Mikel Stephen has worked his way into becoming one of the players to watch in Mississippi’s 2027 recruiting class. Stephen, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound running back, has shown that his skillset is advanced for a player his age. This past season, he played for his 7th grade team (Madison Middle School) and led all rushers with 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns. Stephen also played for the Hartfield Academy junior varsity team and led all rushers with 620 yards and eight touchdowns. On top of that, he played for the FBU 8th Grade Team Mississippi too. That’s a lot of football, but Stephen has been playing for several years now.
“I’ve been playing football for five years,” said Stephen. He said that a family member influenced him to give the sport a try when he was nine years old. “My older cousin played football. Ever since I watched him play, I just wanted to play because it really looked fun.” As you can guess, he was attracted to playing the running back position. “I saw that it was real fun running the football,” Stephen said when asked what he likes about playing the position. “I like being able to outrun people and truck people. It’s fun.”
You have to been in great shape to play the amount of football that Stephen played during the 2021 fall season and be good at it. He attributes his success on the football field this past season to his hard work during the offseason and dedication to getting better. “I believe my mindset and training sets me apart,” said Stephen. “I make sacrifices to get better by training when most student-athletes don’t.”
Before the start of last season, Stephen says he trained every day and went to a lot of camps. According to him, the camps were beneficial for his development as a running back. “The camps helped me with my receiving and helped with my footwork,” said Stephen. He says that he also runs track because he’s “the fastest dude in my grade.” Stephen is still a couple of years away from playing on the high school varsity level, but he still has big goals once he gets the opportunity. “My goals for high school are the graduate at the top of my class and lead my team to a multiple state championship,” said Stephen. “I want to become my school’s all-time leader in rushing and touchdowns.”
From what I’ve seen so far, Stephen has the potential to become one of the best players in his class. He does a good job of hitting the hole with no hesitation and gets north-south in a hurry. Stephen also has the quickness to beat defenders to the corner and the speed to split defenders at the second level. He finishes his runs with power and can get physical when necessary. Despite his early success as a football player, Stephen knows that he still has work to do and can always get better.
“I can improve on my receiving game. Another thing I can improve on…I have really good footwork, but I just want to get better at that. I just want to keep getting better at everything.”
Check out Stephen's profile on Youth1 by clicking here.
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Ed O'Brien @EdOBrienCFB 2 minutes ago