Stanford's skills camp concluded with its second practice of the day.
The main change from the morning (in the camp personnel realm) was the addition of Hunter Johnson to the QB group and the departure of Davis Mills from the QB group.
Also of note: K.J. Costello and David Long arrived early in the afternoon. Neither participated in the camp, but each spent a while socializing with various coaches, including David Shaw.
Additionally, I don't believe he participated in the camp, but I spotted Kaden Smith on campus for what I believe is his 1,500th (well, sixth) unofficial visit.
Just a bit of a caveat here: I'm not an x's and o's expert, and the actual coaches might view things differently, so take my reports on these guys with a bit of a grain of salt. It's a little bit easier to evaluate certain parts of QB's than, say, OL/DL - I mean, you don't have to be an expert to gauge velocity, accuracy or ball placement - but I do try to pick the brains of various folks in attendance to get a more complete picture of what's going on. This camp, that included a top private QB coach I've gotten to know over the years who had a few clients at the camp as well as a football-savvy former player CSR poster who took in the afternoon session.
Also, there were several hundred kids at the camp split into maybe 6-8 groups, so it was impossible to keep tabs on everyone. I spent probably 95 percent of the camp watching the same group (that featured most of the top QBs) so I definitely could have missed some impressive prospects. I'll pass along any information I receive on notables that I did not watch (and as such aren't included in this post) if/when I receive it.
On to the camp...
Quarterback
-While there wasn't a clear top QB during the morning session, I thought there was this afternoon in the nation's potential No. 1 signal caller, Hunter Johnson. His ball placement, velocity, delivery, everything was top notch. He's also a very good athlete (not Marcus Mariota 4.4 guy, but he runs track and probably could be categorized as a dual-threat) who seems to lack any major holes in his game. His throw in the distance competition wasn't great (I had him at 56 yards, but I missed like the first 10 minutes of the drill, so it's possible he had another, better toss earlier), but he showed plenty of arm strength in one-on-ones. To me, anyway, the throwing ability he showed at camp was up there with some of the big names Stanford has hosted over the past few years.
So, based on today, gun to my head I'd guess that he would be the first QB offer from camp, with Davis Mills and Dylan McCaffrey probably the next two up. I'll try to do some digging over the next few days to get more information and a better sense for which QB will get the offer/when the QB offer will be extended. But in talking to people close to Johnson, Stanford would definitely be up there if they offer. He and his family really want a pro-style system, so that's a major factor. And they are academically inclined. I haven't been directly told this, but I think it probably comes down to Stanford and Notre Dame if the Cardinal offers. It might be tough to beat Notre Dame given the proximity and the relationship with the folks up there (ND isn't necessarily a pro-style offense, but apparently there's some comfort level that Sanford would check that box), but we'll see what happens. Hunter has a 6 a.m. flight home tomorrow, so he'll be doing the tours/meetings tonight rather than the Junior Day tomorrow.
-Probably my second favorite QB from camp (who stayed the full day) was the 2018 Alabama prospect, Jack West. West has picked up offers from Alabama and Auburn in the last few weeks and it's really, really easy to see why. Seems to be the complete package as far as size/arm strength/accuracy/quick release/etc... I really can't imagine there's a better 2018 QB in the country. Stanford never offers rising sophomore QB's, but if there was ever a candidate for a super early QB offer, it's West. West also attended Stanford's Saturday Night Lights camp last summer.
(Davis Mills was very solid in the morning, so he'd probably have been either No. 2 or No. 3 on my list if he stayed for the entire day. And then I'm not sure how much Stanford liked Jake Allen when he worked out yesterday, but he's another national recruit.)
-He wasn't quite as good as West in my opinion, but 2018 North Gwinnett (Imatorbhebhe's HS) QB Cade Fortin was one of the top guys out there. He's going to have a lot of offers when all is said and done.
