Yeah, that’s a simple title up above, but it’s a pretty simple situation over at Towns County with Jake McTaggart. The class of 2022 athlete is fresh off a Class A Public basketball state title victory, and at 6’7″, he is sure to have his fair share of college interest for his efforts on the hardwood.
But this is a gridiron website, and in our opinion, Jake McTaggart has some of the best upside of any athlete here in the state of Georgia. The class of 2022 recruit earned his first two D1 offers last year from Kentucky and UAB, which was followed up this year with Dartmouth and Old Dominion.
McTaggart is surely one of the tallest athletes in the state of Georgia at 6’7″ and he moves exceedingly well which is why he lines up predominantly at tight end in high school. His upside is huge, and over the last few months, we have ruminated over where McTaggart best fits at the college level. And truth be told, we are starting to think the junior’s greatest upside is at offensive tackle.
Stick with us here, especially those from Towns County reading this, but watching his agility while playing basketball got us thinking. He shows outstanding lateral movement; some of the best in the entire state of Georgia for his size, and in our opinion, it’s not really if McTaggart fills out his frame to be over 280 lbs., but when. When talking with one of the top offensive line trainers in the state of Georgia they said “Sunday upside” given his size and body control.
Certainly, there are unknowns in this projection. Primarily, the Towns County star is split out at receiver a lot, and doesn’t even line up much near the tackles so blocking film is limited, but his raw talent indicates near-elite upside as an offensive tackle. We are also encouraged by the nearly 15 lbs. of weight that he has added over the last 6 months, and if given the opportunity to camp this summer we suspect college coaches will definitely try out the jumbo-athlete as an offensive lineman.
His recruitment is just scratching at the surface, but sort of a ticking time bomb, and it’s really just a matter of time before the offers start to pile in. Whether that’s at tight end or offensive tackle, well that’s subjective to the eye of the evaluator, but it’s hard to find many 6’7″ 245 lbs athletes in the state who move like the Towns County junior. His recruitment could ‘pop’ very soon, so be sure to follow @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter to see the latest offers and news on McTaggart and the rest of the players across the state of Georgia.
