Super 11: St. Augustine’s Carl Jenkins goes full speed ahead in Jackets’ football chase

In football, it’s simple enough: speed kills.

So that makes Carl Jenkins Jr. a veritable Tyrannosaurus rex of the 2025 wide receiver class in Florida high school football.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking speed is the only way that the St. Augustine receiver chews up defenses. The pass-catching touch. The teamwork. The guiding hand from a Jackets mentor. The work in the weight room to make it all come together.

“That’s really given me that explosiveness to help me get that really good change of direction on top of my speed,” he said.

A receiver with a big-time deep threat, the St. Augustine rising senior wideout brings blazing speed to the Times-Union’s Super 11 for the First Coast’s top-rated recruits entering the 2024 high school football season.

Ranked No. 75 in the USA TODAY Florida Network Top 100 for the summer, Jenkins is a four-star wideout for Rivals and a three-star for 247Sports and ESPN.

On the field, he said he likes to follow the pattern of veteran wide receiver Julio Jones: “I loved the way he’s got a lot of athleticism, high-pointing the ball and always using his speed.” But to make the most of his speed, he’s picking up pointers from a different former pro.

FINDING A JACKETS MENTOR

St. Augustine receiver Carl Jenkins Jr. scores a touchdown against Fort Myers Dunbar in the Class 3S football semifinal.

Although Jenkins played some football around age 5, he soon stepped away from the sport to focus on basketball. He said his father encouraged him all throughout middle school to try the gridiron again, but it wasn’t until his freshman year that he decided to return to the field.

Even when he gave the sport a second try, it wasn’t exactly instant success — he earned a spot on the junior varsity team but suffered an injury that sidelined him for almost his whole freshman year.

To take the next step, he…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/super-11-st-augustines-carl-090050399.html

Author : The Florida Times-Union

Publish date : 2024-08-09 09:00:50

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