-After chatting with two different top private QB coaches who were in attendance about him as well (as well as our savvy CSR poster), the somewhat surprising consensus is that Dylan McCaffrey is still kind of raw, at least compared to some of the other top QB's in attendance. He was probably my third favorite QB during the afternoon session, and the physical gifts are clear (he also showed excellent mobility in an obstacle course drill), but he just wasn't as consistent as some of the other top QB's there, and his release doesn't seem as clean. At the same, Dylan is pretty damn good despite having some clear mechanical flaws, so its hard not to wonder how good he become if he gets those cleaned up. And would you really bet against a McCaffrey becoming a good college football player? So it would be interesting to see how Stanford approaches this. Will do some digging throughout the week and will try to get more information.
(I had him down at 52 yards in the distance competition, but I believe I missed his first throw.)
-Lindell Stone (Clark Yarbrough's HS teammate) is by all accounts a great kid and a great student. And he did throw some of the day's prettiest passes. But, in the words of one of the QB coaches who observed, he's pretty "loose" in his mechanics and was inconsistent, plus he doesn't have the height Stanford generally desires in its quarterbacks. So I'm not sure he's a QB Stanford will end up pursuing, but he's definitely a D1 signal caller.
-He doesn't have any offers (or a Rivals profile, though that will change soon), but 2017 Elk Grove QB Tyler Vander Waal was easily among the top QB's in attendance, and he proved that again in the afternoon session. Again, I'm not sure he's a guy Stanford will recruit, but he's a good player.
-There may have been some others in attendance, but of the three 2016 walk-on QBs I watched closely (Luke Anthony, Alex Farina and Jack Richardson), I thought Farina really distanced himself from the others in the afternoon session. Again, he doesn't have great height (which is probably one reason his offer list is what it is), but I thought he threw with very good velocity and accuracy. Farina has been in touch with Lance Anderson, Tavita Pritchard and Robbie Picazo and will attend the Junior Day tomorrow. So he'd be someone to keep an eye on for that walk-on offer. Luke Anthony was also pretty good this afternoon, but I thought Farina was better.
Also, it's pretty clear that Stanford has gotten the ball rolling on identifying potential 2016 walk-ons earlier this year than last, which is a good thing for the Cardinal in my opinion.
Wide Receivers
-The Donald Stewart show, part two kicked off this afternoon. I didn't spot as much of him the pm session as I did this morning, but all reports I heard were very positive. If I had to guess, I'd say there's a solid chance Stewart picks up an offer based on his performance. Great job by Stanford of getting him to this camp (remember, in the interview I did with Donald a week ago he was very unsure if he would be able to make it because of a scheduling conflict), and the trip could pay dividends for both sides.
Stewart got some 1-on-1 attention from David Shaw midway through the session.
-I watched a fair amount of the younger St. Brown brothers, Osiris and Amon Ra. Both guys seemed to get open on a fairly regular basis during one-on-ones. Amon Ra (the 2018 prospect), the smaller of the two, made as many catches as any receiver I saw. Will be interesting to see how Stanford handles their recruitments. Equanimeous' recruitment was not ideal for Stanford (he decided not to do the academic work, then reconsidered in December, but by then it was too late), but I think the two younger brothers are probably also offer-caliber players (and both apparently love Stanford), so the Cardinal would hope they make some different academic choices if Stanford does offer.
-Micah Croom is a defensive back committed to Utah, and while he did work out at DB, I actually think he might have spent some time working on offense as well. I need to look into this a bit more, but at minimum he spent a long time working individually with Lance Taylor (who played WR in college), so it will be interesting to learn what Stanford's plans might be here. The Cardinal's DB board is certainly much deeper this year than their WR board.
-I wouldn't say that any of the other WRs consistently stood out to me, though there were certainly a handful that impressed. (It's just that aside from the 1-on-1's w/QB and DBs, I didn't spend a ton of time watching them.) I'll try to pass along a few more names of top guys later in the week. A relatively comprehensive list of the top WR's (at least the top 2016's in attendance) is posted in the other thread
The main change from the morning (in the camp personnel realm) was the addition of Hunter Johnson to the QB group and the departure of Davis Mills from the QB group.
