Fayetteville Spring Game Standouts Part 1

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Graduations, baseball championship games, and football spring games are in full swing. For the purpose of this article, we are going to focus primarily on the spring games. Fayetteville had and impressive spring showing last Friday night. We are going to highlight several of the prospects that opened eyes last week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='401183' first='Catavion' last='Taylor']-Wide Receiver-Fayetteville-6'1” 170-Pounds 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Throughout the course of this article, we are going to highlight several talented wide receivers that the Bulldogs have going into the 2024 season. [player_tooltip player_id='401183' first='Catavion' last='Taylor'] has tremendous athleticism and a knack for making opposing defenders miss tackles. Last Friday, Taylor displayed an impressive combination of speed and route running ability to create separation from opposing defensive backs. He can stretch the field vertically or be used on the underneath routes. Taylor is a wide receiver to watch out for over the next couple of seasons for the Bulldogs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Noah Taylor-Defensive Back-Fayetteville-5'8” 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defensive secondary for the Bulldogs has the potential to be a unit that can terrorize opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks. Noah Taylor is a prospect that can shift between the safety and cornerback positions with very little difficulty. Taylor reads the play well and reacts to whether it will be a pass or a run. In pass coverage, he does an excellent job of playing the ball while it is in the air. On Friday night, Taylor picked off a pass and had several big plays in the secondary. He is a prospect to watch out for over the next few months.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='207208' first='Garyt' last='Odom']-Quarterback-Fayetteville-6'1” 170-Pounds 2025</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last Friday, [player_tooltip player_id='207208' first='Garyt' last='Odom'] displayed his impressive knowledge of the offensive playbook. He is a signal caller that has the arm strength to keep the opposing secondary from crowding the box. Odom is not afraid to stretch the field vertically with the deep throw. He has the accuracy to fit the ball into tight windows as well. Odom has the athletic ability needed to extend the play and escape the pocket. The UNLV commit is a player to watch out for this upcoming season. He has the potential to have a strong 2024 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1095719' first='Emerson' last='Early']-Wide Receiver-Fayetteville-5'9” 175-Pounds 2026</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1095719' first='Emerson' last='Early'] is a wide receiver that can line up in the slot and carve up an opposing secondary on the underneath routes. Early is another Fayetteville receiver that an impressive outing on Friday night of last week. He uses his crisp route running to his advantage and has no problem creating separation from opposing defenders. Early hauls in everything that is thrown in his direction. He is the type of wide receiver that gets open and helps extend drives. I look for him to have a strong season for the Bulldogs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1173143' first='Reid' last='Slankard']-Linebacker-Fayetteville-6'3” 205-Pounds</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Fayetteville Bulldogs never have a shortage of talented players in the linebacking corps. [player_tooltip player_id='1173143' first='Reid' last='Slankard'] opened some last week with his strong outing. Slankard does a great job of reading the play and putting himself in a position to make the tackle. He is a player that is always around the ball carrier. Slankard can plug up the rushing lanes or drop back into coverage and defend against the pass. He is a defender to watch out for this upcoming season. I expect a strong season from Slankard as well over the next few months.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->