Scouting Lakeland's Defensive Line: Gabe Dindy, Keahnist Thompson & Lavaughn Brown
Lakeland Football is no stranger to placing big-time players into the college ranks, and the 2021 Dreadnaughts roster must first be discussed up front along the defensive line. It’s truly a big-time group with plenty of size and depth, two national recruits, and one underclassmen that will not be an unknown any longer.
Gabe Dindy - 2022
Vitals: 6’4, 276-pounds
Position: Defensive End/Defensive Tackle
Recruiting: Texas A&M, Ohio State, UCF, and Oklahoma
Gabe Dindy, Defensive Line, Lakeland (Fla.) High School
Brian Smith, Inside The Knights
Dindy proved to be a leader in the weight room, during position-specific defensive line drills, and especially during conditioning drills at the conclusion of the workout. This young man goes hard every single chance he gains the opportunity to get a repetition.
As one will see below, Dindy goes full bore even during sprints. Linemen usually hate sprints, so it was really good to see Dindy setting the standard for his teammates throughout the workout.
Watching Dindy come out of his stance, rep after rep, you’d think he did not have a single offer. Instead, this is a young man that can literally pick his school. It’s rare to find a talent like Dindy let alone one that will outwork the competition like it’s his last day of playing football. Major kudos to Dindy.
After seeing Dindy for the second time in just over three months, there’s no question he’s a national top five prospect. Talent, leadership, effort and respectfulness all in one package. Dindy is the real deal and all those qualities are why colleges are lined up to recruit him.
Keahnist Thompson - 2022
Vitals: 6’4”, 260-pounds
Position: Defensive End
Recruiting: Committed to UCF
Keahnist Thompson, Lakeland (Fla.) High School
Brian Smith, Inside The Knights
Thompson gained weight since the spring and still looks the same as he did before. He’s a powerfully built young man and still possesses the frame to add another 10, perhaps 20 pounds without losing speed or quickness. Much like Dindy, Thompson takes his craft seriously.
Thompson obliged an interview request after practice (interview will be live later this evening), and then discussed football like someone much older than his age. He understands the need for further developing technique, i.e. hand placement and mixing up pass rushing moves. This was especially good to see because few prospects with Thompson’s offer list of schools like Florida, Miami, Alabama, Texas, and many others before committing to UCF would be as dedicated to his craft as Thompson.
He even stopped along the sidewalk and literally explained, step-by-step, his favorite pass rush move. He really gets into it, and that attitude will serve Thompson well this season for Lakeland, as well as throughout his college career with UCF.
Lavaughn Brown - 2024
Vitals: 6’5”, 215-pounds
Position: Defensive End
Lavaughn Brown, Defensive End, Lakeland (Fla.) High School
Brown is one of the most explosive young defensive ends in Florida or probably any other place in America. He consistently showed great effort coming off the edge and he would chase the football no matter which direction he had to run or how far he had to run. He’s yet another young man with consistent effort, much like the two talented defensive linemen discussed above. Here’s the scary part.
Brown has the type of football speed and change of direction to be as good as he wants. He can literally be a national recruit. It simply comes down to how badly does this young man want to be great? He’s still 15 years old, and will not turn 16 until November of this year.
With his raw tools and effort thus far, it is hard to imagine him not being one of the next Lakeland players that legendary Head Coach Bill Castle starts receiving phone calls about. Yes, Brown is quite raw. That’s unquestioned. His physical traits are not teachable, however, and the effort he displayed today was eye-opening. If he stays on the current path he will also earn numerous scholarship offers.
Final Thoughts
Lakeland will be loaded along the defensive line again this year, and it’s going to be really interesting to see how high school football teams come at the Dreadnaughts. Running the football, particularly straight ahead, good luck. Then one must consider the pass rushing skills of all three of the aforementioned players plus several other good looking athletes the Dreadnaughts possess along the defensive line. It’s just a great group.
You will find me on Twitter @fbscout_florida and @UCF_FanNation