John Mackey didn’t have many good games in 2009. The junior was sidelined for five contests with a broken thumb that led to surgery.
He was around, however, for a confrontation with Ensworth’s Antonio Robinson, who’s listed as some quarters as one of the nation’s top offensive line prospects, and his performance was enough to boost Mackey’s stock among recruiters and get him on some preseason all-state teams.
“I showed that no one can stop me,” Mackey said during a photo shoot for the Times Free Press Dynamite Dozen.
Suffice it to say that Mackey had a double-digit tackle performance against Robinson.
With Mackey, the question isn’t whether he can play but rather where. He’s a shade over six feet and weighs 235 pounds.
Furman, Air Force and VMI evidently feel they can find him a spot. Each has already tendered a scholarship offer.
“I’m big enough to play defensive tackle or be a stand-up end,” he said. “I’m still growing and I feel I will have enough size that I can take on the best.”
Mackey also doubles as the running back in Baylor’s short-yardage offense and feels he could play fullback or tackle although he said he’d prefer defense.
Regardless, he is an athlete who also has a state wrestling championship under his belt.
“Missing games put him behind as far as recruiting. He didn’t get quite the exposure at the beginning of his junior year although he made up for it the last five weeks of the season,” Baylor coach Phil Massey said.
The coach also said that Vanderbilt and Virginia are planning to follow Mackey’s 2010 season. Both schools are interested in him as a football player, but he also suits their academic guidelines with a 3.6 GPA and a 1580 on the SAT.
It’s the recruier’s mindset that sets Massey on edge.
“A lot of this recruiting thing, they want to punch you into a cookie-cutter. They average defensive lineman is 6-foot-4 and they look at him at 6-feet and say he can’t (make it),” the coach said. “The Division I schools are afraid to step out there sometimes and make that commitment to a kid that doesn’t fit their cookie-cutter. I just hand them a tape and tell them to see for themselves.”
Massey believes Mackey could be a superb defensive lineman at the next level.
“He needs to play with his hand down. You’re talking about a kid that’s power-cleaning 315 pounds. His strengths are his power and his explosiveness.”
So Mackey waits for Friday nights and the chance to show his prowess.
“John doesn’t yet understand how good he could be,” Massey said. “There are times if he doesn’t want you to block him that you can’t. He hasn’t come close to tapping his potential. There’s a lot more there.”