Camp started late and ended early, and there was so much talent here, so I didn't get to see everyone I planned on seeing for as long as I wanted. I saw just about everyone during the combine portion and position drills, but watched the quarterbacks/receivers/DBs almost exclusively during the 1v1 portion. Gophers in attendance were Dior Johnson, Zo Craighton, Demry Croft, Gaelin Elmore, Bronson Dovich, Damarius Travis, and a couple others that I can’t remember. They spent a lot of time interacting with Elisha Daniels, who of course couldn’t compete because of a fractured finger. Daniels was wearing sweat pants and khaki jeans for a while, which I couldn’t believe because it was about 90 degrees outside, and even hotter on the field from the black pellets. Matt Kegel and Thomas Barber were also there.
On to the campers...
Drew Hmielewski - Walked in right as the combine portion was ending and spent some time with Coach Kill. He had a mom, dad, and sister there, so I’m guessing his whole family came up. I’d say he’s about 6’2.5”. Hmielewski and his family left with Billy Glasscock (and maybe Jeff Jones and Antoine WInfield, but I’m not sure) to take a tour of either campus or the stadium for the most of camp. Coughlin spent some time with Hmielewski after practice, and Drew got to meet several other commits as well.
Antoine Winfield Jr. -- He had turf toe, so he didn’t play. He spent some time with director of player personnel Jeff Jones, who introduced him to fellow Texan Jaylen Waters and a couple of others. Winfield looked very comfortable and like he was having a good time. He disappeared though, so I’m guessing Jones took him on a tour of campus.
Kjetil Cline -- Didn’t even ask him if he was coming, but I should of because I think he’s in Minnesota for the summer. Cline’s hands were great and his routes were very good too. I think he’ll be a great possession receiver at the FCS level.
Phillip Howard -- I thought Howard did well at corner last camp, but I think he was phenomenal as a receiver. He’s really good east-to-west, as well as north-to-south. He can really stop on a dime, and his routes looked very good considering he hasn’t played receiver before. Really, really good routes for not having played receiver. Being able to turn so quickly just makes him really elusive. I’m starting to really like Phillip Howard; I think he’ll be a great Gopher. He could use work on his hands, but that’s to be expected I guess for someone who’s never played receiver. I’m excited about his future.
Bailey Edwards -- Edwards has incredible speed, but can't really stop on a dime like Howard can. In the position drill portion of camp, he didn’t look quite as natural catching passes and caught the ball close to his body at times. As camp went on, he looked a lot better catching the ball and had some nice grabs away from his body. Bailey got several consecutive reps against Elijah Daniels, and the matchup was pretty even. Bailey at times never got separation, but also beat him over the top a couple times as well. Bailey is so fast that he really only needs the corner to have a small misstep to make a big play. One time he just straight up ran a fly route and beat this poor rural Minnesota corner with speed alone. He’s fast, for sure, although I think he’s a lot better straight line than he is side-to-side. At one point, after getting no separation from Elijah the rep before, Elijah tried to be physical at the line again with Bailey, but he was able to shake it off, Elijah fell down, and Bailey had an easy touchdown. All in all, I came out higher on Bailey than I was before camp. He's fast and really only needs the corner to flinch to beat him. His hands seemed to get better and better as camp went on.
Moses Nyangacha -- Delivered some big hits at the line of scrimmage. He can get physical. His shuttle looked good. Being quick and physical is a good combination. At one point, he totally jammed JD Spielman at the line, and JD was toast. Couldn’t do anything. He also jumped a pass to get an interception. He did have a good camp, but I don’t think an offer would come, so I’d look for him to commit to NDSU tonight or soon. I keep listing him as a safety/outside linebacker, but he’s definitely a safety, and I think he’ll be a pretty good one. Held his own in coverage for the most part, despite not having much experience as a corner.
