that shows off the relentless motor you want in the offensive trenches, as I will be intrigued to see how Leiland develops over the next several years.     One of a few of the young bucks that caught my attention out of Lakeville were in the trenches, as Lakeville South 2029 defensive linemen Rocco Reynolds was defensive linemen that caught my attention out of the DL group. The 6'1 210 pounder was a defensive prospect that showed off the springy athleticism you want to see out of a youngster out the gates, that probably got his first look out of 300 campers in attendance. Rocco also boosted the early length you want to see in his upper body as he showed off around a 6'3 wingspan already for his age. He's surely one that is off the radar in the 2029 Minnesota class, that I'll be intrigued to see how he progresses in his high school career out of Lakeville South.     Easily one of the most impressive Minnesota 2029s in attendance at the Minnesota prospect camp on Tuesday night was our LB1 in the class [player_tooltip player_id='1715742' first='Vince' last='Kratochvil'] of Pequot Lakes. The 6'2 200 pounder tested extremely well amongst the 2029 class as the 6'2 200 pounder showed off the athletic profile college coaches surely want to see as his overall twitchiness was on display with his change of direction. Vince showed off a fluid get off and quicker hands off blocks than you might expect out o a 2029 prospect in the linebacker reps I watched on Tuesday night and man, the long wingspan was surely an eye-catcher out of this 2029 group.     The first Minnesota 2028 that caught the attention in my notebook was Mankato West defensive linemen [player_tooltip player_id='1597421' first='Wyatt' last='Bartell']. The just over 6'2 220 pounder showed off his well-versed length he had with his wingspan. The biggest area caught my attention with Wyatt was how twitchy his change of direction showed off to be in the DL group as his pro agility showed off quickly what I saw consistently in reps as he ran in the 4.5s with that nearly 6'3 220 pound frame. His release off the snap also appeared to be very sudden in the 1v1 reps I got to watch from the Scarlets defensive end in the 2028 class. Last night's outing could surely make him a stockriser in my opinion next time we update the 2028 Minnesota rankings.     It seems to be the case that in a live eval setting, Pierce always seems to crack my board of standouts which was the case at the Minnesota camp yesterday. The 5'9 217 pounder from Minnetonka has shown a workhorse mentality in the defensive trenches that despite being undersized, his high motor will make up the difference which was again the case at the Gopher camp on Tuesday night. He utilized his grinder type hands to get off blocks and get to the point of attack from what I watched as another off-field skillset I like about Pierce, is this kid seems to always be a motitvator with the DL group, which I saw clearly in Dinkytown last night. He was a perfect 7/7 in pass rush drills and 4/4 on board drills too as Pierce's finishing hands and pad level will surely get him more Saturday attention after last night's eval.     It was this time last summer that Rocori 2028 linemen [player_tooltip player_id='1699519' first='Grayson' last='O'Neal'] got on our radar at the Minnesota RTB Camp and from my lenses, had another sound showing in Dinkytown this time around. Grayson showed off to me more quickness with his foot speed than I saw a year ago. The big 6'5 285 pounder ran constructively better in testing this time around Not only was the quickness evident, Grayson also showed off more agile movement in the live eval. The reps we were able to watch verified the above as Grayson seemed swifter being able to generate power thru contact and was more fluid his moves that required him to change directions. I said it before and I'll probably say it again, this young man should be an early offer out of this 2028 Minnesota class.     Another riser in the defensive line group that left a great impression in the live eval at the Minnesota RTB camp on Tuesday night was Waconia's [player_tooltip player_id='2126055' first='Max' last='Greenwell']. The 6'5 233 pounder with massive hands, and ran a sound pro agility at that size which should catch more college coaches attention after last night. He easily passed the eye-test with his overall length and in the early part of camp showed off to be highly fluid for that size. Later in reps, Max showed off his development, as I felt his get off hands had more speed than what you might have saw during the season along with a quicker power generation. Max holds just one offer from Duluth thus far, and surely will get more attention upcoming I am sure.     A name that hit my notebook a few times at Tuesday's Minnesota prospect camp was Centennial 2027 defensive linemen [player_tooltip player_id='2154303' first='Brayden' last='Boesch']. You want to talk about blasting physical hands, just go watch the DL reps Brayden put together at camp on Tuesday as he showed off a wirey get off that was very quick and effective of making quick work with his very physical leverage and excellent hands. I also caught Brayden during the testing period, and he was one of the best defensive linemen I saw when it came down to how he finished every rep. He tested really well for his size and frame and it's no surprise to me why he got his first FCS offer on Tuesday night and probably has more FCS attention coming his way.     De'Mandre came in to the Minnesota camp as a tight end, but impressed the Gophers staff enough to get more reps as a defensive linemen which was intriguing for our PRZ staff to watch on Tuesday night in Dinkytown. The 6'3 235 pounder, had some intriguing from testing, with an extrmely long wingspan, a ton of speed in the 40-yard dash, and absurd explosiveness in the broad jump. He showed off eye-catching footwork at that size from my live eval and it was evident in the DL reps, that the next-level position flexibility is evident with this young man. No reported D1 offers from last night's camp as of yet, but man they should start coming anytime now as he has G6 and FCS offers, but surely looks like a P4 prospect in my eyes out this Minnesota 2027 class.     Will is one of the Gophers newest commits last week, and was an offensive linemen that caught our immediate attention numerous times throughout camp on Tuesday. He was very sudden during the testing period as it was hard to miss how quick his get off was at 6'6 285 pounds. That translation into the 1v1 reps was evident as Will was by far one of the best offensive linemen in attendance that showed off very physical hands, excellent pad-level and showed off as one of the most pure finishers you would see at the Minnesota prospect camp on Tuesday night. I love the growth that Will's made from a summer ago at the NDSU camp as the Cedar Rapids Prairie product, should be a great one in the offensive trenches in Dinkytown.

On Tuesday night we checked in at the Minnesota Gophers Prospect Camp in Dinkytown where over 300+ athletes were in attendance with dozens of college programs evaluating talent across all divisions of college football. If I am a Midwest prospect, this camp is a must-attend to get on the radar of college coaches and for the young bucks, getting out to a camp like this early is going to advance your exposure the more developed you get in your high school career. Because of the depth of athletes in attendance this will be a multi part series throughout the next day or so. These 10 prospects caught our attention from the jump!