I counted the players on the highlight film. It appears to be standard eleven man football.
I am not sure of the level of play for Canadian High School football. When Canadian teams venture into Northern Ohio for the results are pretty one sided.
I am thinking this will be a wait and see for me. Putting it in the category of American Samoan defensive linemen. Hoping for the best.
That's indeed the wild card. The competition level is NOT good. That's what makes it hard to know for sure how good he is. Still, his measurables are good - he runs a lasar-timed 4.49, for example. For me the thing is, some things translate better than others. Skills like seeing the field, timing the use of your blocks, etc, are not that different against bad competition or the NFL. Remember - yes, it's true that the defenders aren't good, but neither are his blockers.
Often when I watch a highlight film of a running back, the back takes the handoff, runs through a big hole at the line, and speeds by the defenders for a TD. What does that tell me? Not much. In this case, as I said, his blockers are on a par with the defenders. The holes aren't big, and he has to time his run to use the blocks, and get through small openings, which he does well. He also shows lateral quickness in sidestepping defenders at times. That will scale well to better competition, I think. The defenders will be better, but so will the blockers. He'll still have to see and read the field, and time his use of the blocks to get through holes.
I think he has a lot of potential. The number one thing you can't see on his film is his heart. Think about Kalvin McRea. What made him a stand out, for me, among Ohio's running backs? His heart. He knew what was needed, and got it done. He played to win. He wasn't the fastest, the quickest, or the best in any specific, measurable way, but he gave it his all on every play. There is no guarantee that Maleek will be a star for Ohio, but the potential is there, in my opinion.
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ― Epictetus