SPRINGFIELD- The Best of New England camp has become an annual tradition in New England. It is a camp that allows young men to show what they can do on the field in front of over 100 college coaches. It has also becoming a meeting place of sorts for college coaches as they enter the summer.

Here are ten observations from our visit on Friday.

1. New England has a plethora of offensive and defensive line talent. The region is developing more lineman than ever and it was evident at the B.O.N.E. The lineman in general drew the biggest crowd of college coaches like they do every year.

2. There was a lot of length at the skill positions. The tight end and receiver groups in particular stood out to us. Several players impressed with their size but also their speed.

3. The coaching has always been good at the camp and this year was no different. The position coaches were passionate, stressed fundamentals and positively reinforce technique and effort.

4. We had a chance to chat with new Boston College Head Football Coach Bill O’Brien. He was impressed with the sheer number of participants at the camp. He spent most of the morning with the linemen group. The Eagles staff moved around and checked out the other groups as well.

5. UMass Coach Don Brown was making his way around the camp but he spent most of his time with the lineman. Especially the defensive lineman. Former Minutemen end, defensive line coach and current Holy Cross defensive line coach Valdamar Brower also spent the morning focusing on the D-line.

6. Former Patriots guard Logan Mankins was also in attendance. He watched his son Kane go through some drill work with the lineman. Logan was impressed with the structure of the camp and the way the coaches coached on the fly.

7. Got a chance to catch up with ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Thamel lives in Massachusetts, is a Western Mass native and has been attending the camp for years. Thamel told me that he is throughly impressed with the job that Steve Martin and Mike Cerasulo do with the camp.

8. Some of the top quarterbacks in the region attended. Springfield Central’s Jareth Staine, St. John Prep’s Christopher Vargas, Avon Old Farms Trevor Havill, Tor Maas of Marshfield and Aniston Marsh of Cheshire Academy were all present. I was impressed with the quarterback group as a whole. There are several signal callers who caught the coaches attention. 

9. You are seeing more and more prospects from other parts of the northeast and Canada come down for the camp. It makes sense given the size of the event and the amount of college coaches that are there. 

10. All the coaches we spoke to said the same thing. This is great for New England Football. It is true. All the camps and showcases we have in the region have helped shed light on the talent in the area.