Carter Coughlin is an animal and made all of the drills look easy. He was absolutely a man among boys. Carter might have been the fastest kid there, but he also has great body control, and at 6’4” he obviously has great size as well. Every drill looked effortless from Carter. There was no tackling today, but when they were hitting bags, Carter was hitting them with the most pop. He’s a leader too. Carter was first in line for every drill, and when Sherels needed someone to demonstrate something, he always looked to Carter. He’ll be at every camp this summer.
Sean Engel had a great day in pads. He’s thin but tall, and uses his height well. He did a great job of coming down with the ball when it was in the air. One time, Philip Howard was all over Engel, but Engel timed his jump perfectly and came down with the ball despite contact from Howard. Another time, Engel was kind of falling away and caught the ball when he was almost on his back, and again, had tight coverage from Howard. I still don’t necessarily think that Engel will be a scholarship kid. He’s faster than I thought he’d be, but still not really a fast-twitch guy. And he’s not all that shifty.
Speaking of Phillip Howard, I thought he looked pretty good in man-to-man coverage. He was physical and was staying tight on all of the receivers. Despite Engel coming down with some balls against Howard, Kill went up to him and said that he was looking “really, really good.” I thought he showed some decent ball skills in the drills portion too. You could kind of tell that he needs some practice at receiver. I only saw him run two routes, but he didn’t get much separation either time despite being faster and a far superior athlete to the corners he was facing. Everyone’s pegged Howard as a slot receiver, but I think he could play DB too.
Amani Hooker looked really good in the non-contact portion. He has super quick feet and can turn on a dime. When I was watching, he seemed to have quicker hips than Tyler Johnson, although he’s certainly not as explosive as Tyler. Amani had decent ball skills and was catching the ball well. He also did a nice job of being physical with receivers and was tight in coverage in the 1v1 portion. He’s also one of the only guys I remember who intercepted a pass. Hooker talked with Sawvel for quite a bit after camp, but no offer was extended. Amani just told me that Sawvel said they’d continue to stay in touch. Hooker also briefly talked with Kill after camp, just saw them smile and shake hands.
Hooker’s teammate, Ty’Shonan Brooks, looked good as well. He’s a little bit shorter, but stuck to receivers like glue.
2017 prospect Nico Bolden was the free safety/outside linebacker that Lane mentioned. He looked great in the combine portion. After he ran his 40, Sherels seemed pretty fast and shook his hand. For 6’3 or 6’4, he’s fast and a very fluid athlete.
Kjetil Cline was probably the best route runner and camp. He runs clean routes and has great hands. Kjetil isn’t very fast, but he’ll be a nice possession receiver for somebody.
It was neat seeing Tyler Johnson play because I’ve seen him on the court many times, but I had never seen him play football. He was the ridiculously long and bouncy athlete that he is in basketball. He ran better routes than I was expecting him too, given that he hasn’t played much receiver. He stayed after to catch balls that the staff were throwing him, so maybe they’re taking a real look at him as a receiver. I’ve always assumed that he’d be the prototype Sawvel corner, though, and he was working with the defensive backs group for most of the day. He kind of winced during one of his shuttle runs and was limping a little bit after camp, but he told me wasn’t injured. So I’m not really sure what the deal was, maybe a small lingering injury from baseball season. I saw Kill talking to Johnson a couple times, and they were both all smiles, so that can’t be a bad thing.
Connor Novak-Goar was working hard, but he seems to lack enough explosion for a Big Ten kid. His teammate, 2017 Jermaine Johnson, is a really interesting prospect. He’s a pretty athletic kid that looks like a receiver but was working with the defensive lineman.
I think the staff was initially interest in Zeke Gueths as a tackle, but he was working with the tight ends. As you would expect, he was pretty raw running routes, but I think he has potential as a blocking tight end. Think a maybe even slightly bigger Lincoln Plsek.
Didn’t see the lines a whole ton in pads, but Benn Olson was good during the combine portion; he moves fairly well for 6’5” and 265 pounds. In the little bit that I saw of him in pads, he was dominating some smaller kid and was receiving a lot of feedback from GA Trevor Olson.
Nick Kramer was faster and a better athlete than I expected. He looked great when I saw him, and I'll be sure to watch him closer at future camps.
Spielman wasn’t there. I was told he would be going, so I didn’t want to bug him to confirm. That’s my bad.
Moses Nyangacha’s dad told me yesterday that he’d be at camp, but just now I’m seeing a Facebook message from Moses that he won’t be camping until mid-July.
