During the recent Best of the Midwest Combine, a player that stepped forward was Batavia (Ohio) West Clermont High School, junior offensive lineman Andrew Sandefur.
Football In Ohio caught up with the 6-foot-2, 265-pound Sandefur to learn more about his day in Indianapolis, his work to achieve his goals, and more.
“The Best of the Midwest was a new experience,” said Sandefur. “I’ve never really been to a camp with so many different kids and so many good athletes, so it was a challenge as I’ve never really done drills with one-on-one pass blocking. But, I left feeling the event was well run, and the coaches did a great job of helping us with technique and teaching us.”
Sandefur has played tackle at West Clermont but projects as a center guard at the college level. What caught our eye was his work in the one-on-one drills.
“I felt my feet were good, he said. “My footwork allowed me to compete with some of the top defensive linemen. However, my hands were a bit impatient, and if I add some more to my punch, I’ll be right there and more rounded.”
Overall, Sandefur left feeling the day allowed him to work on areas of his game he’ll have to show college coaches.
“I’m really glad I went,” he continued. “It allowed me to get used to that type of environment now rather than waiting until June when I’m going to college camps. I’ve now got a baseline of where I’m at and where I need to be.”
Another area Sandefur has been working on is off the field with work in the weight room and physical training.
“I’m in the weight room five days a week trying to get bigger and strong enough to hang with college-level athletes,” stressed Sandefur. “I’ve been going to Black Sheep Performance working on getting my speed up and my footwork more smooth to help me with my lateral movement.
“I come from a high school that runs the ball more than throwing it, so I’ve been working with John Anderson there, and he’s got me working on offensive line techniques. We’ve worked on pulling as my school only did flat pulling. However, he’s got me working on skip pulling and more that are more efficient. So I’ve been working on that while also doing a lot of pass-pro work, and I’m seeing the progress from what I did last season to what I was able to do during the Best of the Midwest.”
Sandefur also has concrete goals in the classroom.
“I’m doing well academically with a 3.8-3.9 GPA, he continued. “I take college math classes and am currently in a college English class. I also take honors science classes as I want to become an engineer. So I’m taking physics and trigonometry, trying to tailor my courses toward engineering. Also, I’m in Spanish four and plan to take Spanish five, a college course next year. So I’m doing well academically and excited to take the ACT this week.”
