Football Recruiting Update – March 10, 2018:

Spring Game is expected to bring a huge amount of marquee recruits to Carter-Finley.

Spring Game will be Saturday, April 7th at 1 pm.

We have been named as the school to beat for quite a few marquee prospects at this point in their recruitment.  These include 4* ATH JR Walker, 3* DE Christian Rorie, 3* LB Drake Thomas, 3* CB Shyheim Battle, 3* TE Kyle Bilodeau, 3* OL Jamari Williams, 4* LB Traveon Freshwater, and 3* OT Carter Colquitt.

Interesting to note, Traveon Freshwater and JR Walker are high school teammates and might be a package deal in college.  Freshwater was one of the national leaders in sacks last year (27), despite being 6’1″, 220.  He definitely projects to an OLB type college prospect due to his speed and tackling ability.  Walker probably projects best as a safety in college or a nickel.  However, Walker has the athleticism that he could legitimately play special teams immediately as a kick returner or punt returner.

Look for Freshwater and Walker to both visit State for the Spring Game on April 7th.  It sounds like both might graduate from high school early and might commit to their chosen school before their senior season starts.

2019 Prospects Who Are Off the Board:

4* RB Zonovan Knight from Southern Nash HS (NC).  He committed to Duke.

4* QB Ty Evans from Palmer Ridge HS (CO). He committed to Colorado.

3* RB Marcus Crawley from Trinity Christian Academy (FL).  He committed to Miami.

3* WR Donovan Greene from Mount Airy HS (NC).  He committed to Duke.

3* WR Elijah Bowick from Myers Park HS (NC).  He committed to Virginia Tech.

3* WR Nolan Groulx from Hough HS (NC).  He committed to Wisconsin.

3* WR Seneca Milledge from Dunbar HS (FL).  He committed to Virginia.  (Was formally committed to us).

3* OG Jacob Monk from Holders HS (NC).  He committed to Duke.

3* LB Charles Thomas from IMG Academy (FL).  He committed to Michigan.

3* LB Samuel Brooks from Northwestern HS (FL). He committed to Miami.

3* CB Isaiah Kemp from Hoggard HS (NC). He committed to Duke.

3* CB Tony Davis from Huss HS (NC).  He committed to Duke.

3* CB Jayden Curry from IMG Academy (FL). He committed to UNC.

3* CB Major Williams from Dunbar HS (FL). He committed to Virginia.

A new feature for the 2019 cycle…

Starting with this update, I will provide an in-depth analysis of a position of need for the 2019 class (with the goal of getting all positions and prospects looked at over the course of the bi-weekly column between now and August).

QB Battle:

At this point, it appears that our QB recruiting in the 2019 class is centered around three prospects. 4* Sam Howell, from Sun Valley HS (NC), 3* Ryan Hilinski from Orange Lutheran HS (CA), and 3* Kenneth Jefferson from North Panola HS (MS).

Highlights of Howell:

Highlights of Hilinski:

Highlights of Jefferson:

Statistical Breakdown from Junior Season:

Passing:

Howell – 225 of 382 for 3,372 yards.  36 Touchdowns with 11 Interceptions

Hilinski – 294 of 421 for 3,749 yards.  33 Touchdowns with 6 Interceptions

Jefferson – 150 of 236 for 3,028 yards.  36 Touchdowns with 3 Interceptions

Rushing:

Howell – 230 carries for 1,594 yards.  24 Touchdowns.

Hilinksi – 87 carries for 80 yards.  6 Touchdowns.

Jefferson – 139 carries for 1,325 yards.  8 Touchdowns.

Rankings:

Howell – 4* on 24/7 sports and Scout (#4 Pro-Style QB), 4* on Rivals (#5 Pro-Style QB), 3* on ESPN (#7 Pro-Style QB)

Hilinski – 3* on 24/7 sports and Scout (#12 Pro-Style QB), 3* on Rivals (#11 Pro-Style QB), NR on ESPN

Jefferson – 3* on 24/7 sports and Scout (#21 Pro-Style QB), NR on ESPN, NR on Rivals.

Size:

Howell – 6’1″, 217.

Hilinski – 6’3″, 218.

Jefferson – 6’4″, 205.

My analysis:

Hilinski is the more prototypical pocket passing QB out of the bunch, more compared to Ryan Finley. He can get yardage on the ground if everything breaks down in pass protection.  I could be wrong, but I think he is trying to get out of the mantra of following his brother’s footsteps on the West Coast. He has toured a lot of schools in the South in the last few weeks, including South Carolina, State, Clemson, and others.

Howell is the highest rated QB prospect out of the bunch.  However, he is being asked to do a whole lot for his HS (60 touchdowns his junior year).  His size worries me with this heavy of a workload in high school. He is not nearly as accurate downfield as Jefferson or Hilinski are, but he is very athletic and very dangerous with the ball in the open field. Recent predictions have him committing to Clemson sooner rather than later.

Jefferson is the rising star out of the bunch and is a dynamic athlete who plays in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi but is suddenly getting a huge amount of offers (offered by Georgia, Ole Miss, Mississippi State).  Interesting to note that we offered him before his home state schools.  He has visited State recently.