Calhoun Football’s Top Returners For The 2021 Season

The Yellow Jackets of Calhoun High School are not only a great program in recent years, but they are also developing a bit of consistency with the talent that they put out as well. Last season, the team finished with an overall 9-4 record, with a 3-2 record in their region. This successful season eventually led to a playoff birth, which saw the team lose in the 3rd round to Coffee High School. This season, with plenty of their key players returning, we are expecting Calhoun to go on another run. As the season approaches, take a peek at the players in which we listed below, as they will most likely be the key reasons for their future success. <strong>Jai Hogan-</strong> <em>OL / DT </em> Hogan, who is a very wide bodied player, has decent feet, and he moves very well, regardless of if he is on the offensive or defensive side of the ball.  Off of the ball, especially on offense, he moves around well, and can pull when needed. He does a decent job blocking in the run game, and his feet are decent in pass protection as well. He rolls his hips well, and can engage well on contact when blocking defenders. On contact, he uses his hands aggressively, and he extends well with his arms. Hogan also does a good job of not getting out leveraged, and he is good at finishing blocks. As he goes into next season, look for him to continue to develop in his length, and frame. With this, if he continues to improve on his strength and flexibility, he will definitely be able to take his game to the next level. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="33977" first="Mason" last="Green"]-</strong> <em>LB</em> While Green is a bit of a smaller LB, his length is a factor that makes up for this. This helps him when taking angles to make tackles, as well as when he attempts to catch players from oddly torted positions. He runs a bit weird at times, but we love the aggressive attitude that he plays with, as well as his motor. He makes tackles outside of the box, and can be seen to make plays on the ball carrier in the backfield too. His physicality is what makes him a great player, and the fact that he can stop the run is definitely a huge factor for his team. We would like to see him play the pass a bit more to fully evaluate where we think he could ultimately land in the future if given the chance, but for now, we think the sky is the limit for him. <strong>Camran Dodd-</strong> <em>LB</em> Dodd, who is a bit smoother of a LB prospect compared to Green, does a good job of taking angles, and making good tackles in pursuit, as well as in the box when stopping the run. This is due to the leverage that he plays at, and his willingness to stick his nose into tough situations. When playing in coverage, Dodd matches up well with receivers, and he shows that it is never too much for him to flip his hips, change direction, and run a little bit. Dodd plays with a good bend, and flexibility as well, and he also wraps up cleanly on contact. He is very consistent with his hand use too, and does not play with timid feet. Next season, expect him to be instrumental in the team's defensive success. <strong>Cole Speer-</strong> <em>WR / DB</em> While Speer has plenty of room to grow and develop, he shows flashes of being a really good WR for the Yellow Jackets. To start, he stacks defenders well when running routes, and gains great separation off of the line. Along with this, he catches the ball with clean hands, and does so at various angles. Even though he runs high, and that his routes are a bit raw, he does display burst, and explosion after the catch. Speer also does a good job of using good eyes, and tracking the ball. To improve in his game, we would like to see Speer improve in his overall mobility skills, and footwork.