Next Level Greats 7v7 New Jersey Tournament: Final Thoughts

PA PREPS gives some last thoughts on the Next Level Greats 7v7 Tournament that took place last weekend in Pitman, New Jersey.

NOTE: We were only able to attend on Sunday and we were not able to see all the teams. PA PREPS will only speak on the teams and players that we were able to watch.

For the second time in three years, Team Delaware won the Next Level Greats 7v7 Tournament. Team Delaware defeated Evolve to take home the championship. Damon Daniels and the rest of his coaching staff have done a great job of helping to put Delaware football on the map during the offseason.

Several teams were missing key players throughout the weekend. That's something that almost every 7v7 team deals with during tournament season. Evolve and Philly's Finest qualified for the IMG 7v7 National Championship.

There were several instances where organizations ended up having teams that played against one another. ASG's number two and three teams had a VERY spirited match-up early in the playoffs where the younger team (two) won a very close game. The Playmakers ended up playing each other and that game ended up with the older team teaching the young pups a lesson. All in fun of course.

CTC, a team out of Rochester, New York, finished once again with a high seed after pool play. They definitely have earned the respect of a lot of teams on the circuit.

Philly's Finest team was loaded with a lot of players that you'll hear about during the upcoming football season.

There were several high-profile quarterback recruits that performed very well at the NLG 7v7 this past weekend. Granted, it’s only 7v7, but these quarterbacks stood out to us.

We've had the chance to see Sitkowski on a few occasions this spring and he's always stood each and every time. Sitkowski not only looks the part with his size, but he also plays the part with his ability. Sitkowski's arm strength and accuracy were on display this weekend as he competed on the Air Sports Group 7v7 team.

Hands down, Kasim Hill was the best quarterback at the event. Hill's passing accuracy on both short and long throws helped Team Delaware go undefeated throughout the whole tournament. Him and Gary Brightwell connected for big passing plays for touchdowns during tournament play on second day of the event. Hill's ability to scan the field and go through all of his progressions to make the best pass kept him one step ahead of the defense all day long.

These are the quarterback that may not have the "hype" of the quarterbacks above, but had very impressive weekends as well.

Unterkoefler is another quarterback that we've had the chance to see several times in the spring and he continues to impress us. Unterkoefler and the Swag 7v7 offense put up a lot of points as he was able to get the ball to a trio of wide receivers (Marilyn Johnson, Gabe Schappelle, and Stone Scarcelle) that were among the best receiving corps at the tournament.

Hnatkowsky is clearly one of those under-the-radar kids that deserves some looks. He has good size, a strong arm, and is a leader on the field. Hnatkowsky helped lead Philly's Finest to a tournament championship back in April and did a good job of spreading the ball around this tournament.

Boykin, the lefty from Philly, spent the better part of two days picking apart defenses. One thing we've learned from seeing Boykin over the past several weeks is that he is very accurate on his long passes. Boykin is also a strong leader on a Playmakers team that is very talented.

Steve might've been the biggest surprise of the tournament as he helped lead Evolve to the championship game. Evolve was missing several key players, but that didn't matter with the cool and calm Steave leading them at quarterback. Steave made all kinds of throws and came up with several big plays to help Evolve qualify for the IMG 7v7 National Championship.

Roberts continues to impress this spring with his ability to turn and run in pass coverage. Roberts abused a lot of running backs and wide receivers in the slot as they would try to get a clean release off the line of scrimmage. Roberts is the total package and is absolutely good as advertised.

Quietly, Loe has more than proved that he's among the best defensive backs in the Northeast. We've had a chance to see him at several events over the past few months and he's been consistent in his play every single time. Loe usually comes into events with a target on his back but he's always been up to the challenge.

When we had a chance to see Clement, he was on the defensive side of the ball for the most part and still had a great impact. Clement gave great effort and had several pass breakups during the games we were able to watch.

White is one to watch out for in the 2018 class. We doubt that he continues to be a sleeper, but he's been a lock-down corner for Evolve's 7v7 team over the past couple of tournaments. Western Pennsylvania continues to churn out excellent defensive backs and you can add White to that list.

Crawford has impressed us over the past couple of months with his man-to-man coverage skills. Playing for the Playmakers, you figure that Crawford has to go up against some of the BEST wide receivers that the Philadelphia area has to offer. Crawford closes on the ball quickly and is usually in good position to make a play.

Collins was very active from the safety position during the weekend. Collins made several pass breakups and made a lot of wide receivers think twice about catching the ball coming across the middle. Collins has great instincts, good range and is highly competitive.

Brown is one of those players where size doesn't even matter. Brown been the most explosive player we've seen during the off-season as he's torched defensive after defense on the 7v7 circuit.

Shields was one of the surprises of the tournament as he made play after play on the offensive side of the ball. He caught a hail-mary pass to win one of Evolve's earlier tournament games and was consistent throughout the tournament. Shields is a play-maker that deserves more looks.

Schappell was a match-up problem for mostly every team his Swag 7v7 team played against this past weekend. Simply put, Schappell is just a football player. His great hands were on display once again this weekend as he continuously beat defenders for touchdowns. He's the perfect H-back type prospect.

This is the second time that we've gotten to see Brightwell in the past couple of weeks and he didn't disappoint. Brightwell's speed and quickness jumps out at you every time you see him in person. His ability to make defenders miss in space is a special talent that he clearly possesses. Brightwell should be able to impress some coaches FCS and/or FBS level in the next couple of months and get a few more offers before the season stars.

Webb has been a menace to defensive backs during off-season for a few years now and this weekend was no different. Webb's hard to defend because most defensive backs aren't physical enough to hold him up at the line and if you give him a cushion, he's going to beat you.

Bell was a beast on both sides of the ball all weekend. If he wasn't out-jumping defensive backs for touchdowns, he was on defense breaking up and intercepting passes. There's not much that he can't do on the football field.

Hold definitely made a name for himself as he excelled on both sides of the football. Holt's athletic ability paired with his supreme confidence enabled him to get into a lot of player's heads this weekend. Holt's "refuse to lose" attitude and competitiveness, along with his skills on both sides of the ball, stood out the most.

Stroud has been torching defenses throughout the 7v7 circuit over the past couple of months. He's another player that would be perfect in the H-back role at the next level. Stroud has improved on his speed in the past couple of months and that's enabled him to win the majority of any 1v1 match-ups. Stroud will look to open up some eyes at prospect camps in the upcoming months.