Updated: Charlotte Weekly: WR Mark Young Joins 2011 Football Signing Class

WR Mark Young Joins 2011 Signing Class

Photo Courtesy of Charlotte Observer

The Skinny on Young: He's 6'5, 200lbs and has been clocked in 40 yard dash at 4.5 seconds.  Looks to have strong hands and good body control.  Also had interest from App State.  Played for 2 years at Providence Day School in Charlotte's NCISAA division (similiar to GISA in Georgia).

Senior Highlights

South Charlotte Weekly Link

Got a chance to catch up with South Charlotte Weekly's Sports Editor Aaron Garcia and this is his evaluation of Young:

I think you guys got a fairly good sleeper recruit here.

I haven't had a chance to speak to him at length about his pedigree, but I know he came to the Providence Day football team after really starting his career as a basketball player. He's a tall kid, probably 6-4, 6-5, and he's put together well. He's developed into a decent route runner, but his offense was mainly geared toward the run. That said, he's good at going up and getting the ball at its highest point and made a handful of highlight-reel catches this season. He uses his body pretty well to get good position and while I can't remember specifically about his run blocking, his running back regularly broke off 50+ yard runs, so I imagine he got pretty good at holding his blocks.

Also, he's been coached by one of the best in the state for the past two years in Bruce Hardin, who put together a Hall-of-Fame career here in high school before leaving to coach at Army and The Citadel. He came back two years ago to coach Providence Day and the team has done a complete 180. Also, while Providence Day is a private school, it's in a very tough private school conference, so he has faced some solid competition. This year alone the conference is sending a kid to Notre Dame (a CB) and a few to Clemson (QB, LB). Also, it's produced some pro athletes like Seth Curry [current Duke basketball players], Chris Canty (DT, New York Giants) and Jeremy Thompson (DE, Green Bay Packers), so talent hasn't been an issue. You just don't see the depth that you see in the public schools.

Also, Providence Day is a top-notch academic school, so I have to believe that Mark is a solid student, which should help the learning curve.  I think what will hurt him initially will be his lack of experience. 

Also, like most freshmen, he'll need to learn to fight for separation at the line more and sharpen his routes. Considering the offense you guys ran last year, I think he'll develop into a nice, big target for whoever is behind center and should help with the short-yardage passing. It'll be interesting to see how he does with a QB that moves around in the pocket, but I think Young will be the type that keeps working as a play develops. His hands have come a long way since his first year, but they still need to improve some. Also, I want to see how he does with a QB that can throw it deep with some accuracy. If he finds that, he could become pretty dangerous.

I guess what I'm trying to say is he's got tons of upside and I'm interested to see what he can do once he really concentrates on football. I think you guys got a good one, but he may need a little time to keep developing.
 
Big thanks to Aaron for his in-depth analysis!