JD Spielman -- JD is tiny but pretty well built and strong. His routes looked quite good. I wasn’t too high on Spielman before camp, but I thought he played very well. He’s super quick and elusive. A rep, after Nyangacha buried Spielman at the line, he juked him right away and and got wide open. Not only is he quick, but Spielman is fast too. He blew by a couple guys with speed alone. His dad Rick was there watching, by the way. I saw Rick and Coach Kill talking after practice for a bit.
Otumos Payemanu -- Payemanu ran some good routes and has decent hands. He was consistently catching the ball away from his body. After practice when working with Poljan, he also had a sliding/diving catch.
Elijah Daniels -- Elijah totally destroyed a Chaska receiver at the line, prompting all of the Gopher players standing nearby to go nuts and jump around. He’s a safety, but I thought Elijah looked very good in press man coverage. The only receptions I remember him giving up were to Bailey Edwards. He was very physical at the line on just about every play. Elisha told me that he thought Elijah ran in the 4.5s today, but that he ran a handheld 4.43 at Pitt.
Nolan Meekhof -- Meekhof got some run with the tight ends, and that’s when I saw him. He’s big and well built. Don’t remember a whole ton about his hands or routes.
Connor Mohs -- Mohs I think was much more of a blocker for East Ridge, and I didn’t really seem him do that today, as I didn’t watch the tight ends during position drills. In 1v1s, his hands looked good, but his routes needed work, as should be expected for a fullback without route-running experience. Built very strong and is a tough guy, though.
Kamal Martin -- I didn’t see a ton of Kamal because he was often on the opposite side of the field, but I talked with a couple guys after camp who all said he did great. I saw him make one great catch where he caught it while falling backwards. Kill walked him around from position to position. I think he worked as a defensive end, tight end, and outside linebacker, which were all positions I believe he hasn't spent any time at before, even at other camps. After camp, he stayed after a long time to work with Carter Coughlin and Coach Sherels on some footwork and hitting stuff (I was pretty far away.). Claeys and another coach, I think defensive quality control Terry Szucs, were watching on. Then, and we must be talking 40 minutes after practice was dismissed by now, he had a very, very long talk with Claeys and Kill, longer than I’ve ever seen a coach stay after to talk with a player. Kamal has to be close to an offer. He looks like he could certainly be a Big Ten football player. He’s pretty thin at this point, but he’s a legit 6’3”, maybe even 6’3.5”, long, and athletic. Elisha at one point made a half-joking comment to me like “who is that? He’s going to eat my brother up!”
Tony Poljan -- Tony had a tight spiral, and was really stepping into his throws, which was great to see. He might have been the tallest guy there too, and I could see him adding more weight. He looked much thinner at camp than he does in his highlight video, but he has the frame to add some more weight. Poljan stayed a long time after camp throwing to Otumos Payemanu, Kjetil Cline, Phillip Howard, Bailey Edwards, and several others. He looked good throwing the ball to the flats, and had some nice thirty yard passes. He made mistakes at every distance but also hit guys in stride at every distance. After practice he was also throwing 40 yard passes to receivers running fly routes, and he looked good from that distance. Zebrowski asked him to put more arc under those throws, and he struggled a bit balancing having a sufficient amount of arc with still being accurate, but all in all he looked good on the 40 yard routes. I know arm strength was a question, but his arm looked plenty strong, and he put some real zing it to it at times. Poljan and the receivers also worked on some jet sweep handoffs after practice. In the drill portion, he was money on just about every throw. Probably had twenty throws and hit just about every receiver in stride, can only remember one bad throw from that portion of camp. His throws during 1v1s were good as well. Some of the quarterbacks there were pretty inaccurate, but Poljan was consistent and quite obviously the best QB there.
Michael Griffin -- Griffin had a better camp this time than before. He did well in 1v1s. He has a nice build and frame as well.
Shaylar Burnell -- Burnell isn’t much taller than 5’10”, but he’s super long so maybe he's a guy Sawvel could work with. His 40 was decent; I had him in the high 4.7s. I don’t remember a whole ton of his reps, but I wasn’t looking too closely. Add some weight on him and he could maybe become a contributor. Could end up with a PWO offer.
