Trio of Tanks in 2026 class making fans remember their name
There is Tank Dell and Tank Bigsby. New Seattle Seahawks defensive end Demarcus Lawrence, who spent a decade with the Dallas Cowboys, goes by Tank.
Big, strong, tough guys play football so the nickname applies. But this recruiting cycle there seems to be an inordinate amount of Tanks and all of them are highly rated prospects with the genesis of their nicknames all coming from unique places.
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There is five-star edge rusher Anthony 'Tank' Jones, the best of the bunch. The Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul's standout has Alabama leading his recruitment with Texas A&M right there and a host of other SEC suitors as well.
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His story might be the best of all and the most befitting of such an apt nickname.
'My dad named me that when I was younger because I was big, slow, used to break everything,' Jones said. 'I also like broke my arm when I was younger and I didn't cry. I was always tougher, always played with big kids.'
The five-star Jones is now the big kid and he's dominated at the high school level. That's why he's being so heavily pursued by powerhouses across the Southeast and beyond.
James 'Tank' Carrington has not been called his first name for years since he picked up his nickname in youth football.
The high three-star defensive tackle now at Irvine (Calif.) Crean Lutheran was 9 years old playing boys much older than him and still dominating.
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His coach at the time, Frankie Knox, took to calling him Tank. It stuck.
'I was playing junior pee wee at nine and some kids were 11,' Carrington said. 'I was the strongest and most dominant player on the team. We went to nationals. I had played rec ball before that but my weight made me play up.
'They called me Tank cause nobody could handle me. (Knox) said in 30 years he had never seen a kid like me and I would play on Sunday. Been Tank ever since.'
Those are unique stories. For Tai'Yion 'Tank' King, his is even extra special because it reminds him of his grandfather.
The four-star linebacker, who has Texas A&M, Notre Dame and others heavily involved in his recruitment, was not born big. The Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial standout was only three pounds and born premature but that didn't stop his grandfather, Todd, from giving him that nickname.
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'I was a preemie when I was born, just three pounds, and when I was about 2 years old my grandpa started to call me Tank because I was strong for the kids that were my age,' King said. 'And, of course, being a preemie at birth, no one would really think about being strong like that. And the name really just stuck.
"A lot of people don't know my real name and I'm cool with that. I love the name Tank so when they call my name at the football game I know I'm making my grandpa proud.'
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