Unranked Playmakers: Greater Charlotte Conference

Through two games now for most teams in North Carolina, we are starting to see players step up in big ways for their teams, and new names to watch are emerging all across the state. In this unranked playmakers series, I am showcasing some of these players before they possibly enter our rankings in our midseason update here at Prep Redzone North Carolina. This installment takes a look at the Greater Charlotte Conference, one of the three main conferences here in Charlotte. Let's take at these players as they come from the following schools: Hough, Myers Park, South Mecklenburg, West Mecklenburg, Hopewell, and Garinger, respectively.    Jayden has been a playmaker through the preseason and in the first couple of games so far for the Huskies. Displaying some strong hands, good route running, and nice speed in the open field, Jayden has proven to be a reliable target in an offense where receivers opposite [player_tooltip player_id='945238' first='Tyran' last='Evans'] should have some opportunities to make some big plays. The Huskies like to spread the ball around in their attack, and I expect Jayden to continue making some essential plays to keep the chains moving for Hough all season long.     The quarterback for the Mustangs came over from Rocky River High School in the offseason, and I had a chance to watch Ramir there. Ramir made his best plays outside of the pocket on the run when throwing the ball, then, and he still has that ability with him now. Ramir has improved a bit on his fundamentals, footwork, and consistent ball placement in the passing game, and that has allowed Myers Park to attack teams with a balanced offense in all areas of the field. As long as Ramir remains consistent and distributes the ball to his talented teammates, he's going to become a name we know well in Charlotte for the next two years.     Throughout his career, Brody has been a middle linebacker and a long snapper primarily, a nice combo of skills when you think about it. Especially good for a long snapper to have the tackling skills as a linebacker, you don't always get that. As a linebacker, Brody is a tackling machine in the middle of the defense, plain and simple. This season, Brody has been used some in a H-Back/Move role on offense, and he has had a couple of crushing blocks from that position already. It will be fun watching Brody in his senior season continue to help the Sabres in multiple ways.     It's rare to see freshman starting quarterbacks on the varsity level in high school, but that's what we have here in Drake. Through his first two games, Drake has shown some real dual-threat ability as West Meck has designed a couple of runs for him, and they have moved the pocket in the passing game to give him some easier half-field reads, and I think those are smart things to do. Drake showed some touch on a nice smash combo read and has made some nice throws on those move-the-pocket type of plays so far, and I think he's got a bright future going forward as he continues to develop.     Randrez has been a major disruptor on the defensive line in the first two games for the Titans. I really like his Week 1 film against East Mecklenburg, as Randrez was getting off the ball almost untouched on multiple occasions, thanks to a great get-off at the line of scrimmage. Randrez also uses his hands well to shed blocks and make tackles and/or sacks in the backfield for losses. Randrez is on his way to an All-Conference season if this level of play continues.     Zykerion has been one of the focal points of the Wildcats' offense thus far this season, and in their Week 1 victory, he had a huge game in terms of productivity. Zykerion does a good job of getting north & south with the ball in his hands, and uses some good vision to find the open field and use his speed to get into daylight and run away from defenders. Zykerion also shows some ability and agility to make unblocked defenders miss in the open field, an added bonus to his skillset.

Through two games now for most teams in North Carolina, we are starting to see players step up in big ways for their teams, and new names to watch are emerging all across the state. In this unranked playmakers series, I am showcasing some of these players before they possibly enter our rankings in our midseason update here at Prep Redzone North Carolina. This installment takes a look at the Greater Charlotte Conference, one of the three main conferences here in Charlotte. Let's take at these players as they come from the following schools: Hough, Myers Park, South Mecklenburg, West Mecklenburg, Hopewell, and Garinger, respectively.