By Mark Maynard / Prokickernews.com
ATLANTA – Big numbers. Big instruction. Big talent.
Some of the nation’s top kickers, punters and long-snappers were part of the biggest Ray Guy Prokicker.com camp of the summer on July 23-24 where nearly 100 campers converged on The Lovett School.
Not only was there a wide range of talent on display but there was a wide range of ages.
Ike Powell, who will be a rising sophomore as a member of the 2014 class and ranked third in the 2010 Prokicker.com national competition, proved he was doing nothing but getting better, said camp instructor Jacob Claycomb .
“He’s got a really bright future,” Claycomb said. “Long-snapping is something he loves to do, something he wants to do. It’s not mom and dad pushing him to do it. It’s all him.”
Powell, who has attended previous Prokicker camps, said he walks away each time a better long-snapper. And there’s nothing he’d rather do on a football field – unless it’s crashing into an opponent from his defensive end position.
Powell is pure football, top to bottom.
Claycomb compared him to Nathan Theus, who this spring signed a full scholarship to be a long-snapper for Georgia. Theus was the top-rated long-snapper in the country. Claycomb said Powell has that kind of ability.
“He’ll be the next Nathan Theus,” Claycomb said. “He can sign somewhere at a dominant school. It’s so great to watch such a good athlete enjoy long-snapping like he does. This kid could do anything."
Powell already has the size – he’s 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds – and the work ethic to do great things, Claycomb said.
Powell will be long-snapping on the high school level for the first time this fall. He’s looking forward to the challenge.
As for work ethic, Powell said he doesn’t stop long-snapping until he gets 30 perfect snaps.
“However long that takes me,” he said.
Powell was 25 of 30 on the accuracy snapping competition, which should put him at or near the top of the current Prokicker.com national rankings.
Powell wasn’t the only talent on display in Atlanta though.
Michael Sulka, a rising senior, was another long-snapper with eye-popping ability. He’s from Bluffton, S.C., where he’s a long-snapper and also plays center and tackle for Bluffton High School.
“I play any of the bigger positions,” said the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder. “I want to long-snap in college. I came back (to the Prokicker camp) because I didn’t chart as well (at an earlier camp).”
Sulka is another dedicated long-snapper who said he throws 40 to 50 snaps on a daily basis.
“These Prokicker camps help so much,” he said. “The changed my grip a little and tweaked some other things. I could see immediate improvement. These guys are so hands-on with how they instruct."
“He was throwing a good ball,” Claycomb said. “Watching Mike snap, he’s definitely a lot better than the last time I saw him. He’s turned into a good long-snapper."
Kickers were also making impressions, especially a 14-year-old rising sophomore from Carrollton High School in Georgia.
Tyler Newsome showed off his strong leg by winning the Longest Field Goal competition with a 60-yard kick.
Newsome has been kicking since seventh grade but he’s looking forward to being a placekicker on the high school level to get more opportunities to boot field goals.
He said the Prokicker field goal competition got his adrenalin going.
“I had to keep calm and stay calm,” he said. “It was just like a game. Everybody was yelling and clapping. It was a lot of fun."
Newsome’s long-range kick wasn’t that much of a surprise since he was also putting kickoffs into the end zone on a regular basis.
Cedric Oglesby, a longtime Prokicker.com staff member and former NFL kicker for the San Diego Chargers, said Newsome had “a Division I caliber leg."
He said Newsome needs to be more consistent but along with the powerful leg has the right attitude about being a kicker and punter.
“He needs to get used to his body,” Oglesby said. “You’ve got to have that kickoff strength for the college coaches today. He went from a two-inch tee to a one-inch tee on the field goals. He needs to make that adjustment on kickoffs now.”
Newsome still has three years of high school which makes him someone to definitely watch, Oglesby said.
“He’s got a good future because he has the leg strength and the right attitude. But he needs to keep working."
Prokicker staff coach Taylor Long worked with a couple of kickers from the class of 2013 who put on the talent search.
Harrison Butker from Westminister High School in Georgia and Anthony Price from Marietta, Ga., both showed off “lively legs.”
Long said it’s easy to spot the prospects.
“You can just tell, sometimes even if you’re back is turned,” he said. “You hear that sound like a cannon going off. These guys have that. The potential is there."
While both Butker and Price have improving to do, Long said they both seemed determined to become college kickers someday.
“What’s impressive to me about Harrison was his kickoff leg,” Long said. “He led the camp with a 73-yard kickoff that had a 4.01 hang time. His motion is very fluid. The thing is, there’s so much more he can get into it. It’s still kind of raw, for lack of a better word."
Long said Butker would benefit from going to more Prokicker.com camps to develop his technique more. He said there’s no question the talent is there to mold.
“Great, great prospect,” he said. “He could develop into a Division I prospect. The talent is there. It’s up to how hard he wants to work."
Price was a similar kind of kicker, Long said, who could benefit from more instruction.
“They get to these camps and really don’t know anything about kicking it,” he said. “I’d love to be able to work with him about a week. He’s fully capable of going to a Division I school, too. Like anyone else, he has some flaws with technique."
Two other kickers with strong potential were Patrick McAlpin, a rising senior from Newnan (Ga.) High School and upcoming freshman Rodrigo Blankenship.
Prokicker staff coach Ryan Guy worked with McAlpin and Blankenship and was impressed with what he saw.
“Patrick’s got a strong leg and he’s real accurate with his technique,” Guy said. “I think he has a shot to play somewhere in college with his leg strength and all."
McAlpin made 90 percent of his field goals and averaged 60-plus on kickoffs.
Blankenship is a star on the rise, Guy said, with a big leg that gets both distance and hang time. He had one kickoff that traveled 67 yards and two others that went 62 and 63.
“He’s been coming to our camps the last three years and has made a lot of improvement,” Guy said. “He’s got a real strong kicking leg and is working hard to get better. It’s neat to see how he’s progressed."
Blankenship will be in his first year of high school football at Walton High School outside of Marietta, Ga.
Claycomb said he also had a first when he had a combo player who was a kicker and a long-snapper.
Stuart Peters, a rising sophomore in the 2014 class, came as a kicker but proved to be even better at long-snapping.
“He had his heart set on being a kicker,” Claycomb said. “He charted 23 of 30, which is tremendous. He’ll probably be in the top three or four of 2014. I told him to keep working on long-snapping, that’s where his future was.
“I was totally shocked (at his long-snapping). He’s the first kicker-long-snapper combo guy I’ve ever had."
