Deep Dive Rankings: Mecklenburg County Linebackers

One of my favorite series of the year is the Deep Dives, where we at Prep Redzone North Carolina start going into counties or areas across the state of North Carolina, and ranking talent by specific positions in those areas. My colleague Will Helms has already done a great job in starting his rankings in the Raleigh area, and I will start in Mecklenburg County in the immediate area of Charlotte, then branch out from there.   We will miss some players here and there, and a lot of our evaluation is based on production, film, offers from college football programs, and the existing Prep Redzone North Carolina rankings. If you feel you should be included, be sure to let us know! This article will feature the top linebackers in Mecklenburg County, listed in ranking order. The Top 5 will get a detailed breakdown, then the other players will get a summarized analysis.    Ryan earns the #1 spot in our rankings here after a stellar sophomore season in helping lead the Huskies to a state championship. Ryan's instincts are impressive in both stopping the run and covering the middle of the field in the passing game. His highlights show him excelling well in both areas, with a great ability to shed blocks and make tackles in the open field, while reading quarterbacks and picking the ball off in the middle of the field, returning interceptions for touchdowns. As you would expect, Ryan's recruiting is a who's who of Power 4 football programs. His latest offers have come from Ohio State, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, NC State, Auburn, Texas, East Carolina, Texas A&M, LSU, & Penn State since January 22nd! Incredible.     Michael is a very strong 3-down linebacker who is moving over to Hough High School from West Charlotte High School for his senior season. That's a great addition for the defending 8A State Champions, and pairing with [player_tooltip player_id='950969' first='Ryan' last='Peterson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='866141' first='Charles' last='Puckett'] will make the Huskies formidable at the 2nd level again. Michael does a great job shoring up the run game in the middle of the defense and dropping to cover receivers in the middle of the field with excellent recognition and awareness. From a recruiting perspective, Michael has recently named his Top 8 schools - in no order here - Wake Forest, Florida, Indiana, Florida State, Auburn, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Virginia Tech.     As I recently wrote about Justin, he's improved exponentially throughout his career at Providence Day. Justin is an excellent tackler in space and shows an elite ability to blitz the quarterback from depth in passing situations. Justin had a super strong season in helping lead the Chargers to the NCISAA Division 1 State Championship. They will be the favorites to repeat with a strong defense returning. With offers from West Virginia State, Delaware State, Cornell, and a bevy of visits lined up this spring, Justin is starting to see his recruitment move into overdrive.     Lej'end remains one of my favorite players, and I still believe he's underrated, as he's been nothing but a fast-tackling machine for the Bulldogs throughout his career. Last season, as an All-Conference performer, he had 124 total tackles and 15 tackles for loss on defense for the Bulldogs. Lej'end plays best in space and uses his speed and instincts to get to the ball quickly, and tackles well in space against ball carriers. Early offers from Troy and East Carolina highlight Lej'end's potential, and he's coming into a big junior season where he can jump on even more recruiting radars.     Jace makes this list at #5 mainly because of some incredible production. Last season, Jace had 17 sacks, 64 tackles, 23 hurries, and 20 tackles for loss. From his outside linebacker position, Jace is a major disruptor on the Chargers' defense. The only thing holding Jace back from more college football recruiting attention is his size, and even then, I think he's a special talent regardless of where he stands physically. Delaware State and West Virginia State have offered him so far, and I think as long as Jace shows patience, he'll have more attention come his way during his senior season at Providence Day.      Honorable Mentions [player_tooltip player_id='866141' first='Charles' last='Puckett'] - Hough [player_tooltip player_id='1788242' first='Tyson' last='Stancil'] - Chambers [player_tooltip player_id='2073131' first='Matthew' last='Shields'] - Butler Darius Scarlett - North Mecklenburg [player_tooltip player_id='1970950' first='Trenton' last='Bynum'] - Harding   Analysis   [player_tooltip player_id='866141' first='Charles' last='Puckett'] is a very talented player for the Huskies who excels at being physical at the point of attack and knowing where to be on plays with great instincts and agility. Tyson is one of the best players in the area who's been under the radar for a while, in my opinion. He's switching to Chambers High School for his senior year. Shields really came on the scene strong last season, with a triple-digit tackle season and playing well in the middle of the Bulldog defense. He will be important to the success of the new first-year head coach, Donald Littlejohn. Scarlett from North Mecklenburg is someone who will be strongly considered in our next rankings update. He had a triple-digit tackling season for the Vikings and made some big-time, impactful plays in their victories last season. Trenton at Harding is a talented outside linebacker who excels in getting to the football with good speed and instincts. He should be a leading tackler for the Rams once again this upcoming season.

One of my favorite series of the year is the Deep Dives, where we at Prep Redzone North Carolina start going into counties or areas across the state of North Carolina, and ranking talent by specific positions in those areas. My colleague Will Helms has already done a great job in starting his rankings in the Raleigh area, and I will start in Mecklenburg County in the immediate area of Charlotte, then branch out from there.