Potential for Impact: Top 5 Freshmen Who Could Contribute in 2017

The recruiting class of 2017 was heralded back in February as one of the best in the history of Jackrabbit football.  However, we all know that games aren't won on signing day.  It takes work in the weight room, in practice, and in the classroom in order to reach success. The true test to see how this class stacks up will be in 3-4 years; hopefully the Jacks will have hung a few banners by then.

 Here is a quick list of the men who are joining the program this year.  Below the list are five who I feel can, or may need to, contribute right away. 

Commitments:
QB - Ethan Bullock, 6'4" 200, Maitland, FL (Orangewood Christian) - HUDL 
WR - Chase Templeman, Gretna, NE - HUDL
WR - Deyon Campbell, 5'7" 178, Hopkins, MN - HUDL
RB - Pierre Strong, 6'0" 195, Little Rock, AR, (McClellan) - HUDL
RB - C J Wilson, 5'10" 180, Daytona Beach, FL (Mainland) - HUDL 
WR - Jake Aanderud, 5'10" 165, Rapid City, SD (St. Thomas More) - HUDL
WR - Isaiah Hill, Minooka, IL (Minooka Community) - HUDL 
WR- Keenan Orr, 6'5", Forest, IN (Clinton Central) -HUDL
WR - Michael Wandmaker, 6'4" 205, Andover, MN - HUDL
WR - Mitch Van Beek, 5' 6" 145, Rock Rapids, IA (CL-GLR) - HUDL
TE - Arthur Egan, 6'4" 230, Omaha, NE (Creighton Prep) - HUDL
TE - Caleb Schauf, 6'6" 210, Sparta, WI - HUDL 
TE- Skyler Cavanaugh, 6'5" 235, Vail, AZ- HUDL
C - Wyatt Ewing, 6'4" 260, Winner, SD - HUDL
C - Aron Johnson, 6'5" 238, Lindstrom, MN (Chisago Lakes) - HUDL
OL - Austin Boen, 6'4" 300, Sioux Falls, SD (Roosevelt) - HUDL
OL - Colton Cook, 6'5" 280, Minot, ND - HUDL
OL - Eddie Miller, 6'5" 295, Brookings, SD - HUDL 
OL - Brendan Rotert, 6'3" 290, Spearfish, SD - HUDL
OL - Jonathan Gruetzmacher, 6'8" 285, Merrill, WI - HUDL 
OL - Eagan Lickiss, 6'4" 270, Indianola, IA - HUDL
OT - Austin Lohsandt, 6'8" 260, Madison, SD - HUDL
OT - Jason Titus, 6'5" 280, Andover, MN - HUDL
DE - Daniel Callender, 6'6" 220, Yuma, AZ (Yuma Catholic) - HUDL 
DE - Reece Winkleman, 6'4" 215, Marshall, MN - HUDL
DT - Krockett Krolikowski, 6'3" 250, Winner, SD - HUDL
DT - Xavier Ward, 6'3" 290, Canistota, SD - HUDL 
LB - Levi Brown, 6'4" 190, Roseville, MN - HUDL 
SS - Tylen Small, 6'1" 170, Plantation, FL (Plantation HS) - HUDL
DB - Alex Schiefelbein, 5'11" 160, Elkhorn, NE - HUDL
LB - Seven Wilson, 6'0" 215, Kansas City, MO (Park Hill) - HUDL 
LB - Noah Urbanek, 6'2" 210, Kearney, NE - HUDL 
S - Tyler DeMartra, 6'3" 200, Flossmoor, IL (Homewood-Flossmoor) - HUDL
S - Adam Heien, 5'10" 190, Tea, SD - HUDL
CB - Malik Lofton, 5'10" 175, Minnetonka, MN (Hopkins) - HUDL 
S - Alex Wickersham, 6'1" 194, Brandon, SD (Brandon Valley) - HUDL
P - Ben Dinkel, 5'9" 185, Kearney, NE - HUDL
K - Jake Wolfe, 5'8" 150, Omaha, NE (Millard West) - HUDL

