Recruiting Report: Quentin Chatman (2018)

To say Rochester Mayo junior Quentin Chatman has gotten bigger for football would be a gross understatement. The soon to be the three-year starter has always enjoyed lifting weights, but this year he took his passion to a new extreme – all the way to Texas and the powerlifting nationals. His solid performance on the football field his junior year have college football programs bulking up on the Spartans' two-way player. "Last year I took eleventh in the nation," Chatman said. "I started the competitive weight lifting last February. I trained for three or four months. I had one meet and went to State. At State, I took fifth and qualified for Nationals. I trained for about a month and took eleventh in the nation." Chatman picked up on the technique quickly. "The lifts are hang clean and snatch," Chatman said. "I have strong legs and am quite athletic. Hang clean we do in football a lot. I learned good form and put on a ton of weight. Just from powerlifting a lot, in six months I went from weighing 180 to 225." Because of the types of lifts he does, Chatman is not concerned with the extra weight messing with the speed and quickness he needs at both defensive back and wide receiver. "(Powerlifting) has gotten me stronger in the upper body. It has just been an advantage. With the explosiveness from the start – lifting the weight off the ground – is getting your hamstrings stronger to run. It balanced itself out. I gained the weight and maintained the speed." Primarily a corner for the Spartans, Chatman – even before the weight gain of this offseason – felt man to man coverage and not letting the receivers off the line were his strengths. "I love press coverage in general," Chatman said. "Even if it is a zone press or man-to-man I don't like to let the receiver off the ball. I like to be hands-on, pounding people at the line." Chatman saw improvement in his own game off of the last offseason. "I had a good season. I started my sophomore year, and then I came in my junior year and felt like I knew the playbook inside and out," NFN's 199th ranked athlete in the Class of 2018 said. "As a sophomore, I was always thinking a lot and was nervous. When I came back, I was more confident and not thinking. I was just doing." At the beginning of the year, Chatman would stick to one side of the field at corner. "As we got into our second or third game the coaches saw teams were throwing opposite of me quite a lot," Chatman told northstarfootballnews.com. "They had me on the best receiver to go one on one with him." Chatman was a part-time receiver – mainly in the slot. Next year he expects to get more consistent snaps on the offensive side of the ball to go along with defense. With his bigger frame, Chatman expects his role to be similar next season, but at the college level, everything is up in the air. "I have had colleges tell me safety – definitely not corner – or linebacker. I have also been talked to about wide receiver too." Since spring, Chatman's recruiting has taken off. "I have talked to Winona State, Bemidji State, Minnesota-Duluth – I have gone to those schools to visit," Chatman said. "I have also visited Harvard and Yale. I was invited to Cincinnati for camp. It is scattered all around. It has been crazy. It has been a good feeling." The programs tell Chatman they like how physical he is and how he is not afraid to hit. On the path Chatman seems to be on, it looks like he will be a hit this year for the Spartans and have plenty of options to continue his football career beyond high school.