Miscellaneous notes:
* Jaden Platt had a quiet first game but has had some notable moments since. He got a chance to match up against Arizona State safety commit Chase Davis and they each had a highlight against one another, a 29 yard reception crossing over the middle for Platt and a pass breakup in the endzone by Davis on a pass targeting Platt. Against Hebron is when Platt really broke out, hauling in 8 catches for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. In that game, other than a few tackles I didn't pick out anything of note in terms of Platt vs. Arkansas LB Carson Dean (Dean looked like a force on his highlights but not at Platt's expense). At points in the various highlights Platt is split out and at other points he's in-line but to date I have been more impressed with Platt as a receiver.
* So far LJ Martin has been picking up at a dominant level (though not so far at the eye-popping 257 yard from scrimmage per game level as last year), and through three games he is averaging 182 yards rushing per game and 10.1 yards per carry, with 5 touchdowns so far. He's also got 3 catches for 56 yards and a receiving touchdown. As has been the case throughout his career, the competition is laughable, which creates a Houdini/Pop Warner quality to his highlights. He's also his team's punter (41.1 yard average with two of his nine punts inside the 20) but, notably given the talk of him maybe getting a look at linebacker in college, has not played defense.
* Ahmari Borden is another guy dominating terrible competition. Through three games he has 16 catches for 262 yards (16.4 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns, all of his team's receiving touchdowns and 46 percent of the passing offense. He's also got an 80 yard kick return and 2.3 tackles per game on defense.
* It's a pattern at the skill positions: Tiger Bachmeier has been feasting on over-matched competition too, to the tune of a three game total of 28 catches for 470 yards (16.8 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns, all of his team's receiving touchdowns and 74 percent of the passing offense. He's also wrecking opponents in the return game, taking two of the three kick returns he's fielded all the way for touchdowns (so an insane 63.7 yards per return) and averaging 14.2 yards per punt return on five returns (a 31 yarder and four others averaging 10 yards), plus 2 tackles per game on defense. This is another level of dominant than the others I've highlighted. In some past years that would go in the section up top but the last few years I've had a general rule that only data points against significant competition merit/demerit mention above the miscellaneous portion. Still, this is nice to see.
* Behind Simione Pale's road-grading at right guard, Elk Grove is again on the very extreme end of the offensive balance spectrum with an 89/11 run/pass ratio. Four games in, all four non-QB leading rushers are averaging at least 6.9 yards per carry and the team average is an impressive 7.9 yards per carry, though it's hardly been dominant as the team has a losing record and has twice been kept to 20 points or fewer. On defense Pale has 2.8 tackles per game and a sack. Based on watching the highlights, which show a lot of Pale at defensive end (!), I don't think the stats are comprehensive, as it seems he may have at least one other tackle for loss and maybe a forced fumble as well. The sack is the last highlight of the San Ramon Valley highlights on his Hudl page and resulted from working steadily against the right tackle to push him back and then being athletic enough to collapse on the QB when he tried to move up in the pocket. The Menlo-Atherton highlights only showed Pale on offense, which was a bummer for me as I wanted to see him against Washington OT commit Soane Faasolo. Faasolo has not posted highlights this season and I'm not sure he's playing given the highlights I saw.
* In the first two games, Gavin Geweniger averaged 5 tackles per game and had 3 tackles for loss and a pass defended. All of the significant stats were against a team without major prospects. I'd like to see Geweniger and Salpointe Catholic's 3-star 2024 OT Luis Cordova post highlights of the Chaparral-Salpointe Catholic game to show some insight into Geweniger's performance in that game.
* Hunter Clegg's team is very fast to post Maxpreps stats so he is one case where stats are updated through last night. In six games he has 5.2 tackles per game (fourth on the team), 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and a fumble recovery (opportunistic/closing on a bobbled snap on a punt). I liked his early productivity this season but he's slowed down a bit, not to over-emphasize the arbitrariness of particular stats. He also has 2 catches for 37 yards. The stats and highlights reveal work at tight end, which is interesting because recall that last year he played offensive tackle (intriguingly competently in fact). I continue to vacillate on which kind big athlete he is (OLB/TE or DE/OT), though granted the distinction for us doesn't matter as much since he'll be an edge defender mostly in a 5-technique it seems.
