Apologies for getting this out a little bit later. Media used to get camp rosters and that's not the case anymore, so it takes a little bit longer to track players down and write up reports.
Friday's camp was an individual camp, and Sunday's was a big man camp. Fleck caps most camps at 150 and the big man camp at 75. The big man camp was at capacity, and the Friday camp was a little under 150. The staff chooses to have less players for a more competitive feel and more individual instruction. Another difference from the last staff is Fleck does a Q&A with parents in a club room while the rest of the staff runs the warmup with the players on the field. Heather Fleck was there today and joined him with that.
Friday Individual Camp
As I posted earlier, Erik Gibson, Josh Aune, and Brevyn Spann-Ford really stood out.
I had someone tell me that Gibson was the best player they saw in camp since Corey Davis, and while I can't make that comparison, I will say Gibson was very impressive. He got separation on every single route that I watched during the 1v1 portion. He's skinny and definitely no bigger than the 6'2" he's listed at, but he's very quick. He's excellent getting in and out of his breaks, and made at least one corner fall during a 1v1 drill. He can start and stop very quickly and runs a very good comeback route. He extends to make catches well and made a couple nice catches through contact. During the drill portion, Fleck spent time individually working with Gibson once or twice.
Josh Aune is a smooth, natural athlete. He'll start out as a safety and has the potential to move to linebacker, and I could see either position working. I thought his hips looked good and he also showed some burst attacking downfield. Size-wise, he has an excellent frame and is already pretty built. I'm also told that his shuttle and 40 times were good.
Brevyn Spann-Ford camped as a receiver and did an excellent job hauling in passes. He had maybe the best hands in camp. He made the play of the day catching a pass while falling backwards and through plenty of contact - similar to the David Tyree catch without pinning it on his helmet. He seemed to constantly be making catches through lots of contact and interference from defensive backs who couldn't handle his size. Physically, he obviously has great size at 6'6", 225. He's a fluid athlete with great body control, especially for his size, so he gets separation more from his quickness and routes than straight-line speed. His 40 and shuttle times were apparently impressive, and he actually had one of the better shuttle times of anyone at the camp.
Elk River lineman Ronnie Audette was the best lineman at camp. He holds offers from Navy, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois (his profile is giving me error messages when I try to update it for some reason), and has drawn interest from Minnesota. He's about 6'2" or 6'3" and 300 pounds with a strong upper body and reasonably quick feet. He did well in the board drill and has good pop at the point of attack. I also thought he played with decent leverage for his size. Right now, he's a better run blocker than pass blocker. I thought his arm length/reach looked a little short. He played guard for Elk River but I think will be a right tackle at the next level. He'll have an opportunity to play his way into a scholarship this fall.
There are a few players I'm still trying to track down and identify, and I'll post about them if/when I'm able to identify them. None of them were necessarily future Power 5 players, though.
Quinn Carroll and his father and brother, Benny Sapp, and Phoenix Sproles were all at camp as well, but none of the three played. Carroll spent a lot of time with Will Henry and Gerrit Chernoff, and several position coaches would stop by and stay hi during breaks. Sapp and Sproles spent time on the sidelines with Rashad Still, Philip Howard, and a couple of the other Gophers there.
Big Man Camp
Lakeville North tackle Bryce Benhart was the headliner of today's camp roster. He was offered by Minnesota in early April and attended several spring practices and also holds offers from Iowa State, Northwestern, and UCLA. He has good size and moves very well. I think he's probably a little too used to being able to dominate opponents with his natural strength so he has a tendency to stand up too quickly. He could play lower and with more leverage, and I think he lost some reps in the board drill today because of it. Fleck appeared to spend some time with him today working on his setup and footwork. Matt Simon spent a lot of time with Benhart's father, and PJ and Heather Fleck spent time talking to him during camp as well.
Chaska DE Micah Roane walked away today with a preferred walk-on offer. He had a handful of reps against Bryce Benhart and more than held his own. Roane's a fighter. He competed to the end of every dill and showed a lot of emotion. He has a good get-off and plays with good leverage.
Rosemount's Ian Bass also impressed. He plays tackle for Rousemount but will likely be a guard at the next level. Bass has a strong base and a compact build. When he makes contact, it's game over. He controls at the point of attack and sustains blocks. Bass has taken recent visits to Iowa, NDSU, and North Dakota but doesn't hold any offers at the moment. Why doesn't he hold any FBS offers? He's a little small and like Audette, could have longer arms, and he could be a little more nimble. He looked good today though, and I think he'll pick up a Division-I offer at some point this summer.
Hermantown tackle Caleb Annis is different in that he's much bigger and just needs to fill in his frame. He's more of the tall, long, athletic OL type that will remain a tackle at the next level. With his size and length, he'll be a more natural pass blocker and gets good separation. He also seemed to move pretty well during the drill/testing portion of camp. He holds a Division-II offer from Bemidji State and is also getting interest from the Ivies.
