I was in Littleton this evening to watch Erik Olsen and the Heritage Eagles take on the Loveland Indians. Loveland went up 21-14 at halftime and eventually cruised (Heritage had four interceptions, aiding that endeavor) to a 49-23 victory.
But I got a great view of Olsen and here are some observations:
1. First and foremost, check out this clip. What a grab! Olsen clearly heard some footsteps as he reeled in this 8-yard soon-to-be TD pass, absorbed multiple hits and still managed to hang onto the ball.
This was in the third quarter on an Eagles scoring drive and Olsen had another catch during it that saw him barrel over a few defenders; I'd estimate it was a 15-20-yard gain. Those two plays were all of Olsen offensive action in terms of receptions on the night. His QB attempted two more passes to him — one was at his ankles and the other was overthrow on what would have surely been a deep TD down the left sideline.
I've watched film on Heritage but seeing the Eagles in person gave me newfound perspective on Olsen. Firstly, the way they run their offense — Olsen is much more of the hand-in-the-dirt blocking TE on the team as opposed to fellow four-star TE and Oregon commit Terrance Ferguson, who was flexed out as a WR on the vast majority of offensive plays.
Feel bad for Ferguson too — two of the Eagles' four INTs on the night came on passes in or near the endzone that were intended for him. Frankly, one one of them, he straight up got mossed by a shorter DB — the ball was a touch short but I thought he shoulda played more of a bully and hauled it in.
That's beside the point, though. My main point is this — Olsen is a heck of a blocker and asset at the line of scrimmage. He moves defenders against their will and rarely blows an assignment. Like I said, he was for the vast majority of offensive plays used with his hand in the dirt.
But when he would flex out, many times I could hear Loveland defenders saying "89!" , "89!" (that's his #). Clearly, he had the attention of the defense any time he would line up as a WR and for good reason.
Olsen plays both ways for the Eagles. On D, he's an end and it is very clear that playing defense has helped refine his blocking skills. It's kind of like how DBs become better at pass coverage when they also play wideout — you know what to expect to an extent when you play the position on offense that you cover on defense.
The same could be said of Olsen. Now, Loveland High doesn't have any five-star d-ends to give Olsen a real challenge, but nonetheless he was quite sound in the blocking department.
Frame-wise, mechanics-wise, blocking-wise, this dude is ready to play college football. Taylor Embree can help better him in those departments, but his foundation is good already. Erik will admit this, but it is the route running where he needs the most polishing, and I don't mean to suggest that he's a liability or anything — it's just that here and now, his game is more refined in the aforementioned areas compared to running routes.
In closing, I was impressed with what I saw. Olsen is a special player. It was fun watching him do his thing this evening. Glad CHSAA football is back.
And one more thing — I was right by the Eagles' entire team at halftime when Olsen got up (he's a team captain) and gave a little pep talk. Natural born leader. Gets you fired up. That was really enjoyable to listen in on.
But I got a great view of Olsen and here are some observations:
1. First and foremost, check out this clip. What a grab! Olsen clearly heard some footsteps as he reeled in this 8-yard soon-to-be TD pass, absorbed multiple hits and still managed to hang onto the ball.
This was in the third quarter on an Eagles scoring drive and Olsen had another catch during it that saw him barrel over a few defenders; I'd estimate it was a 15-20-yard gain. Those two plays were all of Olsen offensive action in terms of receptions on the night. His QB attempted two more passes to him — one was at his ankles and the other was overthrow on what would have surely been a deep TD down the left sideline.
I've watched film on Heritage but seeing the Eagles in person gave me newfound perspective on Olsen. Firstly, the way they run their offense — Olsen is much more of the hand-in-the-dirt blocking TE on the team as opposed to fellow four-star TE and Oregon commit Terrance Ferguson, who was flexed out as a WR on the vast majority of offensive plays.
Feel bad for Ferguson too — two of the Eagles' four INTs on the night came on passes in or near the endzone that were intended for him. Frankly, one one of them, he straight up got mossed by a shorter DB — the ball was a touch short but I thought he shoulda played more of a bully and hauled it in.
That's beside the point, though. My main point is this — Olsen is a heck of a blocker and asset at the line of scrimmage. He moves defenders against their will and rarely blows an assignment. Like I said, he was for the vast majority of offensive plays used with his hand in the dirt.
But when he would flex out, many times I could hear Loveland defenders saying "89!" , "89!" (that's his #). Clearly, he had the attention of the defense any time he would line up as a WR and for good reason.
Olsen plays both ways for the Eagles. On D, he's an end and it is very clear that playing defense has helped refine his blocking skills. It's kind of like how DBs become better at pass coverage when they also play wideout — you know what to expect to an extent when you play the position on offense that you cover on defense.
The same could be said of Olsen. Now, Loveland High doesn't have any five-star d-ends to give Olsen a real challenge, but nonetheless he was quite sound in the blocking department.
Frame-wise, mechanics-wise, blocking-wise, this dude is ready to play college football. Taylor Embree can help better him in those departments, but his foundation is good already. Erik will admit this, but it is the route running where he needs the most polishing, and I don't mean to suggest that he's a liability or anything — it's just that here and now, his game is more refined in the aforementioned areas compared to running routes.
In closing, I was impressed with what I saw. Olsen is a special player. It was fun watching him do his thing this evening. Glad CHSAA football is back.
And one more thing — I was right by the Eagles' entire team at halftime when Olsen got up (he's a team captain) and gave a little pep talk. Natural born leader. Gets you fired up. That was really enjoyable to listen in on.
