The long and athletic corner has started to get the recruiting interest and offers I’ve felt were long overdue in coming his way. Mackenzee has picked up offers from Fayetteville State, UNC Pembroke, and Carson-Newman over the last month. What has intrigued college football programs about Mackenzee is the physical ability – he’s a very long cornerback with an 81-inch wingspan, and he’s a very good track athlete on top of that. This camp could be a big one for Mackenzee if he performs well, which I think he will.

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.

Seeing significant playing time this Friday against Providence HS in a major showcase game in Charlotte, Mackenzee did an excellent job in showing why he should be a prospect in consideration of moving higher in our next rankings update. Mackenzee’s size is a major plus – with his frame, he shows great length and wingspan with his arms. That allowed him to breakup 3 deep passes against him. I liked his discipline in zone coverage, and he did a good enough job in man coverage to stay close to receivers. As he improves his speed and body as he grows, he will be a player who should become an impressive prospect.