Lewis Kidd -- Kidd is already a pretty big boy, but I think he could definitely add more weight and not lose speed. He’s got a huge frame. Strong, too.
Dan Monson -- Monson is a pretty good sized kid, who moved alright. You can tell he’s strong.
Carter Coughlin -- Didn’t watch the linebackers really at all during the 1v1s, but Carter was his normal self when I did see him. He’s a leader and is in front of every line. I didn’t catch his 40 or shuttle, but I’m sure they were phenomenal. He ran a 4.53 electronic 40 at The Opening, which is outstanding. He just moves so well for his size that it’s unreal. Incredibly athletic. Carter stayed after and was working with Kamal Martin and Coach Sherels on I think footwork and some other things after practice. After practice, he also talked with all of the commits, as well as Moses Nyangacha, Kamal Martin, and he spent a lot of time with Hmielewski.
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Here are some guys who I’m working to get names on...
There was a 6’6” or so tight end who wasn’t the quickest but he had good hands and used his body well. Had a reception every rep of his I watched just because he's such a big target.
There was also a defensive back with the last name of Swenson (I think, but I might also be mixing this Swenson kid with someone else.) who was phenomenal. He was physical at the line of scrimmage and was the only defensive back I saw who had multiple interceptions. Swenson struggled with Bailey’s speed at one point, but all in all, he was very impressive. Certainly one of the best DBs at camp, great in coverage. This guy might be a JUCO; I’m not sure.
There was a tight end from RCTC there. He ran decent routes and had more receptions in the 1v1 portion than any of the tight ends.
There was a tall and lanky defensive end who I thought moved pretty well and did well in the position drills.
TLDR: Hmielewski spent a lot of time with the coaches, and could be getting an offer soon. Winfield didn't play because of turf toe. Howard was very impressive, and I'm excited for his future. Nyangacha was physical and impressive. I wasn't high on Spielman before camp, but he really impressed me. Very quick and elusive, good hands and a good route runner. Otumos Payemanu has great hands. Elijah Daniels did very well and is exceptionally physical. Kamal Martin is an animal physically and received a ton of attention from the staff. Poljan had a great day, and I'm excited for his future. Coughlin is impressive physically and was a leader like always.
On to the campers...
Drew Hmielewski - Walked in right as the combine portion was ending and spent some time with Coach Kill. He had a mom, dad, and sister there, so I’m guessing his whole family came up. I’d say he’s about 6’2.5”. Hmielewski and his family left with Billy Glasscock (and maybe Jeff Jones and Antoine WInfield, but I’m not sure) to take a tour of either campus or the stadium for the most of camp. Coughlin spent some time with Hmielewski after practice, and Drew got to meet several other commits as well.
Antoine Winfield Jr. -- He had turf toe, so he didn’t play. He spent some time with director of player personnel Jeff Jones, who introduced him to fellow Texan Jaylen Waters and a couple of others. Winfield looked very comfortable and like he was having a good time. He disappeared though, so I’m guessing Jones took him on a tour of campus.
Kjetil Cline -- Didn’t even ask him if he was coming, but I should of because I think he’s in Minnesota for the summer. Cline’s hands were great and his routes were very good too. I think he’ll be a great possession receiver at the FCS level.
Phillip Howard -- I thought Howard did well at corner last camp, but I think he was phenomenal as a receiver. He’s really good east-to-west, as well as north-to-south. He can really stop on a dime, and his routes looked very good considering he hasn’t played receiver before. Really, really good routes for not having played receiver. Being able to turn so quickly just makes him really elusive. I’m starting to really like Phillip Howard; I think he’ll be a great Gopher. He could use work on his hands, but that’s to be expected I guess for someone who’s never played receiver. I’m excited about his future.
