Charlotte Nike Football Training Camp recap

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Numerous FBS prospects showed up at Ardrey Kell High School on a rainy Saturday to compete for a prestigious invite to The Opening, the Nike-sponsored summer event that features the top prospects in the country.

Unfortunately, the rain kept the more than 240 athletes from participating in SPARQ testing, as conditions on the field were not favorable when the camp began.

No invites went out during the camp, either, but there will surely be several attendees who end up making their way to Portland this summer.

The following players won position MVP awards:

One under-the-radar prospect who stood out physically was Berkeley (S.C.) offensive tackle Amari Taylor, who just recently took up football, but stands 6’8 and carries 290 lean pounds. With extremely long arms and good athleticism, Taylor has been hearing from Clemson recently and could see his stock increase during the spring as more programs find out about him. Still raw with his technique, he showed that he could stop opposing defensive ends in one-on-one drills once he got his hands on them.

Based on his performance, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him land an invitation to The Opening.

2016 Charlotte (N.C.) Mallard Creek defensive end Joshua Brown is still a bit undersized at 213 pounds and doesn’t have an offer yet, but should have some on the way this spring this based on his performance at the NFTC, as he was one of the most difficult defensive ends at the event for the offensive linemen to stop, showing impressive speed off the edge.

Among the quarterbacks, Concord (N.C.) Victory Christian’s Jordan Lane doesn’t report any offers and doesn’t have a profile on 247Sports, Scout, or ESPN, but had one of the most impressive arms at the event and has the size needed to play at the next level. If he can become more consistent with his accuracy, he could draw some attention during his senior season.

For the more highly-rated players at the position, Butler (N.C.) product Anthony Ratliff was the MVP of his position after showing a whippy delivery through the finishing part of his motion to throw one of the best balls at the camp.

Fellow 2015 prospect Kendall Hinton of Durham (N.C.) Southern is only listed at 6’0, but his live arm helped distinguish himself from many of the other passers at the camp and his high release point should help him find passing lanes in college. On the run, Hinton is able to generate almost as much velocity as he does in the pocket, an impressive feat.

In the 2016 class, Dillon (S.C.) dual threat Avery McCall made clear that he is more than just a runner with quick feet on his drop back and fantastic touch on his passes, especially on deep routes. Just in case anyone was wondering about his arm strength, however, McCall also zipped underneath passes when necessary.

At defensive back, Greensboro (N.C.) Northern Guilford cornerback Mook Reynolds was late to the event and showed up decked out in Virginia Tech gear, but when he got onto the field, the Hokie commit consistently made plays on the football in the 7-on-7 portion, showing his ability to find and track the football.