Minnesota 2024 Rankings Feature: Top-10 Film Evaluation
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Earlier this week, we at PrepRedzoneMN were pumped to introduce our introductory 2024 rankings to our wonderful and faithful subscribers, and with a Top-25 and a 30ish prospect watchlist, we were able to find and discover a lot of freshman…
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Continue ReadingEarlier this week, we at PrepRedzoneMN were pumped to introduce our introductory 2024 rankings to our wonderful and faithful subscribers, and with a Top-25 and a 30ish prospect watchlist, we were able to find and discover a lot of freshman talent in the great state of Minnesota. Of course, there is a lot of talent still out there that we haven’t gotten our eyes on yet, but this is an excellent start and we are really confident in the athletic ability of our initial Top-25 in particular. Because this is the initial release of the c/o 2024 rankings, we aren’t able to release to our subscribers some of the regular content regarding rankings “stock risers”, the highest debuts of new athletes to grace the ranking boards, and positional group breakdowns, but are still able to dig into the evaluation portion of the rankings. With all of that being said, let’s check out the Top-10 of the Minnesota 2024 class, break down their game, and highlight some of the strengths of them as prospects. We’ll follow this up with an analysis of spots 11-25 as well, and I will be adding names to the watchlist + rankings and keeping you guys posted on these changes as well. Thanks for reading!
#1: Carter Holcomb Carter Holcomb 5'9" | 165 lbs | WR Rochester Mayo | 2024 State MN (Rochester Mayo) WR/DB. 5’9, 160 lbs. GPA 3.3. Two-year starter, started as an 8th grader. Also has ran track on the varsity squad since his 7th grade year. Career stats of 40 catches, 611 yards and 6 TDs. The younger brother of electric 2022 Spartans athlete Cayden Holcomb, Carter followed in his brother’s footsteps and started on Mayo’s varsity before he even got into high school, showing that he was meant to be there and never looked overwhelmed or out of place despite being a youngin’. In his freshman year highlights he showed that he can play a lot of different positions, as well as help out on special teams (including LS), and has some really promising skills as a WR, including a natural ability to miss. He’s strong for his age, has good speed, and can get open when running shorter or intermediate routes, as well as block and tackle. There’s just a lot of dynamic qualities about his game and with his impressive experience already, it was just too hard to put him anywhere but the #1 spot for right now. Mayo has a hotbed of talent that is still being somewhat overlooked down in Rochester. 8th and 9th Grade Varsity Highlights
#2: Zashon Rich Zashon Rich 6'2" | 180 lbs | DB MPLS North | 2024 State MN (MPLS North) DB. I got to see Rich play multiple times for the Polars this season, so although he’s lacking in film as of this moment I saw enough of him playing live football to justify putting him at the #2 spot. There is a really exciting amount of talent coming out of the Polars in the class of 2024, all of whom are versatile athletes with natural ability hard to match in the state for their age. Rich was a ballhawk in the Polars secondary this past season, and particularly when I saw them take on my own Southwest Lakers near the end of the regular season. He’s got a great vertical, soft hands, can play the ball in the air and snag it and its highest point, and is physical and an asset in run support. He’s also long, and is strong and fast for his age and capable of fitting in to the talent rich MPLS city conference recruits in 2020. He may be the next big thing out of North!
#3: Monte Gillman Monte Gillman 5'6" | 165 lbs | RB Dassel-Cokato | 2024 State MN (Dassel-Cokato) RB. Another varsity contributor who is the younger brother of 2022 standout athlete Eli Gillman Eli Gillman 6'0" | 195 lbs | ATH Dassel-Cokato | 2022 State MN , Monte had a solid freshman season that saw him get a fair amount of carries on the varsity stage, where he proved that his stature is irrelevant at this point in time due to his powerful lower-body and overall athleticism. The kid has some really powerful legs, and could bounce off tacklers much older and bigger than him in surprising and impressive fashion. He’s capable of getting you yardage North and South or East to West, and has quick feet and loose hips. If he keeps adding weight he’s going to be a really hard to corral ball-carrier for the next three seasons. vs. New London Spicer vs. Holy Family Catholic
#4: Simon Seidl Simon Seidl 6'0" | 170 lbs | DB Hill Murray | 2024 State MN (Hill-Murray) QB. The third younger brother in the top-5, Seidl is a year behind older brother Simon, who I am really surprised to see does not have an offer yet even though he’s a 2023. The Seidl boys are natural playmakers who are some of the fastest kids in the state in pads. He’s lacking in film as well, but after his head coach introduced him to the Godfather of Recruiting Tom Lemming back in October, who described the freshman as showing “smarts, athletic ability, a live arm, and terrific speed…Does a good job of extending plays”, you have to trust that he will blow open the doors on the MN high school football scene in a year or two. Also a fun fact, him and his brother Sawyer also play hockey for the Hill-Murray Pioneers tradition-rich hockey team.
