The Cardinal train has made another stop on the recruiting trail. This time they picked up a highly talented 3 Star FL ATH by the name of Dexter Rentz.
This What y’all been waiting on ❗️ pic.twitter.com/ocD5N9xqr4
— #Duece 2️⃣ (@DexterRentz) June 14, 2019
The 5’11 175 lbs Rentz chose UofL over offers from UK, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Purdue, and South Florida, among others. Rentz’s primary recruiter was Safties Coach ShaDon Brown per 247sports. He plays high school football for Ocoee High School in Ocoee, FL.
Rentz is a player of many positions for his high school team. He plays S, RB, and WR/Slot Receiver. Playmaking is this young player’s forte and UofL will definitely use him as such; likely he will be a slot receiver that lines up wide and in the backfield occasionally.
What does Rentz offer UofL as a player? A game breaking speedster that’s absolutely electric with the ball in his hands. He’s a WR that isn’t afraid to go over the middle and make big catches. Route running is crisp. He has great vision when running the ball. Jukes and cuts make him very hard to tackle and make him a threat to go to the house every play. Rentz tracks the ball well, able to see it into his hands on over the shoulder catches and able to make adjustments to make catches when necessary.
With the big picture fleshed out, let’s dig a little deeper into Rentz’s on-field abilities.
Speed/Cuts/Jukes/Vision
Watching the highlights, the very first thing you see is Rentz’s speed. He is really, really fast. He blazes by opponents.
The very first play of his highlight reel is a punt return. He picks it up off a bounce and is off to the races. The most beautiful part of it was that as he ran along the sideline, it looked as though two defenders would cut him off before the endzone. At least one had the angle. Rentz was fast enough to outrun the pursuit angle and score.
Jukes and cuts are something else Rentz has in his arsenal. He stops and starts, he fakes one way and goes the other almost without stopping. His cuts are usually one sharp cut and go. He doesn’t dance around needlessly. He’s such a smooth runner. His high school lines him up in the slot the most and loves giving him the ball on jet sweeps. Rentz is very good at reading the blocks and quickly hitting the hole for big gains. They even line Rentz up at RB and he sees the hole, hits the hole, and rolls.
When he’s given the ball on the bubble screen and is given space, Rentz makes defenses pay with long runs after the catch.
I can’t even point out one particular highlight to show how he uses each skill because it’s basically every single one. That’s right. He’s just always showing his speed, cutting, juking, and vision. He’s just that good.
Route Running
Rentz runs beautiful routes. He’s able to get open consistently with a variety of routes.
One play, Rentz lines up wide. He runs a picture perfect sluggo route; faking a slant and then going deep. He took a hard step inside and the CB bit hard trying to jump the route. He quickly readjusts, heads upfield, and is wide open for a TD.
The very next highlight, he’s lined up wide again. He fakes a shallow in route then sits for a bubble screen. It freezes certain parts of the defense and allows blockers to get in front. The play results in Rentz running full speed up the sideline for the score.
Rentz’s quick cutting ability allows his routes to be sharp and precise.
Tracking the Ball/Catching
Rentz is very good at tracking the ball in the air for over the shoulder catches and to make adjustments when needed to make the catch. He has very good hands, catching the ball with his hands and not trapping it against his body.
On his second highlight, Rentz is in the slot. He runs a post over the middle. His QB throws a beautiful ball. Rentz is able to track it all the way in and make a nice over the shoulder catch in stride. He catches it with his hands and the ball sticks to them. It ends in a score because he just flew to the endzone.
In his third highlight, Rentz is once again is in the slot. He runs a post, but his QB is late with the throw. The throw is also more to the hash rather than being more upfield; partly due to the position of the defender. Rentz is able to track the ball, make a slight route adjustment, make the catch, and score. It was a beautiful job of tracking the ball and adjusting his route to the throw.
Going Over Middle for Catches
Rentz is a fearless receiver. I mean absolutely fearless. Going over the middle is not something he is adverse to.
On one play, Rentz is lined up in the slot. He runs what appears to be a deep in. The ball is high, but he goes up and high points it. Poor Rentz gets crushed, but holds on to the ball for a huge gain.
Another time, he runs a buttonhook. He catches it and is immediately swarmed and hit. It did not phase him one bit.
Every team needs a tough guy to make hard catches over the middle. It takes a special type of player. Rentz is one of these types.
UofL is getting a playmaking slot receiver. A guy whose speed, cutting ability, juking, catching, vision, route running, and fearlessness make him a big time weapon. Coach Satterfield likely won’t hesitate to use him as a runner on jet sweeps and could get creative and use him at RB from time to time. What Rentz brings is the ability to hit a homerun on one play; he’s that good. The way he runs, the speed he has, the cuts he makes will make him enjoyable to watch and a fan favorite.
The 2020 class is now up to 12 commits and is ranked 28th nationally on 247sports. Scott Satterfield has something special brewing in the Ville getting commits from players like Dexter Rentz.
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