Friday's camp was an individual camp, and Sunday's was a big man camp. Fleck caps most camps at 150 and the big man camp at 75. The big man camp was at capacity, and the Friday camp was a little under 150. The staff chooses to have less players for a more competitive feel and more individual instruction. Another difference from the last staff is Fleck does a Q&A with parents in a club room while the rest of the staff runs the warmup with the players on the field. Heather Fleck was there today and joined him with that.
Friday Individual Camp
As I posted earlier, Erik Gibson, Josh Aune, and Brevyn Spann-Ford really stood out.
I had someone tell me that Gibson was the best player they saw in camp since Corey Davis, and while I can't make that comparison, I will say Gibson was very impressive. He got separation on every single route that I watched during the 1v1 portion. He's skinny and definitely no bigger than the 6'2" he's listed at, but he's very quick. He's excellent getting in and out of his breaks, and made at least one corner fall during a 1v1 drill. He can start and stop very quickly and runs a very good comeback route. He extends to make catches well and made a couple nice catches through contact. During the drill portion, Fleck spent time individually working with Gibson once or twice.
Josh Aune is a smooth, natural athlete. He'll start out as a safety and has the potential to move to linebacker, and I could see either position working. I thought his hips looked good and he also showed some burst attacking downfield. Size-wise, he has an excellent frame and is already pretty built. I'm also told that his shuttle and 40 times were good.
Brevyn Spann-Ford camped as a receiver and did an excellent job hauling in passes. He had maybe the best hands in camp. He made the play of the day catching a pass while falling backwards and through plenty of contact - similar to the David Tyree catch without pinning it on his helmet. He seemed to constantly be making catches through lots of contact and interference from defensive backs who couldn't handle his size. Physically, he obviously has great size at 6'6", 225. He's a fluid athlete with great body control, especially for his size, so he gets separation more from his quickness and routes than straight-line speed. His 40 and shuttle times were apparently impressive, and he actually had one of the better shuttle times of anyone at the camp.
Elk River lineman Ronnie Audette was the best lineman at camp. He holds offers from Navy, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Illinois, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois (his profile is giving me error messages when I try to update it for some reason), and has drawn interest from Minnesota. He's about 6'2" or 6'3" and 300 pounds with a strong upper body and reasonably quick feet. He did well in the board drill and has good pop at the point of attack. I also thought he played with decent leverage for his size. Right now, he's a better run blocker than pass blocker. I thought his arm length/reach looked a little short. He played guard for Elk River but I think will be a right tackle at the next level. He'll have an opportunity to play his way into a scholarship this fall.
There are a few players I'm still trying to track down and identify, and I'll post about them if/when I'm able to identify them. None of them were necessarily future Power 5 players, though.
Quinn Carroll and his father and brother, Benny Sapp, and Phoenix Sproles were all at camp as well, but none of the three played. Carroll spent a lot of time with Will Henry and Gerrit Chernoff, and several position coaches would stop by and stay hi during breaks. Sapp and Sproles spent time on the sidelines with Rashad Still, Philip Howard, and a couple of the other Gophers there.
Big Man Camp
Lakeville North tackle Bryce Benhart was the headliner of today's camp roster. He was offered by Minnesota in early April and attended several spring practices and also holds offers from Iowa State, Northwestern, and UCLA. He has good size and moves very well. I think he's probably a little too used to being able to dominate opponents with his natural strength so he has a tendency to stand up too quickly. He could play lower and with more leverage, and I think he lost some reps in the board drill today because of it. Fleck appeared to spend some time with him today working on his setup and footwork. Matt Simon spent a lot of time with Benhart's father, and PJ and Heather Fleck spent time talking to him during camp as well.
Chaska DE Micah Roane walked away today with a preferred walk-on offer. He had a handful of reps against Bryce Benhart and more than held his own. Roane's a fighter. He competed to the end of every dill and showed a lot of emotion. He has a good get-off and plays with good leverage.
Rosemount's Ian Bass also impressed. He plays tackle for Rousemount but will likely be a guard at the next level. Bass has a strong base and a compact build. When he makes contact, it's game over. He controls at the point of attack and sustains blocks. Bass has taken recent visits to Iowa, NDSU, and North Dakota but doesn't hold any offers at the moment. Why doesn't he hold any FBS offers? He's a little small and like Audette, could have longer arms, and he could be a little more nimble. He looked good today though, and I think he'll pick up a Division-I offer at some point this summer.
Hermantown tackle Caleb Annis is different in that he's much bigger and just needs to fill in his frame. He's more of the tall, long, athletic OL type that will remain a tackle at the next level. With his size and length, he'll be a more natural pass blocker and gets good separation. He also seemed to move pretty well during the drill/testing portion of camp. He holds a Division-II offer from Bemidji State and is also getting interest from the Ivies.
