Recruiting check-in: Breaking down Charlotte’s in-state recruiting

Charlotte is not an old football program, starting its program in 2013 and moving to the FBS level in 2015. In any young program, growing pains are inevitable, but the 49ers did themselves no favors by struggling early to gain much traction in their own backyard. They struggled to attract top in-state talent, and the North Carolina players they did recruit struggled to make an impact. Then head coach Will Healy arrived in December of 2018 and immediately prioritized local talent. Healy’s first full recruiting class in 2020 included seven North Carolina high schoolers and four transfers originally hailing from the Tar Heel state, including two Power Five transfers. That helped make up the highest-rated recruiting class in school history. The current team is also led by North Carolina high schoolers, including its quarterback, top two rushers and top three tacklers. The 49ers are off to a hot start in 2021 as well, landing commitments from three local prospects. Here, we’ll break down those commitments and a couple other in-state targets. <strong>COMMITS</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28519" first="Nathan" last="Linkous"]- Stuart W. Cramer, 6’5, 295 (No. 87 OVR, No. 12 OL)</strong> The 49ers got off to a hot start, landing local 2-way lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28519" first="Nathan" last="Linkous"]</strong> in mid-September. Linkous is a big, powerful lineman who plays right tackle in Cramer’s run-heavy scheme, but will likely switch to guard at the next level. Linkous has long arms and good footwork for his size. He’s still a bit raw, but is the kind of big offensive lineman that college teams need to succeed. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28517" first="Jared" last="Gibble"]- Oak Grove, 6’4 225 (No. 85 OVR, No. 4 TE)</strong> In April, Oak Grove tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28517" first="Jared" last="Gibble"]</strong> jumped into the fray, announcing his commitment to Healy and company and giving Charlotte a big target in the passing game. Gibble has excellent ball skills and the ability to block defensive ends and linebackers in 1-on-1 situations. Gibble is excellent with the ball in the air and can go up and get it over defenders when needed. Gibble has plenty of room for improvement as he wasn’t targeted a lot in Oak Grove’s run-heavy system, but the 49ers have to excited about his potential. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28536" first="Tyson" last="Clawson"]- Independence, 6’1 215 (No. 104 OVL, No. 16 DL)</strong> Any time a school can land a high-upside edge rusher from a top local program, it’s a win. Clawson definitely has room to grow from a physical standpoint, but the numbers don’t lie. Over the past two seasons, Clawson has 23.5 sacks and 34 tackles for loss, finishing with 85 tackles a season ago. Charlotte has a track record of developing smaller edge rushers and their aggressive defensive scheme sets up perfectly for a pure pass rusher such as Clawson. <strong>TARGETS</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28515" first="Jonathan" last="Cannon"]- Vance, 6’4 240 (No. 83 OVL, No. 12 DL)</strong> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28515" first="Jonathan" last="Cannon"]</strong> is another local 2-way lineman. I’m still not sure which exact position he’ll end up playing at the next level, but if he continues to add weight, he could be excellent at the 3-technique on the defensive line. Landing Cannon will be difficult for the 49ers, as he also holds offers from four other Group of Five programs, but he looks like the kind of tweener lineman Charlotte has had success with in the past. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28471" first="Coleman" last="Jeffcoat"]- Mallard Creek, 6’3 205 (No. 39 OVL, No. 6 WR)</strong> We’re big fans of Mallard Creek’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28471" first="Coleman" last="Jeffcoat"]</strong>, especially compared to our peers at other scouting services. A lot of that has to do with his ridiculous traits. He’s also been singled out to us by several opposing coaches as a guy that could have a breakout 2020 campaign. We originally listed Jeffcoat as an athlete, but we’re all in on him as a receiver after he grew more. A crazy catch radius and ability after the catch have college coaches salivating and he should become more consistent with more playing time. Charlotte was in on Jeffcoat early and have a great chance to land the tall receiver this class.