The sky is blue, grass is green, and the top student athletes at Kimberly HS are putting up INSANE numbers in the weight room! The craziest lift I saw coming out of the Kimberly House of Gainz this month was from standout DE/OLB Sam McGivern Sam McGivern 6'2" | 245 lbs | DL Kimberly | 2024 State WI . Sam pressed an unbelievable 405 lbs at 16 years old. I can’t wait to see what he does to opposing OL this fall.

Stats: 4 TacklesrnThere are a lot of things to get excited about when it comes to the 6’2″ 230 lbs junior DE with a 6’7″ wingspan. The part of his game that you don’t see from a lot of HS kids is his hand use. Sam does a great job using his hands to shed blockers and win hand to hand battles in the trenches. He does a really good job with hand placement, is very quick with the hands and his punch, and locks out the blocker consistently thanks to superior strength. McGivern is also one of the state’s most disruptive defenders. He penetrates the line of scrimmage while maintaining eyes on the ball carrier. He is a player that teams struggle to defender on a snap to snap, and week to week basis. The future is very bright for the standout junior. Look for him to make a run at being the top defender in the state in 2023.

Stats: 4 Tackles, 1 TFL, 1 SackrnAn athlete in the running for Top Prospect of the Night was the standout junior DE. Sam checks in at 6’2″ 235 lbs. Even more impressive, Sam has a 6’7″ wingspan giving him the ability to initiate contact and create separation from the OL. McGivern has the athletic traits of a special DE prospect. He springs off the ball at the snap, and has the range to chase down plays across the backfield. He did that for his sack. Got into the backfield and chased down the QB as he was rolling away from his side. He isn’t just a one trick pony on the edge. Sam can also set a strong edge against the run game, and that length again comes in handy when jamming linemen, and then shedding the block to make the tackle against the run. Sam definitely has D1 talent. He holds an offer from Western Michigan, and interest from several other FCS/FBS programs.

Rise: 18 up to 7rnIf I had to pick a breakout candidate for the 2022 season I believe it will be Sam. That might be surprising since Sam played varsity last fall, but he was just scratching the surface at that time. The 6’2” 230 lbs DL possesses elite length with a 6’7″ wingspan. That length is huge for a player who has to get leverage and separation to be able to defeat blocks. Sam also possesses elite pursuit to fly out of his stance at the snap giving him the upper hand over most, if not all, OL. He is also freakishly strong with max squats of six plates. That type of lift has me excited to see just how improved his explosiveness and bull rush will be this fall. The rising junior earned one offer from Western Michigan this summer. Kimberly’s defense looks loaded for a run this fall. You will find Sam leading the way in the trenches.