Also of note: K.J. Costello and David Long arrived early in the afternoon. Neither participated in the camp, but each spent a while socializing with various coaches, including David Shaw.
Additionally, I don't believe he participated in the camp, but I spotted Kaden Smith on campus for what I believe is his 1,500th (well, sixth) unofficial visit.
Just a bit of a caveat here: I'm not an x's and o's expert, and the actual coaches might view things differently, so take my reports on these guys with a bit of a grain of salt. It's a little bit easier to evaluate certain parts of QB's than, say, OL/DL - I mean, you don't have to be an expert to gauge velocity, accuracy or ball placement - but I do try to pick the brains of various folks in attendance to get a more complete picture of what's going on. This camp, that included a top private QB coach I've gotten to know over the years who had a few clients at the camp as well as a football-savvy former player CSR poster who took in the afternoon session.
Also, there were several hundred kids at the camp split into maybe 6-8 groups, so it was impossible to keep tabs on everyone. I spent probably 95 percent of the camp watching the same group (that featured most of the top QBs) so I definitely could have missed some impressive prospects. I'll pass along any information I receive on notables that I did not watch (and as such aren't included in this post) if/when I receive it.
On to the camp...
Quarterback
-While there wasn't a clear top QB during the morning session, I thought there was this afternoon in the nation's potential No. 1 signal caller, Hunter Johnson. His ball placement, velocity, delivery, everything was top notch. He's also a very good athlete (not Marcus Mariota 4.4 guy, but he runs track and probably could be categorized as a dual-threat) who seems to lack any major holes in his game. His throw in the distance competition wasn't great (I had him at 56 yards, but I missed like the first 10 minutes of the drill, so it's possible he had another, better toss earlier), but he showed plenty of arm strength in one-on-ones. To me, anyway, the throwing ability he showed at camp was up there with some of the big names Stanford has hosted over the past few years.
So, based on today, gun to my head I'd guess that he would be the first QB offer from camp, with Davis Mills and Dylan McCaffrey probably the next two up. I'll try to do some digging over the next few days to get more information and a better sense for which QB will get the offer/when the QB offer will be extended. But in talking to people close to Johnson, Stanford would definitely be up there if they offer. He and his family really want a pro-style system, so that's a major factor. And they are academically inclined. I haven't been directly told this, but I think it probably comes down to Stanford and Notre Dame if the Cardinal offers. It might be tough to beat Notre Dame given the proximity and the relationship with the folks up there (ND isn't necessarily a pro-style offense, but apparently there's some comfort level that Sanford would check that box), but we'll see what happens. Hunter has a 6 a.m. flight home tomorrow, so he'll be doing the tours/meetings tonight rather than the Junior Day tomorrow.
-Probably my second favorite QB from camp (who stayed the full day) was the 2018 Alabama prospect, Jack West. West has picked up offers from Alabama and Auburn in the last few weeks and it's really, really easy to see why. Seems to be the complete package as far as size/arm strength/accuracy/quick release/etc... I really can't imagine there's a better 2018 QB in the country. Stanford never offers rising sophomore QB's, but if there was ever a candidate for a super early QB offer, it's West. West also attended Stanford's Saturday Night Lights camp last summer.
(Davis Mills was very solid in the morning, so he'd probably have been either No. 2 or No. 3 on my list if he stayed for the entire day. And then I'm not sure how much Stanford liked Jake Allen when he worked out yesterday, but he's another national recruit.)
-He wasn't quite as good as West in my opinion, but 2018 North Gwinnett (Imatorbhebhe's HS) QB Cade Fortin was one of the top guys out there. He's going to have a lot of offers when all is said and done.