5 Freshman Who Can Contribute Now 
5. Seven Wilson
  • Seven is a tackling machine.  Depth at linebacker is a concern and Seven may have the strength and speed to step in right away and make an impact.  
4. Noah Urbanek
  • With the unexpected retirement of fellow Nebraskan, Jake Harms, outside linebacker is thin.  Urbanek was a play maker from a strong Kearney program that has a history of producing Division 1 talent.
3. Jonathan Gruetzmacher
  • Can we nick-name him "The Mountain" now?  I think anyone who is 6'8" and 310 pounds can have this name and I'm sure many of you might be excited about the season 7 premier of "Game of Thrones" so The Mountain seems like a good name to me..  Last year Wes Genant played at right tackle as a true freshman.  Can Gruetzmacher do the same if needed?   


2. Isaiah Hill or Deyon Campbell
  • These two offer something that the Jacks haven't had in a return man since Jaron Harris, pure speed.  If Hill or Campbell do play this year, it will be as a return specialist.  Kick-off and punt-return has just been okay the last few years.  Can Hill or Campbell give the Jacks a weapon in the return game? 
1. Daniel Callender
  • SDSU's first Parade All-American, Callender also fills an area of need.  The Jacks struggled last season with a consistent pass rush.  Kellen Soulek led the Jacks with 7.5 sacks but someone else will need to step-up and apply pressure on the quarterback.  Callender had 22 sacks his senior year of high school and has the build to contribute right away.  

What do you think, which recruit stood out to you?  As always, Go Jacks!
-Matt

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jackrabbit Football All-Decade Team

Image
Yes, we are well into the new year/decade but our debate has been fierce in creating an All-Decade Jackrabbit football team.  The challenges of creating this team were what to do with the players at the beginning and the end of the decade who may only have a year or two of stats to go on or what do we do with those players who only splashed for one year?  Further complicating matters was the consistent improvement of the Jackrabbit team as a whole and the level of competition they are facing week in and week out.  So with all of those factors, the Splitting Hares Podcast team of Ben Pierson, Brendan Luedtke, Kyle Sheehan, and Dallas Clarksean created our list of who the team should be.  All are welcome to their opinions!  Special thanks to Mitchell McLain who keeps an unbelievable database of Jackrabbit football statistics and information.  Offense Quarterback Taryn Christion (2015-2018) 44 games started, 59.70% completion rate, 11,535 yar...
Read more

What's Cookin': Dessert

Image
Alright, another year of Jackrabbit football is upon us. We are celebrating at Jackrabbit Illustrated, this our 5th season covering the team.  The players who we first covered as freshmen are now redshirt seniors. We hope you are as excited as us for this upcoming season. Chef Tim, a culinary instructor at Mitchell Tech and contributing writer, has some fun recipes for you this season.  He has committed to doing one a week. I have nothing but faith that he will get them turned in! We start the season celebrating with celebrations. Here are some fun baked goods that will lead to the healthy start to the season; Cherry-Chocolate Chunk Cookies ½ Cup All-Purpose Flour ¼ Cup Quick-Cooking Oats ½ Teaspoon baking Soda Pinch of Salt 2 tbs butter, melted and cooled 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla Extract 2 oz semisweet chocolate 1/3 cup dried cherries 1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray large baking sheet with nonstick spray. 2) Combine Flour, Oats, baking soda, and s...
Read more

Rants & Raves: LIU

Image
The Jacks won 38-3 on a cold and damp September evening.  The Jacks dominated statistically in nearly every area but it didn't feel like a fully satisfying victory.  How spoiled have we become as Jackrabbit fans? Rave: How about that defense?  The argument could be made that they have only surrendered 17 points in 2 games.  Pretty impressive.  For most of the night Saturday LIU was completely overwhelmed by the size and speed of the Jackrabbit defense.  LIU managed only 123 yards of total offense.  The performance was phenominal, even against a transitioning FCS opponent. I'll highlight some of the invidual performances later. Rant: Adult fans... enough said.  This writer is tired of the apathy and excuses. Rave: Students!  Great job showing up, being loud, and impacting the game.  That was great! Rave: The true freshmen really showed out.  Quinton Hicks impacted the game from his first snap.  Diamond Evans played w...
Read more