SDSU held their first skills camp this past weekend and I wrote down a few of the standouts. The coaching staff stuck with their regular schedule of having the OL/DL prospects work strictly with Coach Schmidt and the linemen coaches in attendance while the QB mainly stuck with Blane Morgan and the QB coaches. Everyone else spent the first portion of camp working on footwork drills. The second portion of camp was everyone doing defensive drills, followed by offensive drills in the third portions. Then they finished it up with 1v1s at every opposing position.
These camps are important for discovering under the radar talent and potential walkons because almost all the kids in attendance at least have legitimate interest in SDSU. Last year, Carlsbad OL Zach Thomas stood out, earned an offer and signed with the school. A year earlier, SDSU’s camp in LA had Jeff Horton discovering RB Melquise Stovall, and Horton had SDSU become the first school to offer before he became a national recruit. That was an extreme case as skills camp generally don’t bring all that much talent, especially compared to SDSU’s passing league camps held on back to back weekends later this month. Anyway, there were some bright spots during this year’s camp:
-ATH
Brandon Porter - Oak Hills
The first guy that caught my eye was during the footwork drills was Hesperia Oak Hills athlete Brandon Porter. Later on, without recognizing Porter, I noticed him as one of the best throwers with the quarterback group because of his footwork and accuracy. He is undersized but I can see him becoming an athlete/WR recruit down the line. He rushed for 1,000 yards to go with his 2,700 passing yards at 57-percent for 28 TDs and 7 interceptions last season.
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-QB
Tyler Vander Waal
The best quarterback of the camp was without a doubt Tyler Vander Waal from Sacramento (Calif.) Christian Brothers. He was the biggest guy with the strongest arm and he was very consistent with his throws. He actually received an offer from Dixie State’s offensive coordinator on his way out.
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-OT
Chris Matinez - Pitman high
There were really on two standouts to me during OL/DL drills and Martinez was probably the only legit mid-to-high level Division I prospect. He’s a legit 6-4 guy with impressive explosiveness and footwork. Definitely an offer candidate at some point, probably the most likely out of all the camp attendees.
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-OC/OG
Thomas Parker - RSM
The other standout was an undersized workhorse from Rancho Santa Margarita. He’s a babyfaced kid who doesn’t look nearly as intimidating as Martinez but his technique was arguably the best of an lineman at the camp. He repeatedly drove back guys much bigger than him. Coach Schmidt even seemed surprised by his efforts and ended up talking with him after the camp. That said, he’s just over six feet and is probably just a walk on candidate.
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An honorable mention for OL is 2018 El Cajon Granite Hills tackle
Garrett Curran. He’ll need to improve his form and technique over the next year but he’s athletic and already has a good frame.
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-LB/RB
Josh Barlow - Palm Springs
SDSU signed two Palm Springs DBs last year and Josh Barlow is someone the staff should probably consider as a walk-on recruit. (It’s worth noting that a lot of the walk ons SDSU adds to its roster usually attended the skills camp in the past.) Barlow was another guy that caught my attention during the footwork drills. For a pretty bulky kid, I liked how he moved. I also found myself liking his junior film the more I watched it. He’s a full-effort player that I can see becoming a potential fullback, reserve linebacker or special teams standout - in other words a quality walk on.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/4697107/highlights/326041381
-There really weren’t any other LBs that stood out in the camp. The only other standout was San Diego Lincoln ILB Daeyln Dunn and OLB George McCorley (who is more of a basketball player learning football at this point).
-The skill positions players also underwhelmed a bit in terms of pure talent level but I was really happy with the competition level during one-on-ones to end the camp.
-Cathedral City WR
Jack Thompson is a guy I took note of last year during SDSU’s passing camp and his overall athleticism has really improved. He’s always had great hands with a large catch radius and he had a strong showing during one on ones. I wouldn’t be surprised if a big senior year can lead to an Aztec offer, but then again CC doesn’t pass the ball all that often.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/5641239/highlights/316130399
-El Toro QB/WR
Dawit Wilson was probably my favorite receiver of the day, even more so when I learned he was a QB. He has tremendous speed with really soft hands and he really fooled around with some of the CBs that tried covering him during one on ones. Watch his film. He actually throws a pretty ball but check out some of his scrambles. Just a flat out athlete who I have yet to find any recruiting information about online.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2963652/highlights/297859477
-One of the biggest surprises of the day was a big WR from Volcano Vista high school in Albuquerque. Once I heard where
David Cormier flew in from I thought “I hope New Mexico is on him yesterday.” After a quick web search UNM has offered, and it isn’t surprising since Cormier has legit size and won every 50-50 ball thrown his way during one-on-ones. He plays the way his size says he should, leading me to believe he can also be a good safety in college too. I’m sure Coach Danny Gonzales is considering an offer at some point since that's his area.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3457489/highlights/304450380
-WR
Austin Arnold - Bishop Gorman
Austin Arnold is probably the last of the potential offer guys out of the group that I noticed. He doesnt’ have the length or size like the others but his burst after the catch really stood during one on ones and the coaches kept their eyes on him throughout many parts of the day.
https://www.hudl.com/athlete/2717187/highlights/317628386
-Long Beach Poly CB
Desmond Talley is someone SDSU will probably keep track of down the line. He’s undersized at this point but showed really good footwork and closing speed throughout his reps.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/5492384/highlights/302355410
I expect there to be more talent at SDSU’s next skills camp later this month.