#5: Tanner Zolnosky Tanner Zolnosky 6'0" | 185 lbs | QB East Ridge | 2024 State MN (East Ridge) QB. Another young buck who got introduced to Tom Lemming by his head coach, Zolnosky was described by the Godfather of Recruiting as “excels at extending plays, shows good speed and arm strength. Work ethic top-noch. A rising star.” I also got to see him at our recent PrepRedzoneMN Showcase, where he got to show off that work ethic in person, and did a great job testing as well as during the positional and competition portions of the event, where he showed off that strong arm and impressive accuracy. He’s also obviously mobile and dangerous on the run, and is a true duel-threat at the QB position and indeed a “rising star.” On his freshman Hudl tape he showed off all of those skills and then some, as he could slip through weaker tackle attempts and had some really nice moves, patience, and vision as a ball-carrier. He got some serious reps on varsity against Rosemount and really shined running the ball, and I am just very excited for his future as a football player. I have a feeling he’ll be moving up this list come update time. Freshman SZN
#6: Savion Hart Savion Hart 6'0" | 190 lbs | RB Saint Thomas Academy | 2024 State MN (Cretin-Derham Hall) 5’9, 170 lbs. I really wish he had some freshman tape, but alas the last of the freshman to meet Tom Lemming has an empty Hudl profile. He was described the Godfather of Recruiting as having “enormous potential…a 5’9, 166 RB with exciting moves, big-time speed, vision, and balance. Dynamite in the open field. Also stars in basketball.” I’m going to go ahead and trust the man on this one.
#7: Auvon Sager Auvon Sager 6'5" | 240 lbs | DL MPLS North | 2023 State MN (MPLS North) OLB. A classic two-sport star at North who doubles as a standout on the basketball court, Sager got varsity reps in 2020 as both a wideout and a OLB and showed an ability to rush the QB off the edge, tackle, and pursue ball-carriers. He’s got great size for his age and a high-ceiling as a recruit. vs. Southwest vs. Providence Academy vs. Fridley vs. St. Anthony Village
#8: Damon Green Damon Green 5'11" | 190 lbs | RB Eastview | 2024 State MN (Eastview) RB/S. 5’10, 170 lbs. A big-play back with a lot of shake in his step and excellent speed at the JV level, Green also showed some ability as a FS to read the QB eyes, track the ball, and stay patient in coverage. He can also snag the ball out of the air and has a great vertical, and as a tackler he eats up space when getting hip to hip with the ball-carrier and keeps his feet moving in-space when tackling. He also made some big plays in blizzards and really extreme MN football weather, so I trust in his toughness. He’s also a strong tackler at the point of contact and is one of the most complete players on this list. I am really excited to see his evolution into a varsity contributor as well. freshman highlights
#9: Daniel Freitag Daniel Freitag 6'1" | 175 lbs | WR Bloomington Jefferson | 2024 MN (Bloomington Jefferson) WR. 6’1, 165 lbs. Has great size and is making waves as a basketball recruit on PrepHoops due to his exciting athleticism, Freitag is the shiftiest player on this list with game-breaking speed, soft hands, and big-time playmaking ability. He’s also an explosive tackler and made some crazy impressive plays on freshman/JV this past season, and I’m most excited about him making the jump to varsity of anyone on this list. He’s a special two-sport talent coming out of Bloomington Jefferson, who have a tradition of accomplished yet overlooked standout football + basketball players. freshman football highlights
#10: Josh Quirk Josh Quirk 6'1" | 245 lbs | OL Edina | 2024 State MN (Edina) TE. 6’1, 220 lbs. The best built freshman in the Top-10, Edina has long produced talented OL and TE collegiate prospects and I’m hoping I identified the next stud of the bunch in freshman Quirk. Before I originally watched his tape I assumed that with his size he’d primarily be a blocking TE, but I was amped to see that Quirk was an asset in the passing game and had a truck-stick in the open-field that frosh/JV DBs just couldn’t handle. He even took some carries as a giant RB when needed, and was a bowling ball who ran over defenders as expected. He’s also a crushing run blocker who initial pop alone handled most would be defenders, and I just get really excited when I see his film and have a good feeling that he can translate these skills to the varsity level. If he can, and his film continues to look similar, I think he’s got a really good chance of being another FBS prospect out of Edina. Freshman Tape