VimSince03
Well-known member
7.) Trevin Gradney - Billings West (6’0”, 170 lbs.)
• UM signee - CB
• 2018 1st Team All-State AA – CB
• 2017 2nd Team All-State AA – CB
• 2018 2nd Team All-USA Today Montana – DB
• 2018 GFT Super-State – DB
• 2018 Badlands selection - CB
• 2018 Shrine Game alternate – CB
• 46 total tackles (26 solo); 4 interceptions; 9 PBUs; 4 TFLs (senior year)
• 41 total tackles; 5 interceptions; 15 PBUs; 4 FFs; 4 TFLs (junior year)
• 24 career PBUs; 9 career interceptions
• 2018 State Track Placer – 2nd in 400M (49.55)
• 2018 State Track Qualifier – 200M
• 2nd ranked CB
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/8393148/5c04785db534360878f50801
On Gradney: Trevin burst onto the scene in the fall of 2017 with an excellent junior campaign that saw him breakup 15 passes and collect five interceptions. The spring 2018 track season led to Trevin experiencing more success, finishing second to future Griz RB Drew Turner in the 400M dash at State AA with an impressive 49.55 race time (yes Drew is fast). Based off his junior football film and production in track, Trevin became a top in-state recruit heading into the summer prior to his senior year. By the end of summer 2018, he had two in-state offers from the Griz and Cats, eventually choosing the Griz to be his future home this past fall. As a football player, he primarily plays CB but he dabbled on the offensive side of the ball as a part-time WR his senior year. Anyway, corner is his future position at the next level. Trevin has a long, athletic frame with long legs, long arms, and a high waist similar to that of a long distance runner. Despite that size, he's an easy mover with loose hips and a fluid backpedal. Trevin's 400M skills are prevalent in coverage as he effortlessly runs with receivers downfield. He's an intelligent player with a knack for finding the ball in coverage where he will usually play the ball, not the man. Trevin has excellent ball skills as it was fairly difficult to feather touch throws over him downfield (see 1:53 and 3:51 in highlight). He's an instinctual player who rarely squanders opportunities to take the ball away in his coverage. His length naturally helps him overwhelm receivers in contested catch situations. Trevin's awareness also stands out on film. He has quick plant-and-drive ability to peel off his man and play the ball. Trevin's pattern recognition is outstanding as he rarely gets fooled or lost in coverage. He shows the ability to "set up" quarterbacks into throwing his way by giving some space before breaking on the throw. AA teams schemed away from him his senior year because of his sticky coverage. As a run defender, he will get the job done...even if it isn't pretty. Basically, he gives what he's got as a hitter and tackler and shows the necessary willingness to hold contain on edge runs. However, there are things to fix/improve. Trevin is going to be matched up against bigger receivers in college due to his length and sticky coverage on deep routes. This will also lead to physical battles in press coverage where Trevin will have to improve. For a kid with his length, he rarely executed jamming receivers at the line when lined up in press and did not consistently bully receivers on the boundary when opportunities were present. Instead, he showed a tendency to open his hips up much too early in press. On several occasions, he could've had his receiver dead to rights at the line but instead allowed a free release. When Trevin got matched up against bigger kids like Anthony Jones or Ryan Simpson, he made it much harder on himself to win those battles. Trevin will learn to do a better job of squeezing the receiver to the sideline while running with them downfield. He'll need to improve his tackling as his technique is rather sloppy. Again, Trevin does get the job done in the run game but he will be required to improve under Coach Hauck. He's more of a finesse corner than "grabby" or physical. Like I said above, he likes to play the ball, not the man. Trevin's performance in the State AA title game highlighted his strengths and weaknesses all in one game as he had an up and down night against Anthony Jones. In the play referenced above (3:51), Trevin gives little resistance in press coverage and gives Anthony a clean release. After getting beat, he gets late safety help from Lucas Gibb and recovers adequately to knock the ball away on an underthrown ball downfield. Overall, Trevin's long-speed is college ready. The tools are clearly there to be an early starter. He has the athleticism and awareness to fit into any type of coverage or scheme. He is a long-armed ball-hawk who understands how to maximize his length to disrupt the catch and take it away. He is armed with route anticipation, ball skills, and college length that teams covet in a press-man corner. Right now, Trevin is more comfortable in zone but developing press skills takes time. If his development goes as planned, Trevin will be a corner you can "leave on an island" in no time at the next level.