Bailey Edwards -- Edwards has incredible speed, but can't really stop on a dime like Howard can. In the position drill portion of camp, he didn’t look quite as natural catching passes and caught the ball close to his body at times. As camp went on, he looked a lot better catching the ball and had some nice grabs away from his body. Bailey got several consecutive reps against Elijah Daniels, and the matchup was pretty even. Bailey at times never got separation, but also beat him over the top a couple times as well. Bailey is so fast that he really only needs the corner to have a small misstep to make a big play. One time he just straight up ran a fly route and beat this poor rural Minnesota corner with speed alone. He’s fast, for sure, although I think he’s a lot better straight line than he is side-to-side. At one point, after getting no separation from Elijah the rep before, Elijah tried to be physical at the line again with Bailey, but he was able to shake it off, Elijah fell down, and Bailey had an easy touchdown. All in all, I came out higher on Bailey than I was before camp. He's fast and really only needs the corner to flinch to beat him. His hands seemed to get better and better as camp went on.
Moses Nyangacha -- Delivered some big hits at the line of scrimmage. He can get physical. His shuttle looked good. Being quick and physical is a good combination. At one point, he totally jammed JD Spielman at the line, and JD was toast. Couldn’t do anything. He also jumped a pass to get an interception. He did have a good camp, but I don’t think an offer would come, so I’d look for him to commit to NDSU tonight or soon. I keep listing him as a safety/outside linebacker, but he’s definitely a safety, and I think he’ll be a pretty good one. Held his own in coverage for the most part, despite not having much experience as a corner.
JD Spielman -- JD is tiny but pretty well built and strong. His routes looked quite good. I wasn’t too high on Spielman before camp, but I thought he played very well. He’s super quick and elusive. A rep, after Nyangacha buried Spielman at the line, he juked him right away and and got wide open. Not only is he quick, but Spielman is fast too. He blew by a couple guys with speed alone. His dad Rick was there watching, by the way. I saw Rick and Coach Kill talking after practice for a bit.
Otumos Payemanu -- Payemanu ran some good routes and has decent hands. He was consistently catching the ball away from his body. After practice when working with Poljan, he also had a sliding/diving catch.
Elijah Daniels -- Elijah totally destroyed a Chaska receiver at the line, prompting all of the Gopher players standing nearby to go nuts and jump around. He’s a safety, but I thought Elijah looked very good in press man coverage. The only receptions I remember him giving up were to Bailey Edwards. He was very physical at the line on just about every play. Elisha told me that he thought Elijah ran in the 4.5s today, but that he ran a handheld 4.43 at Pitt.
Nolan Meekhof -- Meekhof got some run with the tight ends, and that’s when I saw him. He’s big and well built. Don’t remember a whole ton about his hands or routes.
Connor Mohs -- Mohs I think was much more of a blocker for East Ridge, and I didn’t really seem him do that today, as I didn’t watch the tight ends during position drills. In 1v1s, his hands looked good, but his routes needed work, as should be expected for a fullback without route-running experience. Built very strong and is a tough guy, though.
Kamal Martin -- I didn’t see a ton of Kamal because he was often on the opposite side of the field, but I talked with a couple guys after camp who all said he did great. I saw him make one great catch where he caught it while falling backwards. Kill walked him around from position to position. I think he worked as a defensive end, tight end, and outside linebacker, which were all positions I believe he hasn't spent any time at before, even at other camps. After camp, he stayed after a long time to work with Carter Coughlin and Coach Sherels on some footwork and hitting stuff (I was pretty far away.). Claeys and another coach, I think defensive quality control Terry Szucs, were watching on. Then, and we must be talking 40 minutes after practice was dismissed by now, he had a very, very long talk with Claeys and Kill, longer than I’ve ever seen a coach stay after to talk with a player. Kamal has to be close to an offer. He looks like he could certainly be a Big Ten football player. He’s pretty thin at this point, but he’s a legit 6’3”, maybe even 6’3.5”, long, and athletic. Elisha at one point made a half-joking comment to me like “who is that? He’s going to eat my brother up!”