* Jaden Platt had a quiet first game but has had some notable moments since. He got a chance to match up against Arizona State safety commit Chase Davis and they each had a highlight against one another, a 29 yard reception crossing over the middle for Platt and a pass breakup in the endzone by Davis on a pass targeting Platt. Against Hebron is when Platt really broke out, hauling in 8 catches for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. In that game, other than a few tackles I didn't pick out anything of note in terms of Platt vs. Arkansas LB Carson Dean (Dean looked like a force on his highlights but not at Platt's expense). At points in the various highlights Platt is split out and at other points he's in-line but to date I have been more impressed with Platt as a receiver.
* So far LJ Martin has been picking up at a dominant level (though not so far at the eye-popping 257 yard from scrimmage per game level as last year), and through three games he is averaging 182 yards rushing per game and 10.1 yards per carry, with 5 touchdowns so far. He's also got 3 catches for 56 yards and a receiving touchdown. As has been the case throughout his career, the competition is laughable, which creates a Houdini/Pop Warner quality to his highlights. He's also his team's punter (41.1 yard average with two of his nine punts inside the 20) but, notably given the talk of him maybe getting a look at linebacker in college, has not played defense.
* Ahmari Borden is another guy dominating terrible competition. Through three games he has 16 catches for 262 yards (16.4 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns, all of his team's receiving touchdowns and 46 percent of the passing offense. He's also got an 80 yard kick return and 2.3 tackles per game on defense.
* It's a pattern at the skill positions: Tiger Bachmeier has been feasting on over-matched competition too, to the tune of a three game total of 28 catches for 470 yards (16.8 yards per catch) and 3 touchdowns, all of his team's receiving touchdowns and 74 percent of the passing offense. He's also wrecking opponents in the return game, taking two of the three kick returns he's fielded all the way for touchdowns (so an insane 63.7 yards per return) and averaging 14.2 yards per punt return on five returns (a 31 yarder and four others averaging 10 yards), plus 2 tackles per game on defense. This is another level of dominant than the others I've highlighted. In some past years that would go in the section up top but the last few years I've had a general rule that only data points against significant competition merit/demerit mention above the miscellaneous portion. Still, this is nice to see.
* Behind Simione Pale's road-grading at right guard, Elk Grove is again on the very extreme end of the offensive balance spectrum with an 89/11 run/pass ratio. Four games in, all four non-QB leading rushers are averaging at least 6.9 yards per carry and the team average is an impressive 7.9 yards per carry, though it's hardly been dominant as the team has a losing record and has twice been kept to 20 points or fewer. On defense Pale has 2.8 tackles per game and a sack. Based on watching the highlights, which show a lot of Pale at defensive end (!), I don't think the stats are comprehensive, as it seems he may have at least one other tackle for loss and maybe a forced fumble as well. The sack is the last highlight of the San Ramon Valley highlights on his Hudl page and resulted from working steadily against the right tackle to push him back and then being athletic enough to collapse on the QB when he tried to move up in the pocket. The Menlo-Atherton highlights only showed Pale on offense, which was a bummer for me as I wanted to see him against Washington OT commit Soane Faasolo. Faasolo has not posted highlights this season and I'm not sure he's playing given the highlights I saw.
* In the first two games, Gavin Geweniger averaged 5 tackles per game and had 3 tackles for loss and a pass defended. All of the significant stats were against a team without major prospects. I'd like to see Geweniger and Salpointe Catholic's 3-star 2024 OT Luis Cordova post highlights of the Chaparral-Salpointe Catholic game to show some insight into Geweniger's performance in that game.
* Hunter Clegg's team is very fast to post Maxpreps stats so he is one case where stats are updated through last night. In six games he has 5.2 tackles per game (fourth on the team), 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and a fumble recovery (opportunistic/closing on a bobbled snap on a punt). I liked his early productivity this season but he's slowed down a bit, not to over-emphasize the arbitrariness of particular stats. He also has 2 catches for 37 yards. The stats and highlights reveal work at tight end, which is interesting because recall that last year he played offensive tackle (intriguingly competently in fact). I continue to vacillate on which kind big athlete he is (OLB/TE or DE/OT), though granted the distinction for us doesn't matter as much since he'll be an edge defender mostly in a 5-technique it seems.