Stock Up Showcase Instant Analysis

We'll have plenty more coverage of today's Stock Up Showcase at Rocky River High School in Charlotte, but we wanted to give you some immediate thoughts on today's proceedings. So here we go, with three things that stood out this morning. <strong>1. Quarterback Depth</strong> I always get a bit nervous when attending these showcases. The 1-on-1 portion can be fun for people to watch, but only if there are enough talented quarterbacks to accurately deliver the football to the receivers. If there's only one or two guys with enough arm strength to get the ball there, the receivers have to argue over who gets paired with the best quarterbacks. That wasn't the case today as a number of quarterbacks impressed. Among the best of the day were a trio of younger Palmetto State signal callers in Gray Collegiate's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119009" first="Riley" last="Staton"], </strong>Mauldin's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="268730" first="Miller" last="Brezeale"] </strong>and Wren's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="411919" first="Gavin" last="Owens"]. </strong>The former are 2024 players while Owens could be one of the top 2025s in the country. All three showed maturity and poise, impressing in drill work and in the 1-on-1 portion. North Carolina was represented well too as Millbrook's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="203888" first="Mason" last="Fortune"]</strong>, Northern Guilford's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="288313" first="Jack" last="Mercer"] </strong>and Northwest Guilford's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="144215" first="Tanner" last="Ballou"] </strong>all had great showings. Ballou has bulked up and added arm strength to his already impressive accuracy. Knightdale's <strong>Johnathan Montague </strong>really impressed me as well, showing more arm strength and great mechanics, which I had previously thought might be a struggle for him. We'll have more on these guys and more in the next few days. <strong>2. A Couple of Impressive Testing Numbers</strong> It was a cold, windy morning, and some of the guys struggled during the testing portion. That being said there were some great numbers put up. Asheville's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="148630" first="Noah" last="Shaw"] </strong>ran a 4.56 into the wind to go with a 10-foot-6 broad jump. Socastee (SC) receiver <strong>Steven Greene </strong>ran in the 4.5s and added a 4.28 5-10-5 shuttle. He also impressed in position work and 1-on-1s. I was impressed with Triton's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="126536" first="Javon" last="Cowan"] </strong>and his 4.65 40, especially at his impressive running back size. There were more huge performances and we'll have all of them soon. <strong>3. Linebacker/Safety Hybrids</strong> As the game evolves, so too do the players and positions. With the recent innovation of the bigger slot receivers, defenses have had to counter. They've done so with guys build like linebackers that can move like safeties. The aforementioned Shaw and Cary's <strong>Jojo Williams </strong>fit the description. Williams, a former running back, grew a few inches and impressed as a DB. A lot of the linebackers I saw moved well and the defensive backs were long and rangy. We'll have more on these guys and more in the coming days, but it stood out on first look. The defensive line and offensive lines groups were small but not without their fair share of top performers. We'll have more on them soon as well.