The spring season in the state of North Carolina kicked off on Thursday night and with that began the start of the 2021 scouting reports here on the Heel Tough Blog. Our first scoutee of 2021 took us on the virtual road to Kernersville, NC for a matchup of Winston-Salem-area powerhouses as the Glenn Bobcats and East Forsyth Eagles met to open their seasons. We used it as an opportunity to take a look at Tar Heels’ 2022 3✮ OLB target Albert Redd in game one of his junior season.
Redd had a strong night as part of a Glenn defense that shut out the defending 4A state champion Eagles on Thursday night. He finished the night with six total tackles, but really shined when dropping back in coverage, intercepting one pass and registering three pass break ups. He could have had an even bigger night for himself if not for seven missed tackles in the open field, but this was a solid start to the spring campaign for him.
Redd is an extremely intriguing linebacker prospect, especially when it comes to his fit in Jay Bateman’s defense. He has great short area quickness and closing speed and he has the ability to cover sideline-to-sideline, things that are important for linebackers in Bateman’s system. The problem for him wasn’t the fact that wasn’t around the football; he was around nearly every play in this game. Rather, it was the fact that he took some questionable angles and failed to wrap up at certain times that he had the right angle on the play. The good news is, angles and wrapping up are things that can be taught, while his athleticism simply can not be. The best part of his game, though, is his coverage ability. Redd has extremely fluid hips for a linebacker and his closing speed allows to make plays on the football like he did multiple times on Thursday night. This was as good of a pass coverage performance from a linebacker as I have seen in my time scouting games and that should excite Tar Heel fans about the fact that they are targeting him. He may have some other area where he is a bit raw, but on paper he looks like he may be a really good fit for this team if they want him.
This was a great look at one of the Tar Heels top in-state targets and, with the states of North Carolina and Virginia playing their football over the next couple of months, is only the start of what will be an action-packed spring. Tomorrow night we will head up to the state of Virginia for a look at current Tar Heel commit Tychaun Chapman.