Plainfield Central’s Kaveon Lee punishing his way to newfound levels of success

If you go to a Plainfield Central football practice, it’d be pretty hard to miss Kaveon Lee. In fact, you’d have to make an effort to miss him. OK, let’s face it, you’re lying if you said you missed him.

When you’re as physically imposing as Lee, that’s the reality.

Make no mistake, it’s not just his his size that makes him unmissable, it’s his dominant play.

Lee, a rising senior, is a starting offensive tackle for the Wildcats. A punishing blocker with a 4.1 GPA, Lee is committed to Northern Illinois, although there is ongoing interest around him ... all 6-foot-6, 275 pounds of him.

But Lee is far more than just big.

“He’s one of the nicest kids in the world,” Plainfield Central coach Robby Carriger said. “He’s very soft spoken. We’ve challenged him since I took over in June to step into more of a vocal leadership role. He’s been the guy for a couple of years already, but he’s been OK staying in the background vocally.

“The last two months he’s really stepped up, and some coaches have told me this is the most they’ve ever heard Kaveon talk.”

Lee is not exactly Mr. Loquacious, although as Carriger said, he’s working on changing that. It’s a role he’ll grow into with time and effort. On the field, he’ll continue to count on his size to help him through each assignment. Carriger points out, there’s another aspect to Lee’s game that makes him especially valuable.

“Athletically the first thing I notice is how fast he is,” Carriger said. “It’s almost startling how fast he can move in a straight line, side to side. For him to have the speed and agility at the size he has is not something you see a lot.

“He’s very gifted and works very hard, so you get caught up in his size, but there’s a lot of mobility to him.”

The raw pieces are there, and the vocal aspect is coming along. On 247Sports.com, he’s rated as a three-star prospect. The website ranks him as the 31st overall player in the state for the class of 2025 and the 93rd OT prospect in the country.

Although there is a growing feeling that his rankings might rise by the end of the season.

“He’s rounding into the type of player and type of kid that you expect a Division I football player to be,” Carriger said. “The physical tools were already there, but he’s starting to match it as a student of the game and a leader. He’s got a nasty mentality, and we’re expecting him to take a massive leap this year.”

Carriger said that Lee’s lower-body strength against stronger defenders stands out, and one can expect a wider range of blocking techniques in his arsenal this season. In addition to improving his vocal leadership, there are other areas in which Carriger would like to see Lee step up.

There are plenty of reasons, however, for all the interest.

“The world is still finding out about Kaveon,” Carriger said. “We’re still getting plenty of calls about him, and I think Kaveon is still figuring out what he can be. He’s going to need to polish some things once he gets [to college]. He’s going to have to get stronger and tougher, but the skillset is there. When he gets into a Division I weight and nutrition program, he’ll change a lot and begin to look like an NFL O-lineman.”

True to form, Lee is a young man of few words. He didn’t have a lot to say, but he made clear that he’s fully committed to being the best player he can be and helping Plainfield Central get even better. A varsity starter since his sophomore year, the left tackle is all in on improving the Wildcats’ 4-5 overall record last season.

“I’m working on my conditioning and trying to stay balanced in everything that I do,” Lee said. “When I’m at school, I do my school work, and when I’m at football, I’m going to do football. ... “I’m expecting us to all do our jobs and get better each day. I want to help the younger players get better, too.”