Orange County: Top 2025 Players (Part 1)

Photo: Twitter-Jakob Coleman

Michael Huntley January 31, 2022 @ 11:30 PM

Prep Redzone has yet to release its 2025 rankings, but I wanted to get a jump start on ranking the top class of 2025 players I saw in Orange County this past season. This list is based on freshman performance at the varsity level and future projections. This list will change many times over the next few years, but here is a look at 10 of the best freshman I saw in Orange County in 2021. 10. [player_tooltip player_id="282777" first="Jackson" last="Gallo"], Capistrano Valley Christian Capo Valley Christian plays in a low division so it’s sometimes hard to evaluate its players, but Gallo can stop the run better than a lot of high school linebackers. He reads his guards well, plays downhill and avoids blockers at the second level well. He had 62 tackles including 13 for a loss from the middle linebacker spot. He is big for a freshman at 6-foot-1 and around 220 pounds. It will be interesting to see how he develops and if he gets any recruiting attention in the future. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/13245441/Jack-Gallo">Hudl link</a> https://twitter.com/Jack_gallo_/status/1456345219893391367?s=20&t=P33FLxWplfTS0nvaXitLXA 9. [player_tooltip player_id="282778" first="Taurian" last="Nash"], Santa Margarita Nash is big for a freshman and will likely be a future two-way star for a Trinity League team. He runs downhill and has good field vision. He makes one cut and goes and he can break tackles. He was a solid special teams player for the Eagles as a freshman too. I expect his role to expand next year and the early playing time against quality opponents will only help him. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16153907/Taurian-Nash">Hudl link</a> https://twitter.com/Tauriannash_/status/1485764082879774723?s=20&t=P33FLxWplfTS0nvaXitLXA 8. [player_tooltip player_id="282774" first="Nasir" last="Wyatt"], Mater Dei Wyatt is a speedy edge rusher from the outside linebacker spot and showed flashes of a future Division 1 prospect in limited playing time this season. His pass rush moves are good off the edge and he avoids pulling guards and fullbacks well in the run game. He is aggressive in stopping the run while also maintaining his outside containment. He may be the guy to replace [player_tooltip player_id="25234" first="David" last="Bailey"] as an outside linebacker next year. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16118596/Nasir-Wyatt">Hudl link</a> https://twitter.com/wy4att/status/1442194568376553483?s=20&t=P33FLxWplfTS0nvaXitLXA 7. [player_tooltip player_id="282779" first="Jojo" last="Edwards"], Orange Lutheran Edwards was a very impactful player for Orange Lutheran’s defense as a freshman. He had 64 tackles, six for a loss and a sack. He takes good pursuit angles and is a good tackler. He has shown flashes of good pass coverage too, particularly in man coverage. He has room to put on some muscle and he will be drawing attention from some colleges next year. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16175919/Jonathan-JOJO-Edwards">Hudl link</a> https://twitter.com/BHoward_11/status/1487809268120276995?s=20&t=P33FLxWplfTS0nvaXitLXA 6. [player_tooltip player_id="282695" first="Jakob" last="Coleman"], Orange Coleman is one of many talented underclassmen at Orange and he already has varsity level speed and tackling ability. He plays well in zone coverage as a safety and is a solid on-ball defender in man coverage. He can return kicks and has the speed to play outside on kickoff coverage or be a gunner on the punt team. He had two interceptions on defense and a touchdown catch on offense. He already has offers from Morgan State, Georgia Southern, Colorado State and Liberty. <a href="https://www.hudl.com/profile/16051298/Jakob-Coleman">Hudl link</a> https://twitter.com/jaaythaagoat1/status/1432159802877120513?s=20&t=P33FLxWplfTS0nvaXitLXA