2022 Rankings: Linebacker Breakdown

<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!</strong></em></p> Here in the month of June we're updating all of our prospect rankings as the 2021 season gets closer and closer. For the 2022 class, we went from a Top 100 to a Top 150 as this class continues to get deeper and deeper. The margin between the ranked players is very close and this class looks to have great depth from top to bottom. You can check out the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2022-rankings/"><strong>Top 150 Right Here</strong></a>. Throughout the week, we'll be adding some analysis on the players that have stood out in the 2022 class with positional breakdowns, newcomers, and even prospects on the border of being ranked this time around. For now, we take an in-depth look at five linebackers who stood out to us during the last update. [player_tooltip player_id="61131" first="Duncan" last="Parham"] <strong>- Norman North (#3 LB - #23 Overall)</strong> With his size, speed, and natural ability, Parham came into 2020 as a player that many thought had a chance to jump into the D1 conversation with a solid season and he did just that. The offers didn't start until after the season in January when Kansas pulled the trigger and sent one his way, but that was just the beginning for Duncan on the recruiting trail. Since then, Parham has cemented his status as one of the top LBs in the state. He currently holds 12 Division 1 offers with the most notable of them coming from Kansas, Tulsa, and Missouri. We already loved what we saw on film from him in the run game in 2020 and while he was no slouch in the passing game, we believe Parham took a big leap in that department this spring after seeing him dominate in his pass sets while competing with Sooner7. It's looking like he will come into 2021 as a much more complete player than we saw at the end of 2020. Don't be shocked if Duncan continues to rack up high-level offers in bunches as the 2021 season progresses this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="38690" first="Chase" last="Faber"] <strong>- McAlester (#5 LB - #39 Overall)</strong> [player_tooltip player_id="38690" first="Chase" last="Faber"] has been a player we have loved since we launched this site last July as he was an honorable mention at LB on our first preview of the top defenders in 5A. However, after his dominant Junior season that earned him a few D1 offers, we now know that we may have even been a little low on him. He is definitely a top 10 LB in Oklahoma regardless of class. Faber has the build and play style of a more traditional inside linebacker, especially compared to players like [player_tooltip player_id="61131" first="Duncan" last="Parham"]. He is one of the hardest hitters in this class and is never afraid to take a ball carrier's head off before they can get much going. We saw a good amount of him this spring playing 7on7 for one of C4's teams and while he wasn't the most impressive LB in coverage, it was obvious that he got more and more comfortable dropping back as the spring progressed, which is bad news for the rest of 5A. [player_tooltip player_id="61132" first="Mikey" last="Devereaux"] <strong>- El Reno (#8 LB - #52 Overall)</strong> We were excited to see El Reno in person against Piedmont last year to see a few players such as [player_tooltip player_id="38688" first="Dorian" last="Plumley"] and [player_tooltip player_id="38571" first="Darius" last="Moore"]. However, while we were impressed with those two as expected, we came away pleasantly surprised with what we saw from Mikey Deveraux. The then Junior LB was magnetized to the ball at all times as he was in the mix making a tackle nearly every play that night. From there we added Mikey to our watch list and he has only improved since then and has even begun to pick up some steam on the recruiting trail with his first offer from UCO coming in a few weeks ago. With Moore and a few other pieces from the 2020 El Reno defense gone this year, there will be even more tackles to be had for Mikey in 2021, so we could be seeing him pop up on quite a few players of the week lists this fall with the kind of stats he is capable of producing. [player_tooltip player_id="153666" first="Gabe" last="Brown"] <strong>- Charles Paige (#9 LB - #56 Overall)</strong> While we did not know a whole lot about [player_tooltip player_id="153666" first="Gabe" last="Brown"] before our showcase back in early June, we left Owasso very impressed with his loose hips, lateral agility, and his ability to scream downhill in a hurry. We couldn't wait to get back in the lab to watch him in action after seeing what he was capable of in individual drills and one on one's. On his team camp film, you see the versatility and speed immediately. He lined up on the edge often as a pass rusher where he recorded multiple sacks thanks to his speed and burst off the line along with some nifty hand usage at times. Even when he wasn't sacking the QB he was a headache for the Owasso and Broken Arrow O-Line all week, which shows that the level of competition was not too much for him at all. Brown only has one offer at the moment from Bethel Community College, but that shouldn't be the case for long once schools around the country see what he can do on Friday nights when the season kicks off. [player_tooltip player_id="101413" first="Chance" last="Clements"] <strong>- Stillwater (#15 LB - #88 Overall)</strong> With an increased workload/bigger role in 2021, our final LB on this list, [player_tooltip player_id="101413" first="Chance" last="Clements"], has a chance to make one of the biggest leaps in terms of where he was as a prospect last year compared to now. With the stacked and Senior heavy roster Stillwater deployed on defense in 2020, Chance was more of a plug-and-play guy at times, but he was still a very valuable piece as the Pioneers shifted him all around the field. His positions ranged from box safety, outside linebacker, and even slot corner at times, however, it looks like linebacker will be his primary spot this season and perhaps his best position moving forward in terms of opportunities at the next level. Chance currently has a few D2 offers, but with his size, versatility, and opportunity as a full-time starter for Stillwater, he could sneak into the D1 conversation if he balls out like many believe he will. &nbsp; &nbsp;