Helmholdt's Takeaways: The Show and Trenchman Showcase

BRADENTON, Fla. – The Show 7-on-7 and Trenchman Showcase wrapped up Wednesday after two days at IMG Academy. Top prospects from around the country came in to participate in the event, and many made their presence known. From top quarterbacks to emerging stars to prospects on the rise, The Show delivered plenty of action.

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MORE: Georgia could be tough to beat for Sam M’bake

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series

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The highest-ranked prospect at the event was 2022 five-star athlete Jacoby Mathews. Expectations have been that Mathews would stay home and attend LSU, though Mathews told us at the beginning of the week why programs like Georgia, Mississippi State and Texas could take him away. On the field Mathews primarily played his natural position of safety, and played it well, though he did flash over and line up at receiver for his team. He made a particularly impressive touchdown catch Tuesday on a fade where he out-leaped two defenders for the football.

Four-star Cincinnati linebacker commit Melvin Jordan changed teams halfway through the event to pair with Lonergan and fellow 2022 four-star Sam M’bake on Team Alpha. He proved his worth early, making a game-clinching pick six to advance Alpha in the Day Two bracket. M’bake, meanwhile, was very productive. The big wide receiver is adept at getting himself open, and caught a lot of passes as a result. M’bake looks like Georgia’s to lose, while Jordan plans to take visits despite being committed to Cincinnati.

High three-star Sherrod Covil is a long, rangy safety prospect who is valuable in 7-on-7 because of how much space he can cover. It sounds like Notre Dame and North Carolina are battling for the Virginia product. Lake Gibson (Fla.) running back Jaylon Glover is another 5.7 three-star who had a good showing. He is built to run between the tackles, but is explosive and has the ball skills that make him a good receiver out of the backfield as well.

Quarterback was the deepest position group at the 7-on-7, which made for some good games. Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood 2023 passer Dylan Lonergan showed the most potential of the quarterbacks in attendance. He is a solidly-built kid with clean arm mechanics who spins a beautiful football and looked every bit deserving of a double-digit early offer list. After his Team Mamba had a slow start on Day 1, they battled back from the bottom of the bracket to post a late run during Wednesday’s tournament play.

There were several quarterbacks in the next group after Lonergan who had strong performances over the two-day event. Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity three-star J.C. French has a strong arm that can hit all points on the field. Melbourne (Fla.) Holy Trrinity three-star Davin Wydner is a tall quarterback who throws an excellent deep ball. Another Florida three-star, Rocco Becht, first impressed us with his play at the Elite Underclassmen Camp on Sunday, then carried that performance over into the 7-on-7 tournament. Finally, 2023 Massachusetts native William Watson is on the shorter side, but he spins a pretty ball and lead his team deep in the tournament.

High three-star AJ Swann had his struggles during the week. He was paired with South Dakota native Jacob Knuth as the two quarterbacks on Team Highlight. Knuth is a big, strong quarterback who had a nice week and should start drawing attention from schools heading into the off-season. Meanwhile, Oklahoma baseball commit Brandon Rogers made the trip down from Chicago and helped lead Team Savage deep into the tournament while continuing to show he has skills on the gridiron as well as the diamond.

With many prospects facing shortened, postponed or canceled seasons this past fall, The Show was an opportunity to get seen and create some buzz heading into the off-season. Several players did just that, and performed at a level that should raise their stock.

Clearwater (Fla.) American Collegiate’s Amari Niblack is listed as a tight end and rated a low three-star, but he showed the suddenness that could keep him on the outside in college and was one of the best playmakers at the event. Wide receiver Rico Flores came all the way out from Folsom, Calif., to play in the 7-on-7. The class of 2023 has not been rated yet, but Flores showed up looking much bigger than his listed 6-foot, 177 pounds and still fast and athletic.

There were also several prospects well under the radar who proved worthy of more college attention. Linebackers Cliffton Weber of Nevada and Zach Chambers of Virginia came to Florida from opposite sides of the country, but both are big linebackers who showed they can move and play in space. Both are waiting on their first FBS offers, but they looked deserving of that level of interest this week.

Over at the linemen group, defensive tackles Tawfiq Thomas and Deone Walker both made strong cases for a ratings bump, while four-star Gunner Givens did not perform up to his Rivals100 ranking.

Top prospects rarely like to sit on the sidelines, and tend to talk their way into playing both sides of the football in these 7-on-7 tournaments. A player like five-star athlete Jacoby Mathews is probably the best player on either side of the football, but other prospects convinced their coaches they were capable of, or were pressed into, double duty.

One of the most effective two-way players was Baltimore three-star Lamar Patterson, who is rated as a three-star wide receiver in the 2022 class. Patterson was one of Team Savage’s top receiving weapons, but he also proved to be an outstanding defensive back as well, lining up at both safety and nickel cornerback.

Team Mamba had four stars Daniel Martin and Gregory Gaines going both ways. Martin is listed as a linebacker, but he played safety at this event and looked better-suited for that position both from a size and skill standpoint. Martin also flashed in at wide receiver, though, and had one drive where he caught all three passes, including the touchdown. Gaines, meanwhile, is a four-star wide receiver, but he played a lot of safety and played it well. His length allowed Gaines to get his hands on a lot of footballs, and he also tallied at least on interception we saw. Gaines, though, looked every bit the four-star at wide receiver. He catches the football out, away from his body and regularly pulled in catches in traffic.