Day 1 of the Opening Finals in Frisco, Texas has come and gone, As one of the largest and most prominent camp events every year, Day 1 of the Opening Finals (held at the Ford Center at the Star) featured some of the nation’s best prospects at every position going head-to-head in 1-on-1 matchups and on display in a variety of workouts and drills, as well as combine testing. The Showcase event was held at night and had the athletes take part in multiple skills challenges.
Here were my takeaways from Day 1.
Miami Commits Impress
Led by WR Michael Redding, all three of UM’s commits at the event had multiple strong moments. On the last rep of the day in 1-on-1’s, Redding absolutely toasted DB De'Arre McDonald for an easy score, but he had his way with a few DB’s out there. Just a well built receiver physically that checks off all the boxes measurables-wise. Redding was also a standout in the combine testing, running a 4.5 and leaping a 40 inch vertical (unofficial).
RB Don Chaney was been one of the few RB’s to win a rep in the cat and mouse drill, as the LB’s were really impressive and athletic on Day 1. He froze PSU LB commit Curtis Jacobs, who had an otherwise great day, with a stutter step and made him look foolish. Chaney ran about 4.5 as well, unofficially.
I saw QB Tyler Van Dyke the least of the three as I saw him a lot at Paradise, but of the few reps I saw, he was completing his passes with accuracy and velocity. He put more than a few balls on the money in tight coverage where there was only a small window available. Van Dyke also threw a 60 yarder in the long toss. I plan to see more of Van Dyke today in competitive 7-on-7 play.
Walker and Dumervil have strong showings
The South Florida linemen at the event got off to a good start to say the least. STA OT Marcus Dumervil didn’t lose a rep on day 1. He played with outstanding balance and technique, didn’t lean or get over his skiis, and showed he could handle speed as well. I liked what I saw from Miami Norland OT Issiah Walker as well. He’s really starting to put on some good weight to his frame and he is already one of the quicker/more athletic tackles here.
Defensive Line was a mixed bag
The two best DL I saw on Day 1 were 2020 5-star Clemson DT commit Bryan Bresee and 2021 5-star DE Korey Foreman. Bresee was just flat out dominant in the OL/DL drills, winning pretty much every rep handily. He showed an impressive blend of speed and power and is a guy that can beat you in a lot of ways. Foreman was the youngest player in the bunch but is proving he belongs with the big dogs. Naturally strong, quick feet, active hands. Miami has offered here.
Canes DL target Chantz Williams had a slow start in OL/DL drills and didn’t win a rep in his 6 tries working against OL’s Myles Murao and Olu Fashanu. He was able to get Murao back later on and salvage his day a bit. Overall, a below average first day for Williams and he says he is looking to pick things up tomorrow.
Notes
**UF QB commit Anthony Richardson won the long toss competition with a 68 yard throw.
**Notre Dame RB commit Chris Tyree won the fastest man competition for the second year in a row with a 40 time of 4.37. Tyree also won the race as one of the few invited underclassmen in last year’s event with a 4.31 time.
**Auburn ATH commit Wesley Steiner won the SPARQ score title with a rating of 148.17.
**5-star LB and UM target Justin Flowe did not make it to the event on Monday because of flight issues. He is attempting to make for today’s action and I’ll update how that goes. As for the rest of the linebackers, I really liked what I was seeing out of Auburn LB commit Trenton Simpson and UF LB commit Derek Wingo, both of whom UM has been involved with in the past.
**Chaney reaffirmed his Miami commitment and said he is focused on his senior season at Belen. No news is good news there.
**Redding said people just assumed FSU was out in front since it was close to home (Pensacola) for him, but that he was always very open. Two big deciding factors for him were that Miami was a private school/great academics and that coach Stubbs is a very technical coach.
**The Miami hype with Chantz Williams is real. He was very open and candid in our talk, saying Miami never gave up on him when he eliminated them, and that coach Stroud just recruited him even harder. Publicly, he'll be choosing from a group of UGA, LSU, Florida, Miami, Texas A&M. Privately, he has two in mind that he can see himself at and says deep down he knows where he needs to be. I put in a UM pick for Williams after speaking with him.
