Bootleggers’ River/Bayou Parishes 7v7: Five talented sleepers

Seven-on-seven season is starting to heat up like the weather outside, and several teams around Louisiana’s rapidly expanded field are starting to hit the stride of their respective schedules. Prep Redzone Louisiana reached out to coaches and managers around the state for a few of their top players to watch in the first month or so of action. Here are three from the Bootleggers’ River/Bayou Parishes team — one of the top regional branches of the state’s traditional power on the 7-on-7 circuit. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="285273" first="Kobe" last="Brown"] — 5-10, 160 WR — St. James (2024)</strong> The youngster on this list is an up-and-coming prospect that the coaches and fans in beautiful downtown Vacherie think has a chance to be special as he continues to develop. The Wildcats’ had trouble this fall finding consistency through the air, particularly in vertical passing game, but did find success in quick screens to Brown that the sophomore was able to turn into big gains with elusive runs after the catch and establish himself as one of the team’s top complements to senior star [player_tooltip player_id="128240" first="Shazz" last="Preston"]. The graduations of Preston, [player_tooltip player_id="127762" first="Marquell" last="Bergeron"] and the senior class leave some big shoes to fill, but Brown is among the many talented 2023 and 2024 young athletes about which St. James is excited. <strong>Cooper Cook — 5-10, 200 LB — E.D. White (2023)</strong> The stout rising senior linebacker showed balance in his highlights from the fall as a key piece of his Cardinals’ first run to a state championship game since 1981— whether fitting his gaps to stop the run, making quick rushes into the opposing backfield, spying the quarterback, dropping into coverage from the box or lining up in the slot. <strong>Jalen Guillard — 6-0, 175 DB — East Jefferson (2023)</strong> The wiry, ballhawking defensive back combined track speed with good reads and ball skills to provide some of the top highlights of an All-District 8-5A second-team performance this fall. Guillard finished the season with eight interceptions, one of the state’s highest totals, but also isn’t shy to come downhill or across the field and put a hard hit on a ball-carrier or receiver in run support or to jar a ball loose for a breakup. <strong>Tylin Johnson — 6-2, 190 WR — Lutcher (2023)</strong> The long, lean pass-catcher shows impressive leaping and body control in the air to high-point the ball and make acrobatic catches in his limited available highlights from last spring at school and early on this spring in 7-on-7. Johnson could be a breakout candidate to watch this fall as an outside target for classmate D’Wanye Winfield, the star quarterback at the helm of the Bulldogs’ offense for another season. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="138296" first="Kaden" last="Williams"] — 5-9, 180 ATH — St. James (2023)</strong> Williams is not only right there with Brown among the top rising seniors and juniors that St. James will rely upon in the fall, but is one of Louisiana’s most notable sleepers to monitor for the 2023 class overall. He is a versatile and explosive weapon for the Wildcats out of the backfield or the slot capable of dashing right past defenders with 4.45-second 40-yard speed or making enough quick moves to make them miss and create better angles for himself to find his lane upfield. Nicholls State and Incarnate Word recently extended his first scholarship offers.