By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. – Three almost perfect kickers and a fast-improving long-snapper were identified in the talent search at the Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp in the Kansas City area.
Kickers Ryan Ahlgren and A.J. Brown, both rising seniors, made 9 of 10 field goals during charting.
“Both of them were in my group and I don’t think I’ve ever had two kids in my group at 90 percent,” said Logan O’Connor, a Prokicker.com staffer and former East Carolina University kicker. “Leg strength is not an issue for either one of them.”
Ahlgren will be a senior at Olathe East High School in Olathe, Kan., this fall. O’Connor said most of his kickoffs were close to the end zone but if he can improve his ball contact the football will be well into the end zone.
It was the same scenario for Brown, who had a few kickoffs reach the end zone “but would really be bombing them with a little better ball contact,” O’Connor said.
Lucas Guilfoil, a rising senior from Lake Lotwana, Mo., also went 9-for-10 on field goals during charting.
"If his kickoffs continue to improve throughout his senior year, he could play somewhere in college," said Prokicker.com staffer Matt Reagan. "Lucas is a pretty accurate kicker. He sometimes gets under the ball but overall hits a good kick."
Michael Mesh, a rising junior from Hutchinson, Kan., was also impressive in making 7 of 10 field goals in charting.
"He has time to continue to perfect his technique before going on to college," Reagan said. "Natural leg strength is something that can't be taught. I'm interested to see how he improves over the next two years."
Meanwhile, Wilson Alexander – a quarterback turned long-snapper – made an impression on staff member Jacob Claycomb because of his practically overnight improvement.
“You usually see a big improvement but with this kid there was a massive improvement,” Claycomb said. “Once we started working with him you could see the glow coming across his faces. He was throwing balls really accurate.”
While Alexander didn’t chart that well on the first day, Claycomb said the improvement was obvious.
“He’s one of those kids you wish could be charted again,” he said. “He was a really, really coachable kid.”
Alexander is 6-2 and 185 pounds and told Claycomb he was a quarterback for his high school team.
“He does have a knack when it comes to throwing the ball,” Claycomb said.
