South Florida '21- TEs

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DMoney

D-Moni
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Tight end is traditionally the weakest position in South Florida. There just aren’t that many prospects with the requisite body type. But that hasn’t stopped the region from producing two All-Americans in the past decade (Nick O’Leary and Clive Walford) and two of the better Big 10 tight ends in Nick Eubanks (Michigan/American Heritage) and Daniel Barker (Illinois/Deerfield Beach). This is a strong year in the State of Florida and locally, with at least four P5 caliber TEs in the region.

Kahlil Brantley, Northwestern (6’2, 210)- Two-time state champion with competitive demeanor. Body has developed over the past year from big WR into legitimate TE. Arguably the best hands in South Florida. Very strong in traffic. Experienced in passing game and knows how to create separation against elite DBs. Not a burner but deceptive speed (see 76 yard catch-and-run TD against IMG). Plays flexed, in line and in backfield. Willing blocker who abuses DBs and held up well against LB/DEs in camp. Similar to Larry Hodges—lacks elite length and speed but is an excellent football player. Another comparison is David Williams, the MNW TE who played for the Canes in the early 00s. Miami commit.







Chamon Metayer, North Miami (6’5, 220)- Jumbo athlete with large frame. Flexed out in Central offense and made some big catches. Basketball background. Hands are OK but not a natural plucker of the football. Basketball player. Projects better at defense than offense, where he is surprisingly comfortable in coverage. More smooth than twitchy. Best role may be similar to Dion Jordan at Oregon, where he plays in space and rushes. Needs to overcome persistent coachability concerns, but he has a high-level combination of size and athleticism. Miami commit.






Ashton Gillotte, Boca Raton (6’4, 225)- Underrated Palm Beach gem with upside on both sides of the ball. Plays hard and urgent. Quick off the line at TE and DE. Big production (82 tackles, 16 sacks, 4 TDs). Smart with Ivy offers. Can adjust to the ball in the passing game. Excellent lateral quickness with an effective inside move. Relentless blocker. Length is the primary concern. Louisville, Duke and Vanderbilt have offered.







Antonio Johnson
, St. Thomas (6’3, 220)- Basketball convert who exploded on the camp circuit. Big lower-body, which he uses to box out defenders. Hands catcher. Played HBack behind Arizona State TE signee Jake Ray. Not fast but can get open. Also has some experience at DE. Offers from Minnesota and Maryland.



 
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Metayer looks like a man among boys out there. Just far and away athletically better than everyone else. Don’t like to hear the coachability concerns because if taught well he could be a star but fear he will go the way of other HS studs that either bust or never fulfill their promise.
 
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@DMoney

You recently said PASS to Cameron Metayer.

Can you elaborate?

Too many coachability concerns for me. I’ve heard it consistently, on and offline. On pure talent, he is definitely a Miami-caliber edge. Legit size and he is an athlete.

Also, he wants to play TE and I think we can do better there.

He’s still in high school and a lot of guys with coachability issues as teens ended up being superstars. So it’s still early in his story.
 
Metayer looks like a man among boys out there. Just far and away athletically better than everyone else. Don’t like to hear the coachability concerns because if taught well he could be a star but fear he will go the way of other HS studs that either bust or never fulfill their promise.
I think the coachability concerns need to be clarified a bit. He's not a knucklehead or doesn't have attitude or behavior issues. Far from it. He's a respectful, intelligent kid.

It's more frustrating than that.

He's the type where you'll tell him something, he'll take it in, say "yes, sir" and then... he'll go out there and do absolutely nothing that you coached him to do. You'd think it was passive aggressive if you didn't know any better.

He's pure athleticism right now, but that's only going to take him so far at the next level.

Too many voices in his life right now.
 
Eubanks and Barker

what happened with their recruitments?
I don't think Eubanks had much hometown loyalty lol. Nationally coveted 4* & chose Jim Harbaugh.

Daniel Barker was a high 2/low 3*, his best offers were Illinois, Pittsburgh & UCF.
 
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Too many coachability concerns for me. I’ve heard it consistently, on and offline. On pure talent, he is definitely a Miami-caliber edge. Legit size and he is an athlete.

Also, he wants to play TE and I think we can do better there.

He’s still in high school and a lot of guys with coachability issues as teens ended up being superstars. So it’s still early in his story.
I'll likely get nailed for this, but before I comment, are we talking about coachability or character concerns, or are they pretty much tied together? Character concerns I say PASS, unwillingness to trust a coaches teaching method, I think we can work with him on that. IMO its just that coachability/character issues can sometimes bleed into one another so it's hard to say a kid has a hard time taking coaching but doesn't have character issues. Correct me if I'm wrong on this though
 
I'll likely get nailed for this, but before I comment, are we talking about coachability or character concerns, or are they pretty much tied together? Character concerns I say PASS, unwillingness to trust a coaches teaching method, I think we can work with him on that. IMO its just that coachability/character issues can sometimes bleed into one another so it's hard to say a kid has a hard time taking coaching but doesn't have character issues. Correct me if I'm wrong on this though

Let me put it like this.

We all work jobs, when we started our managers trained us and provided us with Standard of Operation. If we went against the SOP, we are fired.
 
Let me put it like this.

We all work jobs, when we started our managers trained us and provided us with Standard of Operation. If we went against the SOP, we are fired.
I can understand that line of reasoning, but I think we all know that doesn't necessarily apply, if hardly ever, when it comes to sports/athletes. The more talented you are, the longer rope you get. At the same time, I'm at the point where I'm happy/ecstatic if we take the UVA-type character kids and give a tiny bit back from an athleticism standpoint. And I think we can be highly successful using that recruiting model due to our home base being Florida.
 
Too many coachability concerns for me. I’ve heard it consistently, on and offline. On pure talent, he is definitely a Miami-caliber edge. Legit size and he is an athlete.

Also, he wants to play TE and I think we can do better there.

He’s still in high school and a lot of guys with coachability issues as teens ended up being superstars. So it’s still early in his story.
Has he closed the door completely to playing defense?
 
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Kahlil Brantley was a bust for us but can redeem himself at FAU.
I have to disagree. The kid pretty much won us the UVA game with his kick-out blocks. Then Gattis decided to not use him again the rest of the year. He was the best blocking TE we had last year and wasn't thrown to much because we had Mallory who couldn't block someone in a phone booth.
 
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