Dannewitz proves he belongs

LOS ANGELES – San Jacinto, Calif., offensive lineman Ryan Dannewitz is one of the hottest targets out West, and after a strong showing at Sunday's NIKE Training Camp, don't be surprised if his stock continues to move higher and higher.

Dannewitz did get beat a few times in the one-on-one portion of the camp, but nobody exhibited better technique or footwork that him. He admits he does need to get stronger and add some more weight to his frame, so he can stop that bull rush, but it's also very clear that all the building blocks for a great linemen are there.

"Protecting the quarterback's side, I work really hard on that," he said. "I think I can get a little better in it technique wise, but I'm also pretty strong at it. I need to improve in everything – gaining more weight, getting stronger, improving my technique and getting my footwork better – but I think I've come a long way, though."

And he proved he was among the West's best on Sunday with a strong showing in the battles against a talented defensive line group.

"It was great," he said. "I tried to get in there as many times as I could. If I lost some, then I came back the next play and got right back at it. You can learn a lot if you get beat in the one-on-ones. You can learn from your mistake, come out stronger next time and win.

"I just wanted to show everybody that I can be with the elite group of offensive linemen."

Mission accomplished.

"I proved I belonged," Dannewitz said.

Dannewitz has been a busy man with the recruiting process. He just returned from an unofficial visit from Notre Dame, and he's now up to seven scholarship offers. Dannewitz has been offered by Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, San Diego State, Fresno State, Colorado and Louisville.

"I'm just taking it as it comes along, not trying to make my decision too soon and seeing what happens," he said. "I have seven offers. I just picked up one from Louisville last week. I get excited with each offer, and when they keep piling on, I get more confused on what I'm thinking about. I just have to see what happens."

Dannewitz said he hopes to hear more from the Fighting Irish.

"Notre Dame is really getting on me and stuff," he said. "I just got back from there, and they've been talking to me. It was beautiful. The campus was great and they have all that history up there. It's a great football team, and the coaches are awesome. UCLA is looking at me a little bit, but USC is not, but distance doesn't really matter to me."

Dannewitz has a few things in mind to look at when it comes time to make the big decision.

"Everything about the school will be important," he said. "The surroundings, the environment, the coaching, good academics and things like that will be key. I have to know that I'll be able to adapt to everything. I'm going to go into school undecided about my major. I've been going back and forth on that quite a bit."