Prospect Spotlight: Jaden Quast – Concordia Academy (2021)
Most high school football players do not have a ton of say in the game plan. The coaches will put the plan in over the weekend and then implement it early in the week. Most high school football players are…
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Continue ReadingMost high school football players do not have a ton of say in the game plan. The coaches will put the plan in over the weekend and then implement it early in the week. Most high school football players are not
Jaden Quast
Jaden
Quast
5'10" | DB
Concordia Academy | 2021
State
MN
from Concordia Academy. Quast has a say in where he will be during that week’s game.
“I play corner on defense. Where I line up is situational,” Quast said. “My dad is the defensive coordinator, and we will sit down on Sunday nights and figure out who is their best player, what we need to do to stop their offense, and he will plug me into that position. My strength as a defensive player is, I can translate what I see on film to the field. Against two opponents this year, I was able to call out every play they were going to run before they ran it just off tendencies I noticed watching film.”
Quast is a two-way player.
“For the most part, I think I am a better receiver than running back, but I play wherever they want me,” Quast said. “At wide receiver, I am usually faster than most defensive backs. Last year, I played more of a running back position. Usually, my job was to bump out wide and try to make big plays running outside.”
The 2019 season started strong for the Beacons. They won seven games in the regular season.
“The season went good,” Quast said, “but we had a lot of injuries. Our best linebacker went down in the third game of the year. I went down with an ankle injury late in the regular season, and we ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs.”
“We live and die with the running game,” Quast continued. “We had an amazing running back who kept the offense moving. On defense, we filled holes fast and contain players. We all had responsibilities, and when we were reading our keys, we were flying to our gaps and making plays.”
Quast has been playing on varsity since eighth grade.
“My eighth-grade year, I played cornerback. I was thrown into it right away. I was undersized. During my freshman year, I started to play bigger roles – wide receiver and defensive back. Junior year I switched to wing on offense. This year I will be playing running back and free safety.”
“Moving to free safety, I have been working on my reads from that position,” the 5’11″ 180-pound athlete continued. “After basketball practices, I would do some agility stuff and make reads and work on coming down hard into gaps supporting the run. Sometimes I would work on some man-to-man stuff.”
He missed about six weeks because of his ankle injury but was back for most of the basketball season. Quast played shooting guard and small forward. When Covid-19 hit, it cut short the Beacons’ possible run to the state tournament as they were getting ready to play in the section finals. The junior would have continued to be a three-sport athlete.
“I would have run track. I would run the 100, 200, 400, long jump, and triple jump. (Instead) I was able to lift about five days a week, mostly at home.”
The recruiting process has not gone as well as Quast thought it would.
“Recruiting has been stressful. I have a lot of confidence and had high expectations. I am finding out I might not be as good as I thought I was. It made me realized I had to really grind this offseason.”
He might not have the interest he hoped but has a good start.
“Hamlin has offered. Bethel, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia-St. Paul, St Olaf, Augsburg, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have contacted me.”
Quast is marketing himself in a way that should expand his recruiting.
“I think most of the schools are recruiting me as a defensive back, but I am going in as more of an athlete to get my options up. Schools like my athleticism, speed, and how I find the ball and can seek things out.”
With a solid senior season, Quast should have many more schools seeking him out.