Minot State Prospect Camp: Standouts, Session 2
MINOT, ND– We roll into our Session 2 of in-person evaluations from the Minot State Beavers Prospect Camp and tell our Prep Redzone subscribers who stood out from all over the country. This group was a fun bunch to evaluate…
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Continue ReadingMINOT, ND– We roll into our Session 2 of in-person evaluations from the Minot State Beavers Prospect Camp and tell our Prep Redzone subscribers who stood out from all over the country. This group was a fun bunch to evaluate geographically and of course athletically, as we identified prospects from the suburbs of Seattle, Colorado Springs, and local prospects close to Minot State’s backyard. Who was it that left a mark in our eyes? Find out who cracked our list of standouts from Session 2 here at Prep Redzone!
Nate Norby
Nate Norby
Nate was a first-look prospect I got a read on in Minot last Friday and was an intriguing one to watch. He shows off a small-town prospect that plays at 6’5 220 pounds. What did we like from Nate? While working with the offensive linemen, Nate showed some solid hand placement along with having a long reach with sufficient hand speed. He is still raw when it comes to his lifting ability to drive the defender a distance off the snap, but overall I liked Nate’s skillsets he showed at the Minot State Prospect Camp. Nate’s tape will be intriguing to most on the recruiting trail, as he’s certainly a jack of all trades in 6-man football. When he gets the ball in the backfield, defenders should proceed with caution, as this kid reminds me of a bowling ball rolling down the lane looking for pins to strike. As a quarterback, Nate shows good arm strength and significant precision, which can be hard to identify in 6-man football. For his size as a defensive lineman, Nate shows those active hands off with his shedding ability and has good speed to be a sideline-to-sideline type of prospect. Nate is likely the first 6-man prospect I have ever evaluated, and I have to say I was intrigued with his tape. I believe he has the size and athletic ability to be an excellent small school prospect that I am sure is way off the radar.
Jayden was my favorite quarterback at the Minot State Prospect Camp late last week as I thought he was the most developed quarterback in Minot and I would rate him as my QB MVP from camp. He showed great accuracy on the multiple levels of throws he made in Indy drill and 1v1s. Jayden is also a very high-character prospect, as you can tell this young man would be a great locker room guy once he plants his roots in a college football locker room. Jayden also showed a significant ability to extend the play and still showed the same quality quick release from outside of the pocket. His tape shows athletic steps out of an RPO offense, as it gives Jayden plenty of options from the run to use his playmaking abilities with his legs or make the quick throw. Jayden’s throws also show consistent precision, especially on his intermediate routes. Jayden certainly showed to be a stockriser in our upcoming 2023 rankings when they come out before September, as he now has a Division II offer under his belt after camp.
Highlights
Paxton was another quarterback prospect that showed he will likely be a stockriser in our upcoming 2024 rankings. I liked watching his poise at the Minot State Prospect Camp, working out of the pocket as I thought he showed more comfort with his awareness from getting to watch him last winter at our Prep Redzone Dakotas Showcase in Fargo. It was easy to read that Paxton has been working on his mechanics, release, and touch heavily since we got to watch him a little over eight months ago. He just showed off some superb balance in all aspects of his game from my eyes saw in Minot. When I took another look at his sophomore tape, you can tell that the progressions he’s made from the start of the snap are much improved from the 2021 season. It is going to be a tough call at Des Lacs-Burlington this summer on who will take QB1 snaps this fall, will it be Paxton or 2023 QB prospect Carson Yale Carson Yale 6’8″ | QB Des Lacs-Burlington | 2023 ? That is certainly a competition I will be intrigued to see who starts Week 1.
Highlights
Micah Avery
Micah Avery
Micah would undoubtedly be my DL MVP from the Minot State Prospect Camp, as he was very impressive with all the skillsets this young man showed off. The most considerable skillset that stood out to me was just how physical Micah’s hands were, especially in 1v1s, as he was a menace to offensive linemen trying to fight him off. I also enjoyed watching Micah work his angles, as he could drive into a very tight win and win the rep with superb confidence and physicality to match. He also was excellent with his pad-level, as I didn’t see a rep from him all day that didn’t pass my eye test with his hands. I have to say, I am very surprised Micah just has the one offer, as his skillsets were excellent, and if I hadn’t checked, I would assume he would have had a few more. Micah is more under the radar than he should be in my eyes.
Another MVP I would hand out from the Minot State Prospect Camp, would go to Palmer Ridge (CO) WR Chris Rice Chris Rice 6’3″ | 195 lbs | ATH Palmer Ridge | 2023 State CO , as Chris certainly passed my eye test very early in Minot. Chris showed off very smooth cutting ability, and he caused sizeable separation from the defensive backs in the late 1v1 drills on the Minot State campus. He also has excellent trigger off the snap in his release, as it sets the tone for the rest of his route-running abilities to be superb. He also showed off great hands from the reps I got to watch and was very consistent across the duration of the camp in that skillset. I watched a bit of Chris’s tape and saw the wingspan on this young man, holy cow. Regardless of what side of the ball Chris lines up on, he shows it off with his ability to reach for their ball carrier that might be slightly out of reach for others, and his blocking ability as a lead-blocking WR stretches long as well. Chris is an excellent example of why prospect camps are so crucial to a player’s recruitment. The statement Chris made in Minot points me in the direction that this young man will have an explosive senior season in Colorado.
Highlights
Headshots from the Minot State Camp:
Jayden Speraw Jayden Speraw 6'1" | 170 lbs | QB Minot | 2023 State , QB, Minot (ND) 2023
Chris Rice Chris Rice 6'3" | 195 lbs | ATH Palmer Ridge | 2023 State CO , WR, Palmer Ridge (CO) 2023
Paxton Ystaas Paxton Ystaas 6'0" | 175 lbs | QB Des Lacs Burlington | 2024 State ND , QB, Des Lacs-Burlington (ND) 2024
Nate Norby, ATH, Trenton (ND) 2023
Micah Avery, DL/OL, Lake Stevens (WA) 2023