**4-star TE Theo Johnson says he is still planning an official visit to Miami in the fall. He tried to make it for Paradise but had a conflicting school event. Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, and Georgia are also heavily involved here.
Here were my takeaways from Day 1.
Miami Commits Impress
Led by WR Michael Redding, all three of UM’s commits at the event had multiple strong moments. On the last rep of the day in 1-on-1’s, Redding absolutely toasted DB De'Arre McDonald for an easy score, but he had his way with a few DB’s out there. Just a well built receiver physically that checks off all the boxes measurables-wise. Redding was also a standout in the combine testing, running a 4.5 and leaping a 40 inch vertical (unofficial).
RB Don Chaney was been one of the few RB’s to win a rep in the cat and mouse drill, as the LB’s were really impressive and athletic on Day 1. He froze PSU LB commit Curtis Jacobs, who had an otherwise great day, with a stutter step and made him look foolish. Chaney ran about 4.5 as well, unofficially.
I saw QB Tyler Van Dyke the least of the three as I saw him a lot at Paradise, but of the few reps I saw, he was completing his passes with accuracy and velocity. He put more than a few balls on the money in tight coverage where there was only a small window available. Van Dyke also threw a 60 yarder in the long toss. I plan to see more of Van Dyke today in competitive 7-on-7 play.
Walker and Dumervil have strong showings
The South Florida linemen at the event got off to a good start to say the least. STA OT Marcus Dumervil didn’t lose a rep on day 1. He played with outstanding balance and technique, didn’t lean or get over his skiis, and showed he could handle speed as well. I liked what I saw from Miami Norland OT Issiah Walker as well. He’s really starting to put on some good weight to his frame and he is already one of the quicker/more athletic tackles here.
Defensive Line was a mixed bag
The two best DL I saw on Day 1 were 2020 5-star Clemson DT commit Bryan Bresee and 2021 5-star DE Korey Foreman. Bresee was just flat out dominant in the OL/DL drills, winning pretty much every rep handily. He showed an impressive blend of speed and power and is a guy that can beat you in a lot of ways. Foreman was the youngest player in the bunch but is proving he belongs with the big dogs. Naturally strong, quick feet, active hands. Miami has offered here.
Canes DL target Chantz Williams had a slow start in OL/DL drills and didn’t win a rep in his 6 tries working against OL’s Myles Murao and Olu Fashanu. He was able to get Murao back later on and salvage his day a bit. Overall, a below average first day for Williams and he says he is looking to pick things up tomorrow.
Notes
**UF QB commit Anthony Richardson won the long toss competition with a 68 yard throw.
**Notre Dame RB commit Chris Tyree won the fastest man competition for the second year in a row with a 40 time of 4.37. Tyree also won the race as one of the few invited underclassmen in last year’s event with a 4.31 time.
**Auburn ATH commit Wesley Steiner won the SPARQ score title with a rating of 148.17.
**5-star LB and UM target Justin Flowe did not make it to the event on Monday because of flight issues. He is attempting to make for today’s action and I’ll update how that goes. As for the rest of the linebackers, I really liked what I was seeing out of Auburn LB commit Trenton Simpson and UF LB commit Derek Wingo, both of whom UM has been involved with in the past.
**Chaney reaffirmed his Miami commitment and said he is focused on his senior season at Belen. No news is good news there.
**Redding said people just assumed FSU was out in front since it was close to home (Pensacola) for him, but that he was always very open. Two big deciding factors for him were that Miami was a private school/great academics and that coach Stubbs is a very technical coach.
**The Miami hype with Chantz Williams is real. He was very open and candid in our talk, saying Miami never gave up on him when he eliminated them, and that coach Stroud just recruited him even harder. Publicly, he'll be choosing from a group of UGA, LSU, Florida, Miami, Texas A&M. Privately, he has two in mind that he can see himself at and says deep down he knows where he needs to be. I put in a UM pick for Williams after speaking with him.
**4-star TE Theo Johnson says he is still planning an official visit to Miami in the fall. He tried to make it for Paradise but had a conflicting school event. Iowa, Penn State, Michigan, and Georgia are also heavily involved here.
