CFI Winter Showcase – Top Defensive Backs

Matt Morrow December 27, 2023 @ 08:31 PM

The Charlotte Football Insiders (CFI) Winter Showcase featured over 250 players competing for offers from over 30 colleges in attendance and recruiting exposure. Several defensive backs stood out with their performance and were named top performers in the event.   Elijah Barber - Myers Park - MVP   Elijah was impressive in his MVP performance at this showcase - the 2 things I love about him are his aggressive coverage skills and his attitude. As a defensive back, you have to have a short memory and endless confidence to be one of the best, and this young man has that. He excels in man coverage, being aggressive from the snap and disrupting a receiver's release with strong hands in press technique. He has excellent speed and the ability to mirror the receiver's route to disrupt pass attempts at the catch point. As a Class of 2025 prospect, I expect him to turn heads at spring and summer camps during the camp season. He projects to be a slot defensive back at the next level.   Zaheem Love - South Pointe (SC)   Coming from a really good program at South Pointe High School, I expected Zaheem to perform well, and he certainly did not disappoint. The Class of 2025 prospect stands at 5'10 and 160 pounds, and there are several things I like about his game - he accepts the challenge, preferring to play in press at the snap, but he showed he can play press/bail technique as well. He has very good long speed to cover routes all over the field, and excellent ball skills at the catch point to challenge receivers in 1 on 1 situations.   [player_tooltip player_id='946972' first='Kamari' last='Houze'] - Kings Mountain   Kamari is a Class of 2024 prospect who stands at 5'10 and 170 pounds. Once again, coming from a very good Kings Mountain program, I thought Kamari would do well coming into this showcase, and he did just that. When you take a look at the film, the first thing that stands out is Kamari likes contact - he will come up and run support without hesitation from the corner spot, and he tackles very well in space. The other thing I love is his ball skills - he shows several plays where he breaks up or flat-out intercepts passes in one one-on-one coverage.   [player_tooltip player_id='841608' first='Ash' last='Boa-Amponsem'] - Jordan   I had a good idea Ash was a very good player - he came into this showcase with several offers to play on the next level already. But, he showed so well, that he picked up several more offers since his showcase performance. The Class of 2024 prospect has a total of 15 offers currently from a wide range of schools, and as he stands at 6'1 and 170 pounds, he is the desirable size most schools are looking for in their cornerback position. He has excellent footwork and agility, allowing him to explode out of his breaks whether in man or zone coverage, and make plays on the football consistently. I also like his speed - I think he can run with any wide receiver out there. I expect him to be an asset and a fast contributor to a school on the next level.   Zavian Smith - Kings Mountain   Standing at 5'9 and 165 pounds, Zavian is a Class of 2024 prospect who showed well at this showcase. I liked his performance in the agility circuit especially - he showed some good hips, a nice change of direction, and explosion out of the change of direction drills. Zavian played both press and off-man techniques well during the 1-on-1 portion of the showcase, and he also showed some good ball skills at the point of attack. He recently picked up an offer from Ferrum, and I think he is a very good athlete who can help on special teams early on also.

The Charlotte Football Insiders (CFI) Winter Showcase featured over 250 players competing for offers from over 30 colleges in attendance and recruiting exposure. Several defensive backs stood out with their performance and were named top performers in the event.