704 Junior Bowl Defensive Back Candidates

The Queen City Senior Bowl honors 80 of the top seniors in the Charlotte Metro Area. Prep Redzone North Carolina takes a look at a hypothetical "704 Junior Bowl" - players that had a strong junior season that would be considered for a selection if such a game existed in the Charlotte Metro Area. In Year 1 of this series, I went ahead and selected who would be on my Junior Bowl team. This year, I am going to give you a list of candidates for consideration, then we'll do a final release of the full team once all position candidates have been released. So, let's take a look at our defensive back candidates for selection.   **For full transparency, the 704 Junior Bowl will consider players from the following counties: Cleveland, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Union counties.**    After winning the 8A State Championship, the Hough Huskies found themselves reloading at the defensive back position, picking up the talented Dobson from just across the border in South Carolina from Catawba Ridge High School. Dobson is considered one of the best defensive backs in the nation, and we have him as the best in his class in North Carolina. It's safe to say he's an easy consideration for this 704 Junior Bowl team, but what makes him so great is what you might be asking, since you probably haven't seen him between the white lines.   First is the speed and agility - the way Josh transitions from start to stop and change directions is next level. Second is the discipline in both zone and man coverage - he makes it look the same at the snap so smoothly that it deceives quarterbacks into making bad reads. Third, is the excellent ability to tackle in run support and in the open field. Josh has tackling technique like a linebacker - he has been taught well, and applies it consistently throughout his highlights.   We don't have enough time here to go through all of his offers, but it's very safe to say Josh is highly recruited by multiple Power 4 schools. I'm excited to see when he narrows down his choices and ultimately where he decides to play college football on the next level.     Tre had another highly productive season for the state championship Chargers with 72 tackles, 9 pass breakups, and 3 interceptions. He's been a highly rated player for us for a while now, and an easy consideration for this 704 Junior Bowl Team. Tre's size and athleticism, along with the strong on-field production, have led him to become a highly recruited prospect, with his latest offers coming from Louisville, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Virginia Tech. Those offers came in spite of Tre naming a Top 7 school list of, in no order, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Indiana, Southern California, Nebraska, NC State, and Tennessee.     Orlando played on a Mustangs team that had a lot of talent, so he was a bit overshadowed from a name recognition perspective. But don't let that fool you because the tape tells you that Orlando is a talented player who more than holds his own from his corner position. Orlando excels in playing off-man coverage, mainly because his reaction time to passes in front of him is elite - the way he explodes out of his breaks is impressive. Orlando currently holds offers from Delaware State, Charlotte, and Syracuse.     Jackson is one of those players that you can't help but notice on a defense. When you look at his film, he's literally making plays at all three levels of the defense from his safety position. On top of that, the intangibles he possesses as a leader are off the charts, and I observed those and had the same feedback from the Huskies' coaching staff. Those are traits that are definitely a plus for consideration for the 704 Junior Bowl Team. Jackson currently has offers to play college football from East Carolina, Charlotte, Florida International, and North Carolina A&T all within the last month.     Mason is a physical player with range who can affect the defense at either the linebacker level or the defensive back position. You can feel his physicality come through his highlight film, especially when he is coming up in run support or making a tackle in the open field on a ball carrier. This past season, Mason had a major impact on the Lake Norman defense with 79 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 5 passes defensed in a hybrid outside linebacker/strong safety role. We mentioned his tackling, but Mason has good speed and athleticism at a nice size, which gives him a multitude of different roles he could play defensively on the next level. I'm expecting more college football recruiting interest to start to come his way once we get into camp season in the spring and summer.     I don't usually use the term "defensive wild card" very often, but that's what I see when I look at Moses' highlight film from the state champion Chargers. Excellent size at 6'3 and 210 pounds gets college coaches interested, then when you see the speed and explosion on the tape, that entices them to offer this talented young man. Last season, he totaled 65 tackles with 32 solo tackles, 9 pass deflections, and even contributed on special teams with two field goal blocks. His most recent offers are from Louisville, East Carolina, Toledo, and Wake Forest. He could play as a linebacker or defensive back at the next level and really excel.     This probably isn't a name most people in the Charlotte area know well, as he played last season for Alexander Central High School. Maurice joins a talented West Iredell team as a real playmaker on both sides of the ball. I considered him for the ATH category, but ultimately, I think his defense is what really stands out. Last season, as a defensive safety/nickel, Maurice had 60 tackles, double-digit pass breakups, and 2 defensive touchdowns. And this was his first year playing the position - very impressive. I like the way Maurice tackles in the open field, and his taking of excellent pursuit angles allows him to get to the football all over the field on defense.     The pure instinct that Bryant shows at the safety position is some of the best I've seen in the Charlotte Metro Area. I've been high on Bryant since seeing him have a two-interception game last season. He trusts his eyes and does an excellent job of pattern reading and knowing where the ball is going in the air. Bryant also contributes as a playmaker on offense, getting the ball on jet sweeps and reverses to make big plays for his offense. Bryant has nice speed and range at the safety position as well, and he's a real consideration for this 704 Junior Bowl team.     Myers Park had a lot of talent in the secondary this past season, but quietly, Kameron jumped onto the radar as a defensive playmaker from his safety position. With his experience as a wide receiver, Kameron's ball skills are impressive as he challenges receivers at the catch point while in coverage. His highlights show several pass breakups and a couple of interceptions reflective of this ability. College football programs are starting to take notice as well, as Kameron picked up his first two offers from Charlotte and North Carolina A&T, respectively. With 5 interceptions on the season, Kameron will be a player to watch for sure next season.     Trey had a strong season this past year for Cannon School, totaling 3 interceptions on the year to go along with 9 pass deflections. When you take a look at the film, Trey shows the ability to cover well in man coverage, showing very good long speed in single coverage against some talented wide receivers. Trey is patient in coverage, and he doesn't panic being on an island by himself. Trey also shows good discipline in zone coverage and comes up to tackle well on skill players in space.     Mackenzee makes this candidate list because of his length and physical ability from his corner position. College coaches love defensive backs with length, and Coates gives a lot of that, with a reported 83-inch wingspan per his Twitter profile. The thing I like most about Coates' film is the physicality he plays with. You don't see a lot of high school corners embracing contact, but you see that consistently with Coates' tackling ability, along with his ability to play press coverage at the line of scrimmage.

The Queen City Senior Bowl honors 80 of the top seniors in the Charlotte Metro Area. Prep Redzone North Carolina takes a look at a hypothetical "704 Junior Bowl" - players that had a strong junior season that would be considered for a selection if such a game existed in the Charlotte Metro Area. In Year 1 of this series, I went ahead and selected who would be on my Junior Bowl team. This year, I am going to give you a list of candidates for consideration, then we'll do a final release of the full team once all position candidates have been released. So, let's take a look at our defensive back candidates for selection.