Top 2026 Defensive Linemen: City of Charlotte

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1002307' first='Rodney' last='Dunham'] - Myers Park</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Watching Rodney's film for two minutes will tell you why he's one of the hottest 2026 recruits in the state currently. At 6'4 and 215 pounds, Rodney had a season full of impact plays from his defensive end spot in multiple ways. Rodney has an incredible get-off and speed rush around the edge against slower offensive tackles - at times they don't even get their hands on him before he's impacting the quarterback, or making a tackle for a loss in the backfield. Rodney's first three clips are interceptions where he reads the play, gets his hands up, and shows some excellent ball skills for a down-defensive lineman. Rodney even impacts special teams with a field goal block. breaking through the middle of the offensive line. Currently, Rodney has offers from East Carolina, Charlotte, South Carolina, Old Dominion, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech, and Florida State. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1170182' first='Elijah' last='Littlejohn'] - West Charlotte</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Explosive off of the edge, plain and simple, is a big reason why Elijah has multiple Division One offers. It is impressive to see in his highlights how quickly Elijah just gets in the backfield and disrupts offenses repeatedly - no matter whether they are running or passing the football. Elijah also shows impressive athletic ability to run plays down that are going away from him or chase down quarterbacks that are attempting to escape the pocket due to his pass rush. At 6'3 and 215 pounds, Elijah still has two years to add weight to his frame and become even more dominant, which is a scary thought for Charlotte-Area Offensive Linemen. Elijah currently has offers from Michigan, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Liberty, Troy, Marshall, East Carolina, Texas A&amp;M, South Carolina, Temple, NC State, and North Carolina. Elijah had a strong year statistically as well with 86 total tackles and 12 sacks. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473951' first='Antoine' last='Johnson'] - West Charlotte </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A 6'2 260-pound prospect, Antoine is primarily a defensive tackle for the Lions who was voted as an All-Conference player last season. I enjoyed watching Antoine up close last season, as he does a great job of getting penetration to disrupt the interior run game at the line of scrimmage. Antoine accomplishes this with an impressive lockout on offensive linemen, getting his hands on them first, then executes a couple of different moves to shed blocks - in particular there is one shock and swim move that is very impressive in one of his highlight clips. Antoine also shows good short-area speed and has the athletic ability to run down quarterbacks and running backs in short spaces to make solo tackles in the backfield. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chris Hilliard - Hough </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A defensive tackle at 6'2 and 255 pounds, Chris does a good job in showing good strength on the interior of the defensive line - with that strength he is able to shed blocks and make tackles at the line of scrimmage in the running game for short gains or no gains at all. Chris also shows a good ability to shoot gaps and get penetration in the backfield - in his first clip in his highlights, he shoots the B gap and gets pressure on the quarterback, forcing a fumble which ended up being returned for a touchdown. Those types of impact plays simply can't be ignored. Chris showed this same shooting gap quickness in another game, which caused a fumble once again and a touchdown. Chris also shows his versatility as he also can play some offensive line and work as a tackle or a guard, with good athleticism at both spots. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='327284' first='Miles' last='Funderburk'] - Providence Day </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Miles is one of the rare talented two-way linemen at a high level that I've seen in a long time. It was hard for me to decide where he should be evaluated, but the bottom line is Miles is one of the best defensive linemen in the city. At 6'1 and 295 pounds, Miles has worked extremely hard in the weight room - and it translates to the field well. Mainly in the form of Miles' ability to quickly shed blocks in the interior of the line as a defensive tackle. One of his highlights that I love is he sheds an interior offensive lineman's block, recognizes a screen pass, and then shows impressive short space speed and quickness to run down the running back for a big loss. Miles also wrestles and is just as good as an offensive line prospect. Miles has offers from Charlotte and Campbell, and interest from multiple Divison 1 schools. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='799142' first='Nathaniel' last='Mitchell'] - Hough </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At 6'2 and 255 pounds, Nathaniel shows some versatility on his film - playing both defensive end and defensive tackle. I am impressed with his overall strength - in his first two clips he simply bullrushes his way into the backfield - forcing a sack and a fumble respectively. This is reflective of hard work in the offseason - in which following this young man, is a consistent thing since his freshman year of high school. I evaluated him two years ago, and he's added 50 pounds of good weight to his frame since then. There is another clip where Nathaniel reads a screen pass, retraces his steps, and ends up making the tackle on the play for a loss - he has been coached very well. I'm expecting recruiting interest to pick up for him this season, starting with a strong performance during the upcoming camp season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->