Tony Poljan -- Tony had a tight spiral, and was really stepping into his throws, which was great to see. He might have been the tallest guy there too, and I could see him adding more weight. He looked much thinner at camp than he does in his highlight video, but he has the frame to add some more weight. Poljan stayed a long time after camp throwing to Otumos Payemanu, Kjetil Cline, Phillip Howard, Bailey Edwards, and several others. He looked good throwing the ball to the flats, and had some nice thirty yard passes. He made mistakes at every distance but also hit guys in stride at every distance. After practice he was also throwing 40 yard passes to receivers running fly routes, and he looked good from that distance. Zebrowski asked him to put more arc under those throws, and he struggled a bit balancing having a sufficient amount of arc with still being accurate, but all in all he looked good on the 40 yard routes. I know arm strength was a question, but his arm looked plenty strong, and he put some real zing it to it at times. Poljan and the receivers also worked on some jet sweep handoffs after practice. In the drill portion, he was money on just about every throw. Probably had twenty throws and hit just about every receiver in stride, can only remember one bad throw from that portion of camp. His throws during 1v1s were good as well. Some of the quarterbacks there were pretty inaccurate, but Poljan was consistent and quite obviously the best QB there.
Michael Griffin -- Griffin had a better camp this time than before. He did well in 1v1s. He has a nice build and frame as well.
Shaylar Burnell -- Burnell isn’t much taller than 5’10”, but he’s super long so maybe he's a guy Sawvel could work with. His 40 was decent; I had him in the high 4.7s. I don’t remember a whole ton of his reps, but I wasn’t looking too closely. Add some weight on him and he could maybe become a contributor. Could end up with a PWO offer.
Lewis Kidd -- Kidd is already a pretty big boy, but I think he could definitely add more weight and not lose speed. He’s got a huge frame. Strong, too.
Dan Monson -- Monson is a pretty good sized kid, who moved alright. You can tell he’s strong.
Carter Coughlin -- Didn’t watch the linebackers really at all during the 1v1s, but Carter was his normal self when I did see him. He’s a leader and is in front of every line. I didn’t catch his 40 or shuttle, but I’m sure they were phenomenal. He ran a 4.53 electronic 40 at The Opening, which is outstanding. He just moves so well for his size that it’s unreal. Incredibly athletic. Carter stayed after and was working with Kamal Martin and Coach Sherels on I think footwork and some other things after practice. After practice, he also talked with all of the commits, as well as Moses Nyangacha, Kamal Martin, and he spent a lot of time with Hmielewski.
--
Here are some guys who I’m working to get names on...
There was a 6’6” or so tight end who wasn’t the quickest but he had good hands and used his body well. Had a reception every rep of his I watched just because he's such a big target.
There was also a defensive back with the last name of Swenson (I think, but I might also be mixing this Swenson kid with someone else.) who was phenomenal. He was physical at the line of scrimmage and was the only defensive back I saw who had multiple interceptions. Swenson struggled with Bailey’s speed at one point, but all in all, he was very impressive. Certainly one of the best DBs at camp, great in coverage. This guy might be a JUCO; I’m not sure.
There was a tight end from RCTC there. He ran decent routes and had more receptions in the 1v1 portion than any of the tight ends.
There was a tall and lanky defensive end who I thought moved pretty well and did well in the position drills.
TLDR: Hmielewski spent a lot of time with the coaches, and could be getting an offer soon. Winfield didn't play because of turf toe. Howard was very impressive, and I'm excited for his future. Nyangacha was physical and impressive. I wasn't high on Spielman before camp, but he really impressed me. Very quick and elusive, good hands and a good route runner. Otumos Payemanu has great hands. Elijah Daniels did very well and is exceptionally physical. Kamal Martin is an animal physically and received a ton of attention from the staff. Poljan had a great day, and I'm excited for his future. Coughlin is impressive physically and was a leader like always.
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