Louisiana 2023 Rankings Update: 10 key newcomers to top 50

A rare crop of quarterbacks has been the lead story for Louisiana’s 2023 class since maybe before [player_tooltip player_id="138484" first="Arch" last="Manning"], [player_tooltip player_id="138485" first="Eli" last="Holstein"] and company even hit campus. But as more stars continue to emerge all over fields all over the state, the cohort is beginning to show an impressive level of depth on par with its 2022 predecessors. Here were 10 key newcomers to the top 50 in this week’s rankings update, including a few prospects who made big climbs after narrowly missing the top 100 last spring and a few who make strong debuts after their first evaluation.   No. 12 [player_tooltip player_id="275573" first="Ja’Cory" last="Thomas"] | 6-3, 180 ATH | Walker The under-the-radar athlete has started to pique Power Five interests, including a recent offer from Louisville, after a breakout junior season. The one-time running back is one of the state’s most special players with the football in his hands, and his Wildcats showcased that well moving him around for a variety of screens, sweeps, direct snaps and other ways to get him the ball with space and angles. A growth spurt has started to project Thomas more likely as a wide receiver at the next level, making him one of Louisiana’s most interesting prospects to watch this spring and summer to more closely gauge his skills in route-running and playing the ball in the air.   No. 17 [player_tooltip player_id="275574" first="Kyran" last="Bourda"] | 6-3, 300 DL | St. Augustine and No. 19 [player_tooltip player_id="188944" first="Tyree" last="Adams"] | 6-5, 275 OL | St. Augustine The Purple Knights’ two headline big men were on the verge of making their top-100 debuts in a similar range in August — with Bourda penciled into the top 20 and Adams in the top 30 — before Hurricane Ida cut the rankings process short and postponed the update until after the season. And the teammates only further bolstered their cases with strong work in the trenches that made St. Augustine a dangerous team that gave Class 5A state champion Zachary one of its closest games of the season and handed Class 4A state champion Westgate one of its few losses. The big, powerful defensive tackle holds more than half a dozen offers, including Georgia, Florida, Florida State and Texas. Meanwhile LSU recently joined Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Florida State and Memphis among the early suitors for the tall, quick offensive tackle.   No. 22 [player_tooltip player_id="275575" first="Matthew" last="Fobbs-White"] | 6-3, 230 DL | Neville Talk about "iron sharpening iron" in practice, perennial contender Neville follows its 2022 class with offensive tackle [player_tooltip player_id="136546" first="Will" last="Campbell"] and running back [player_tooltip player_id="136795" first="Anthony" last="Allen"] among the state’s best prospects with two-way lineman [player_tooltip player_id="138389" first="Zalance" last="Heard"] and defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id="275575" first="Matthew" last="Fobbs-White"] both being in the latest top 25 in 2023. The latter has picked up Oklahoma State and Baylor offers on the heels of a breakout junior season in which his athleticism, quickness and explosiveness off the edge at his size was on consistent display. Like many other members of this list, he hasn’t been a particularly well-known name from a statewide level thus far, but appears poised to change that drastically this offseason.   No. 25 Jahiem Johnson | 6-1, 175 ATH | Hammond The multi-sport standout is a springy, speedy all-around athlete likely to find a home in the secondary at the next level. In the meantime, he’s frustrating high school opponents in all three phases with the way he flies around the field and feel with which he finds his way to the ball for turnovers and other disruptive plays on defense or through tight running lanes and angles to open space and huge gains on offense. Purdue, Nebraska, Tulane, Tulsa and Southeastern Louisiana are among his first scholarship offers for football.   No. 36 [player_tooltip player_id="142562" first="Kamron" last="Evans"] | 6-3, 190 QB | Huntington The young passer was on the watch list last spring after a strong showing at a local camp and torched his way up the rankings the same way he torched one opposing defense after another with an eye-popping junior campaign at the reins of his Raiders’ offense. [player_tooltip player_id="128247" first="Zyion" last="Claville"] and [player_tooltip player_id="136515" first="Kendrick" last="Rucker"] returned healthy and with newly bolstered confidence, respectively, and Evans expertly distributed the ball to the Louisiana Tech-bound seniors and his other weapons to the tune of 223-for-363 passing (61 percent) for 3,630 yards, 44 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He through for more than 300 yards on six occasions, including one 588-yard and six-score contest. The Huntington passer has prototypical size, a big arm and the impressive demeanor and leadership intangibles that college coaches crave, and his offer list should start catching up to his attributes once he’s able to have more in-person meetings and camps with college coaches this spring and summer. Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Houston and in-state Louisiana (Lafayette) and ULM have been among the programs to open communication and express interest.   No. 42 [player_tooltip player_id="188927" first="Jake" last="Rizzo"] | 6-4, 240 LB | Dunham A few more notable college prospects are making their way through the high school alma mater of recent star Derek Stingley Jr., a small private school where they all play a variety of roles. And Rizzo has been the leader of the pack — or, for Tigers, "streak" — thus far with colleges, in terms of high-level offers, has been Rizzo for his role as a high-speed wrecking ball on defense. Whether firing off the line from a defensive end spot or quickly reading and reacting as a middle linebacker, Rizzo plays fast and aggressively and wreaks havoc on opposing offenses. Colorado extended his first reported scholarship offer, but he has also visited Tulane, Louisville, Mississippi State and Notre Dame, and his impressive report cards and baseball skillset could make for some interesting curveballs to his recruiting with multi-sport offers as well as potential Ivy League opportunities.   No. 44 [player_tooltip player_id="138327" first="Mar’Jayvious" last="Moss"] | 5-11, 170 DB | Northwood (Shreveport) The Falcons’ athlete — similar to Evans across town — narrowly missed a spot in the top 100 last spring, but proved himself more than deserving of a major jump this fall with an impressive junior season for one of the top teams in Class 4A. No play or game served as a bigger highlight than a five-interception night late in the season, but Moss made plays all over the field and in all three phases, including interception, fumble, kick return, receiving and rushing touchdowns. And for all the speed and ball sills necessary to build that resume, he also shows a consistent physicality to his game closing fast and aggressively for explosive hits on defense or helping spring his teammates for bigger gains with his perimeter blocking on offense. Baylor and Tulane became the first two colleges to extend scholarship offers this month.   No. 48 [player_tooltip player_id="138370" first="Deshaun" last="Batiste"] | 6-3, 220 LB | John F. Kennedy and No. 49 [player_tooltip player_id="276208" first="Alex" last="Sumler"] | 6-3, 230 DL | McDonogh 35 A pair of New Orleans pass-rushers made big leaps into the top 50 spots in the class. Both players possess a great combination of strength and quickness and work well with their hands to shed blocks, then show explosive closing speed to make plays in the backfield. The slimmer Batiste finished his junior season with an unreal 20 sacks and 23 tackles for loss from the outside, while the thicker Sumler moved around his Roneagles’ defensive line inside and out. Southeastern Louisiana, South Alabama, Tulane and ULM recently extended Batiste’s first offers. Sumler picked up South Alabama and Nebraska during the same stretch.