True athlete or utility player as I call them would be Reggie Gallaspy. He played heavy time on O and D for Southern Guilford putting up big numbers on both sides of the ball. I like him at that position and Johhny Frasier at running back. May have been hard pressed to go with Love over Nyheim Hines or Rocky Reid but cannot really argue that especially the way he led his team to the title game while banged up. Lot of heart!
How much D did Hughes and Ladowski play. Both are run/pass QBs but does that qualify as the athlete position? I expect Hughes, like Ladowski, saw some time at D Back in close games and may be some returns.
The best QB I watched play was Anthony Ratliff and I saw East Lincoln, New Bern, and Lake Norman. Did not see Hinton at Southern Durham but he was probably the best pure passer from seeing him in the summer. Ratliff is big and can toss it much better than than the two athletes. Regardless of classification Surratt is the real deal but playing in 2A is going to put him against teams that are not as used to seeing the big passing attacks. With one regular season loss and a regional final with his numbers hard not to have Ladowski as the QB.
The best all around player, athlete, utilityman I saw play was Jaire Alexander from Rocky River. Scored a TD on every possible type of return. Punt, kickoff, interception, fumble. Was a beast getting the ball at wide out and as a return man.
Randy Sudyam was a two way lineman for Mallard Creek that is a go getter. Can play hand up or down on D and is a blocking machine on the line. That is a utilityman / athlete but linemen rarely get the nod there as it goes to QBs that have strong passing and rushing combo numbers. Darian Roseboro was a dominant defender and played running back for Lincolnton. Man among boys.
Ask any OL at the Shrine Bowl which D lineman was the toughest to handle and the answer was Jaylen Cousar. Teams game planned not to run near him and double at the line and triple with a back on passing downs. His only downfall is he gassed a little too much but he was a wrecking crew on the D line for a team that played a brutal schedule.
Wideout position. You can use stats but I feel confident that Vernon Grier from Mallard Creek would buzz the three listed including big time recruit Mollette. Ball was spread around a lot but blocking, catching in traffic, and beating DBs deep were phases he excelled at. Starting to see a lot of big numbers at receiver and QB.
There are so many special high school footballers each year in NC there is going to be a lot of second guessing. Congrats to the ones that made it.