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There were some spectators in Gopher gear, and if you were one of them, please comment! I’d love to hear what others thought. With 140 kids and about 8 different stations, it’s hard to see everyone, so I’ll always welcome the comments of others.
Sean Engel had a great day in pads. He’s thin but tall, and uses his height well. He did a great job of coming down with the ball when it was in the air. One time, Philip Howard was all over Engel, but Engel timed his jump perfectly and came down with the ball despite contact from Howard. Another time, Engel was kind of falling away and caught the ball when he was almost on his back, and again, had tight coverage from Howard. I still don’t necessarily think that Engel will be a scholarship kid. He’s faster than I thought he’d be, but still not really a fast-twitch guy. And he’s not all that shifty.
Speaking of Phillip Howard, I thought he looked pretty good in man-to-man coverage. He was physical and was staying tight on all of the receivers. Despite Engel coming down with some balls against Howard, Kill went up to him and said that he was looking “really, really good.” I thought he showed some decent ball skills in the drills portion too. You could kind of tell that he needs some practice at receiver. I only saw him run two routes, but he didn’t get much separation either time despite being faster and a far superior athlete to the corners he was facing. Everyone’s pegged Howard as a slot receiver, but I think he could play DB too.
Amani Hooker looked really good in the non-contact portion. He has super quick feet and can turn on a dime. When I was watching, he seemed to have quicker hips than Tyler Johnson, although he’s certainly not as explosive as Tyler. Amani had decent ball skills and was catching the ball well. He also did a nice job of being physical with receivers and was tight in coverage in the 1v1 portion. He’s also one of the only guys I remember who intercepted a pass. Hooker talked with Sawvel for quite a bit after camp, but no offer was extended. Amani just told me that Sawvel said they’d continue to stay in touch. Hooker also briefly talked with Kill after camp, just saw them smile and shake hands.
Hooker’s teammate, Ty’Shonan Brooks, looked good as well. He’s a little bit shorter, but stuck to receivers like glue.
2017 prospect Nico Bolden was the free safety/outside linebacker that Lane mentioned. He looked great in the combine portion. After he ran his 40, Sherels seemed pretty fast and shook his hand. For 6’3 or 6’4, he’s fast and a very fluid athlete.
Kjetil Cline was probably the best route runner and camp. He runs clean routes and has great hands. Kjetil isn’t very fast, but he’ll be a nice possession receiver for somebody.
It was neat seeing Tyler Johnson play because I’ve seen him on the court many times, but I had never seen him play football. He was the ridiculously long and bouncy athlete that he is in basketball. He ran better routes than I was expecting him too, given that he hasn’t played much receiver. He stayed after to catch balls that the staff were throwing him, so maybe they’re taking a real look at him as a receiver. I’ve always assumed that he’d be the prototype Sawvel corner, though, and he was working with the defensive backs group for most of the day. He kind of winced during one of his shuttle runs and was limping a little bit after camp, but he told me wasn’t injured. So I’m not really sure what the deal was, maybe a small lingering injury from baseball season. I saw Kill talking to Johnson a couple times, and they were both all smiles, so that can’t be a bad thing.
Connor Novak-Goar was working hard, but he seems to lack enough explosion for a Big Ten kid. His teammate, 2017 Jermaine Johnson, is a really interesting prospect. He’s a pretty athletic kid that looks like a receiver but was working with the defensive lineman.
I think the staff was initially interest in Zeke Gueths as a tackle, but he was working with the tight ends. As you would expect, he was pretty raw running routes, but I think he has potential as a blocking tight end. Think a maybe even slightly bigger Lincoln Plsek.
Didn’t see the lines a whole ton in pads, but Benn Olson was good during the combine portion; he moves fairly well for 6’5” and 265 pounds. In the little bit that I saw of him in pads, he was dominating some smaller kid and was receiving a lot of feedback from GA Trevor Olson.
Nick Kramer was faster and a better athlete than I expected. He looked great when I saw him, and I'll be sure to watch him closer at future camps.
Spielman wasn’t there. I was told he would be going, so I didn’t want to bug him to confirm. That’s my bad.
Moses Nyangacha’s dad told me yesterday that he’d be at camp, but just now I’m seeing a Facebook message from Moses that he won’t be camping until mid-July.
---
There were some spectators in Gopher gear, and if you were one of them, please comment! I’d love to hear what others thought. With 140 kids and about 8 different stations, it’s hard to see everyone, so I’ll always welcome the comments of others.
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