11.) Ryder Meyer – Fairfield (5'9”, 170 lbs.)
• UM signee – S
• 2x Class B All-State
• 2016 Class B 2nd Team All-Conference - DB
• 2018 1st Team All-USA Today Montana – DB
• 2018 GFT Super-State – DB
• 2018 Badlands selection - S
• 2018 Shrine Game selection – S
• 112 total tackles; 3 interceptions; 2525 total offensive yards; 43 total touchdowns (senior year)
• 44-2 career record as a four-time letter winner book-ended by State B titles in 2015 & 2018 (semifinal losses in 2016 & 2017)
• Voted 2017-2018 Basketball Team Defensive MVP by teammates
• 2018 State Track Qualifier – 100M
• 2018 Finalist - U.S. Army/Pro Football Hall of Fame Award for Excellence (based on athletic, academic, & civic achievements of students)
• 3rd ranked S
https://www.hudl.com/video/3/6408078/5bf8de8015f6760cfc1549c9
On Meyer: Ryder only experienced two losses during his four years of varsity football and those happened in the 2016 and 2017 Class B semifinals. He played in the secondary each year and moved from WR to QB for his final two years. Ryder is a high character kid who plays every down with the same level of grit and urgency. He’s what you want from a team captain/leader and leads by example with his fearless, physical play. Ryder began to get on in-state program’s radar his junior season when he played QB and FS for the Eagles. As a QB, he never really threw the ball well but like the true competitor he is, he made it work. Ryder excelled as a slash-and-dash runner who was hard to tackle in the open field because of his agility and toughness. He was productive as a QB and was a major reason for Fairfield’s offensive success in 2017 and 2018. But Ryder’s best position has always been free safety. His football intelligence from the safety position is up there with the best safeties Montana has produced the last five years. He’s quick to diagnose what an offense doing and is rarely caught out of position because of his play recognition pre-snap. When Ryder reads run, he comes downfield with vigor and straight-up thumps ballcarriers. For a kid his size, he is a forceful hitter and washes out plays to the sideline with a “smack” at the finish. Ryder’s pursuit speed is adequate as his strides are fluid and powerful. He takes consistently optimal angles in pursuit whether it’s in run support or helping in coverage. As stated above, he rarely has to gamble because he diagnoses plays really well pre- and post-snap. There are numerous examples on his junior and senior tape where he easily sniffs out reverses, play-action bootlegs, and counters. On top of that, his tackling is excellent so those trick plays usually lose yards when he’s in pursuit. His lateral agility also helps his tackling ability as its hard to shake him. In pass coverage, he sticks his foot in the ground and accelerates to squeeze routes approaching his cover area. Ryder has good speed to range over the top on deep throws and bring down running backs in the flat starting from his free safety position. He doesn’t give up a ton of extra yards in his coverage if the ball is caught in front of him. Ryder is patient in pattern recognition but not too patient to let plays expose him. He trusts what he sees, plays with an edge, and is very strong for his size. Ryder always surprised bigger kids with his physicality and he laid out a bunch of dudes that were much bigger than him. As for things to improve, he doesn’t have too many issues. The obvious deficiency is his lack of length and overall frame to play safety in college. He could struggle to handle size when covering down field or supporting the run at the next level. Ryder also doesn’t have top, straight-line speed so that may hurt him in coverage or in pursuit. But really that is about it. His agility, first-step, instincts, speed/burst, and tackling technique are all pluses. Ryder’s will to compete and play-demeanor should earn him playing time early in his career, especially on special teams. An easy comparison for Ryder is current Griz safety Robby Hauck. They almost have the exact same playing style. Everyone got to see how Robby overcame his size limitations his first year in Missoula so Ryder should be seeing the field sooner than later for the Griz.
Above are my two high school breakdowns written in on January 31, 2019. Fast forward 4 years and the Griz have two in-state players in the secondary making waves for the defense. Everything I saw in high school is showing up on film in college. Really happy for these two!
