Letter of intent No. 19: Safety Jarius Morehead
Safety
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Gibsonville (N.C.) Eastern Guilford High
6-foot-1, 185 pounds
Measurables:
• At the Shrine Bowl combine held at Eastern Alamance High in Mebane, N.C., ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds, had an 8-11 standing broad jump and did 13 reps at 185 pounds on the bench press.
Stats:
• Senior: Offensively, while playing primarily quarterback, rushed for 1,061 yards and 14 touchdowns, threw for 774 yards and 10 scores with two picks and caught four passes for 74 yards and one more touchdown. Defensively added 103 tackles, including six sacks, and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
• Junior: Had 40 tackles, nine pass breakups and two interceptions on defense and added 289 yards receiving and two scores as a receiver on offense.
• Sophomore: Caught 30 passes for 516 yards and six touchdowns and rushed 19 times for 64 yards and an additional score. Defensively piled up 41 tackles, two interceptions and eight pass breakups.
Ratings:
• Rivals.com: Three stars, No. 31 in the state.
• Scout.com: Three stars, No. 111 safety in the country, No. 33 in the state.
• 247Sports: Three stars, No. 125 safety in the country, No. 51 in the state.
• ESPN: Three stars, No 108 receiver in country, No. 24 in the state.
• National Underclassmen: No. 34 in the state.
• Athlete Vault: No. 43 in the state.
• Fayetteville Observer: No. 41 in the state.
Honors/accomplishments:
• Picked to play in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas All-Star Game, where he started at safety and had a tackle, an interception and a pass breakup.
• Ranked by Rivals.com as the second-best player in the Shrine Bowl game for North Carolina.
• Honored as the Burlington Times-News All-Region Defensive Player of the Year.
• Named the Mid-State 3-A Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
• Selected to the Greensboro News and Record All-Area Team in 2014.
• Tabbed second team All-Gridiron by Carolina Gridiron.
• Won the Bob Sawyer Guilford County Football Player of the Week award presented by Rotary Club of Greensboro on Sept. 29 and the GreensboroSports.com/Jim Modlin High School Football Player of the Week honor presented by Chick-fil-A on Oct. 13.
• Also runs track with a personal best of 11.24 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 23.74 seconds in the 200-meter dash.
• Attended same high school as former NCSU football players Torry and Terrence Holt, women's basketball coach Kay Yow and current athletics director Debbie Yow.
Recruitment:
• Picked up offers from Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wake Forest among others.
• Narrowed favorites to ECU, NC State and UNC before verbally committing to the Wolfpack on June 14.
• Friends with early enrollee at NC State and fellow Guilford county native Reggie Gallaspy of Southern Guilford High in Greensboro.
Recruiter of record:
• Safeties coach and co-special teams coordinator Clayton White
Quotable:
"He's been probably the best individual player that we've seen this year. I like the Asheboro quarterback (Shyheim Lineberry) a lot, he makes their offense go, but the Morehead kid when we played them he was everywhere. He was all over the field. He's a great athlete. I think he has to do so much for them that might hurt him a little bit. He's an outstanding player." - Southern Guilford head coach Darryl Brown
Scouting report:
• Versatile player who could line up at any of the safety positions (free, safety or nickel) in NC State's base 4-2-5 defense.
• Has natural play-making skills and instincts.
• Good but not great athlete.
2015 projection:
NC State has all its impact safeties back from the 2014 season and will be adding redshirt freshmen into the fold, so competition will be fierce for playing time in the secondary. The likely scenario for Morehead is finding the best safety position for him while redshirting.