Community Film Room, Episode 41

Our Spring rankings update pinpointed even more players from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes. For a variety of reasons, our team decided that each of those new additions were worthy of a coveted spot in our rankings.   But we'd be naive to think we've evaluated everyone or didn't miss a few along the way.    PRZ South Carolina is constantly looking at as many of the 10,000 prep football players in the SCHSL and SCISA ranks as possible. Now, the Community Film Room is back.   In each edition, we'll break down five (currently) unranked players from across the state to let you see what we're seeing. The series will lead right into the the start of the 2023 football season and - not long after - our next rankings update.   In Episode 41, we've got a big-hitting linebacker, a hybrid defender poised to stand out against a tough schedule, a three-way Class 5A contributor, a tall tight end and a massive offensive lineman moving to new ground.   Dunkin Lay TE, Green Sea Floyds   Lay caught eight passes in the team's extreme run-first offense last year under Joey Price. And while the Trojans aren't going to be swapping schemes, necessarily, it would be naive to think that many defenders on Green Sea Floyds' schedule will be able to match Lay's 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame coming off the end of the line. He's got above-average speed and can stretch the seam and even get down pretty low for a player of his height if the ball isn't perfect. And considering last year's Trojans ran it almost four times as much as they threw it, Lay (pictured) is a good reason to at least balance that out a little.    Hunter Free DB/LB, Greer   Free checks off a ton of measurables for a hybrid safety/linebacker. He's 5-foot-11 and a solid 190 pounds. He's got a 4.72 40 on the books, and his medicine ball throw at the Palmetto Combine out-paced even most of the offensive and defensive linemen in attendance. That was a nice offseason kickstarter for a kid coming off a junior season in which he put up 56 total tackles in 11 games. Greer is going to see a heavy dose of passing offenses on the schedule this year, and Free's bigger influence is that he's an excellent centerfielder just as content to break up a pass as he is to try to intercept it.    [player_tooltip player_id='1142590' first='Ashton' last='Mozone'] OL, Midland Valley   There was little surprise that Midland Valley gained the bulk of its 2,700 yards on the ground last year while running to the left, where Mozone and tackle Bradyn Kesselring locked down that side. Mozone has hit another growth spurt, is pushing 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, meaning he's going to fill the hole at right tackle. Mozone will bring his same aggressive nature to the other bookend, meaning the Mustangs may start to go side-to-side a bit more with its high-powered tailbacks.     Ja'Saan Faulkner ATH, St. James    There's a lot to love about Faulkner's game because, well, he does so many different things. Despite playing Class 5A ball, the 5-foot-8, 185 pounder had 193 yards rushing, 355 receiving, 33.5 total tackles, two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 270 kickoff-return yards and six overall touchdowns. He even threw a 17-yard touchdown off a double pass.He didn't test particularly well at the Palmetto Combine in the 40, but as you can see from his film, he's got plenty of speed with the ball in his hands and the vision to make people miss even though he's often catching passes in heavy traffic.    [player_tooltip player_id='1254202' first='Carson' last='Gregory'] LB, Pendleton   The Bulldogs' top tackler a year ago, Gregory finished the year with 80 total stops (54 solo). He also had 10 tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and an interception. But his tackling prowess is what puts the 5-foot-9, 180-pound linebacker on the map. He's got an explosiveness while pressuring the line and a simultaneous ability to drop back into coverage - two things he put on display with his first two highlights. There's clearly some natural ability there, as he's still got two years left in high school to develop.

Our Spring rankings update pinpointed even more players from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 classes. For a variety of reasons, our team decided that each of those new additions were worthy of a coveted spot in our rankings.