I’ve watched Makai grow into a strong EDGE player ever since he was a freshman at Porter Ridge. Makai has now switched schools to neighboring Weddington High School, which definitely has some experience with talented defensive linemen in their history. Makai has improved his strength a good bit, while retaining his speed and agility at the same time. Makai, I think, has just started to scratch the surface of his talent, and he’s just starting to get well-deserved recognition from college football programs as well. Makai picked up his first offer at the end of January from East Carolina, and I think he’s going to see more recruiting attention come his way as we enter camp season soon.

Makai Henriquez Makai Henriquez 6'3" | 210 lbs | EDGE Weddington | 2028 State NC (6’3″, 200+), sophomore edge from Porter Ridge, looks every bit the part of a future high-level prospect. He finished last season with 69 tackles and 9 sacks, consistently affecting the game off the edge with length, burst, and physicality. What stands out most is his frame — long, rangy, and still growing into his body — paired with the ability to bend and close on quarterbacks. He plays with Power 4 traits already, and as he continues to add strength and polish his pass-rush moves, Henriquez has all the tools to become one of the premier edge defenders in his class. A real Power 4 prospect with upside still untapped.

Makai is continuing to grow into his body physically and shows some high-level talent and potential as an EDGE prospect who is just starting to scratch the surface of how good he can become overall. A lot of his sacks this year came from power-based moves as a sophomore, which is scary. I think Makai shows a good burst off the ball, but if he works on some pass-rush moves to go with that burst consistently, he’s really going to tap into his overall potential. The physical talent is there for sure.

Henriquez has had an excellent sophomore season, following up on his impressive freshman year. More than that, he was previously highly ranked due to his production as an undersized freshman. He had upside, and now that’s being realized as he grows bigger and stronger. He’s been more varied with how he beats offensive linemen, and he’s one of the top players at the position in the state.

Henriquez doesn’t have a ton of film, but our own Matt Morrow has seen him in person multiple times and raves about his potential. He’s going to need to continue adding weight, but he’s already a nightmare for offensive tackles to try to handle. He had 6.5 sacks last season for a very good Porter Ridge team, signaling not only his pass-rushing potential, but his abilities right now.

Once Henriquez adds a bit more weight he’s going to be even more dangerous than he was as a freshman. He played his entire freshman season looking more like a wide receiver than an edge rusher and yet put up 6.5 sacks. He has great quickness and dip around the edge allowing him to beat tackles to the outside. As he grows, I’m interested to see if he continues to improve as a pure edge rusher.