-After chatting with two different top private QB coaches who were in attendance about him as well (as well as our savvy CSR poster), the somewhat surprising consensus is that Dylan McCaffrey is still kind of raw, at least compared to some of the other top QB's in attendance. He was probably my third favorite QB during the afternoon session, and the physical gifts are clear (he also showed excellent mobility in an obstacle course drill), but he just wasn't as consistent as some of the other top QB's there, and his release doesn't seem as clean. At the same, Dylan is pretty damn good despite having some clear mechanical flaws, so its hard not to wonder how good he become if he gets those cleaned up. And would you really bet against a McCaffrey becoming a good college football player? So it would be interesting to see how Stanford approaches this. Will do some digging throughout the week and will try to get more information.
(I had him down at 52 yards in the distance competition, but I believe I missed his first throw.)
-Lindell Stone (Clark Yarbrough's HS teammate) is by all accounts a great kid and a great student. And he did throw some of the day's prettiest passes. But, in the words of one of the QB coaches who observed, he's pretty "loose" in his mechanics and was inconsistent, plus he doesn't have the height Stanford generally desires in its quarterbacks. So I'm not sure he's a QB Stanford will end up pursuing, but he's definitely a D1 signal caller.
-He doesn't have any offers (or a Rivals profile, though that will change soon), but 2017 Elk Grove QB Tyler Vander Waal was easily among the top QB's in attendance, and he proved that again in the afternoon session. Again, I'm not sure he's a guy Stanford will recruit, but he's a good player.
-There may have been some others in attendance, but of the three 2016 walk-on QBs I watched closely (Luke Anthony, Alex Farina and Jack Richardson), I thought Farina really distanced himself from the others in the afternoon session. Again, he doesn't have great height (which is probably one reason his offer list is what it is), but I thought he threw with very good velocity and accuracy. Farina has been in touch with Lance Anderson, Tavita Pritchard and Robbie Picazo and will attend the Junior Day tomorrow. So he'd be someone to keep an eye on for that walk-on offer. Luke Anthony was also pretty good this afternoon, but I thought Farina was better.
Also, it's pretty clear that Stanford has gotten the ball rolling on identifying potential 2016 walk-ons earlier this year than last, which is a good thing for the Cardinal in my opinion.
Wide Receivers
-The Donald Stewart show, part two kicked off this afternoon. I didn't spot as much of him the pm session as I did this morning, but all reports I heard were very positive. If I had to guess, I'd say there's a solid chance Stewart picks up an offer based on his performance. Great job by Stanford of getting him to this camp (remember, in the interview I did with Donald a week ago he was very unsure if he would be able to make it because of a scheduling conflict), and the trip could pay dividends for both sides.
Stewart got some 1-on-1 attention from David Shaw midway through the session.
-I watched a fair amount of the younger St. Brown brothers, Osiris and Amon Ra. Both guys seemed to get open on a fairly regular basis during one-on-ones. Amon Ra (the 2018 prospect), the smaller of the two, made as many catches as any receiver I saw. Will be interesting to see how Stanford handles their recruitments. Equanimeous' recruitment was not ideal for Stanford (he decided not to do the academic work, then reconsidered in December, but by then it was too late), but I think the two younger brothers are probably also offer-caliber players (and both apparently love Stanford), so the Cardinal would hope they make some different academic choices if Stanford does offer.
-Micah Croom is a defensive back committed to Utah, and while he did work out at DB, I actually think he might have spent some time working on offense as well. I need to look into this a bit more, but at minimum he spent a long time working individually with Lance Taylor (who played WR in college), so it will be interesting to learn what Stanford's plans might be here. The Cardinal's DB board is certainly much deeper this year than their WR board.
-I wouldn't say that any of the other WRs consistently stood out to me, though there were certainly a handful that impressed. (It's just that aside from the 1-on-1's w/QB and DBs, I didn't spend a ton of time watching them.) I'll try to pass along a few more names of top guys later in the week. A relatively comprehensive list of the top WR's (at least the top 2016's in attendance) is posted in the other thread
