2023 Rankings - DB Breakdown

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy! As the month of June comes to an end this week, we wrap up all of our prospect rankings with an update of the 2023 class. All of the updates began with a new Top 50 in the <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2025-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2025 Rankings</a> and the 2024 class followed and you can check out that <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2024-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 Top 75 Right Here!</a> Finally, we look at the upcoming senior class as we turn our attention to the 2023 class, which has become incredibly deep. Our latest update features the Top 175 prospects in the 2023 class. You can check out that complete <a href="https://prepredzone.com/oklahoma/rankings/2023-rankings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top 175 Right Here!</a> In this post, we wrap up our positional breakdowns with a look at the defensive back position. The position group is headlined by a prospect that has been a top ten overall prospect from the start of the 2023 rankings. And there are nearly ten defensive backs within the Top 40 of the ranking update. [player_tooltip player_id="38777" first="Jacobe" last="Johnson"] - Mustang (Ranked #8 Overall - #1 DB) Ever since he was a freshman, Mustang defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="38777" first="Jacobe" last="Johnson"] has been considered one of the best prospects in the state's 2023 class. He's held on to the top spot in the defensive back position group since we began ranking the 2023 class. Johnson is an absolute lockdown corner and not to mention he's also a standout basketball player. In fact, our basketball site Prep Hoops Oklahoma also released ranking updates for the 2023 class and Johnson was in the top ten there as well. He's truly a dual-sport star prospect and he's been recruited as such. We're looking forward to seeing where he ends up. [player_tooltip player_id="38778" first="Kanijal" last="Thomas"] - Del City (Ranked #12 Overall - #3 DB) Similar to Johnson at Mustang, another defensive back that's been on the radar since early on in his high school career is Del City cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="38778" first="Kanijal" last="Thomas"]. And again like Johnson, Thomas is one of the top shutdown corners in the state and he's been that way since early on in his career. We've seen a lot of Thomas over the last two years between high school ball and 7v7 during the offseason. And every time we see him in person, we're more and more convinced that very few receivers would beat him in a 1 on 1 situation. Earlier this week, Thomas announced his commitment and he's headed to the Big 12 with Kansas State. [player_tooltip player_id="165365" first="Tashawn" last="James"] - Carl Albert (Ranked #24 Overall - #4 DB) We go from one future Big 12 defensive back from the Mid-Del area to another with Carl Albert safety and new Iowa State commit [player_tooltip player_id="165365" first="Tashawn" last="James"]. Following a visit to Iowa State a few weeks ago, James announced his commitment to the Cyclones. James had an outstanding junior season and the Carl Albert coaches are expecting big things from him this fall. He's the latest defensive back prospect to come out of a Carl Albert program that has done a really good job of producing defensive backs good enough to play in the Big 12. James is one of many starters returning for a Carl Albert team that is hungry to get another state championship. [player_tooltip player_id="91881" first="Dylan" last="Hasz"] - Bixby (Ranked #25 Overall - #5 DB) This is going to seem insane to anyone in Bixby reading this but it's our opinion that Bixby defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="91881" first="Dylan" last="Hasz"] is one of the most underrated players in the state of Oklahoma today. The Spartans have had serious stars over the last two years but Hasz put up monster numbers on both sides of the ball and was incredibly productive. Like former running back Braylin Presley, one thing that stood out to us about Hasz was his ability to make big plays in the biggest games of the season. Look for him to make plays on both sides of the ball this fall but when it comes to his natural position at the next level, we're penciling him in for safety. [player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] - Coweta (Ranked #35 Overall - #6 DB) Coweta has had an absolute star on both sides of the ball for three years now and it'll be four this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="57163" first="Mason" last="Ford"] has been a prospect that we've watched since he was a freshman and he's made a massive impact on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. But when it comes down to what Ford projects to at the next level, we have no doubt it's at the cornerback position as he's one of the best in the state at locking down an opposing wide receiver. Granted, we've seen Ford do it time after time in 7v7 tournaments and we have no doubt that he's still one of the best defensive back prospects in Oklahoma and his recruitment should blow up more than it already has. [player_tooltip player_id="268334" first="Ce'Alm" last="Kilpatrick II"] - Sallisaw (Ranked #39 Overall - #8 DB) At this time last year, we didn't know who [player_tooltip player_id="268334" first="Ce'Alm" last="Kilpatrick II"] out of Sallisaw was. In fact, we wouldn't know about him until late December when we saw him for the first time and then again at our camp in early January. From that point on, we paid attention to what he did on the football field and just like Ford and several other cornerbacks on this list, he knows how to lock down an opposing wide receiver and the skill set is there to be one of the better corner recruits in the state. While his recruitment doesn't match his production on the field, we're hoping that it will follow with another big year locking down receivers for Sallisaw. [player_tooltip player_id="192677" first="Adrian" last="Holman"] - Deer Creek (Ranked #75 Overall - #9 DB) Deer Creek is going to have an outstanding secondary and it might be the best unit in 6A-2. In addition to having [player_tooltip player_id="192677" first="Adrian" last="Holman"] return, he's going to be joined by two-way star [player_tooltip player_id="223037" first="Bryson" last="Rouse"] as well as Alabama move-in [player_tooltip player_id="344120" first="Dale" last="Miller"], who came in at #11 in our overall ranking update. Holman and the Antlers made a run to the state championship game a year ago and despite losing a lot of pieces on offense, they might have what it takes to make another run back to UCO this December. Holman is a big part of that on the defensive side of the ball. We really like what he brings to the table and we're very excited to see this secondary in action this fall. [player_tooltip player_id="38802" first="Tagg" last="Campbell"] - Metro Christian (Ranked #78 Overall - #10 DB) Some of what we said about Bixby's [player_tooltip player_id="91881" first="Dylan" last="Hasz"] can be repeated right here in terms of being incredibly underrated but that's what Metro Christian's [player_tooltip player_id="38802" first="Tagg" last="Campbell"] is in our opinion. He's an absolute two-way star for the Patriots and we expect him to be a big part of a strong season for Metro as they move up to Class 3A this fall. Campbell is outstanding on offense but it's what he does on defense that we believe translates best to the next level. Campbell is a very physical player that hits you like a ton of bricks. We're not ruling out Campbell being more of a two-way player or even offense-only at the next level but for now, we have him at DB. [player_tooltip player_id="115219" first="Tyson" last="Williams"] - Bixby (Ranked #80 Overall - #11 DB) Another Bixby Spartan and another Sooner 7 representative on the list is [player_tooltip player_id="115219" first="Tyson" last="Williams"]. We first saw Williams last offseason while he was playing for Sooner 7 and we were very impressed with his ability to nearly shut down one side of the field from his cornerback position. He had a steady junior season but we're expecting big things from him and the Spartans as they move up to 6A-1. Williams has been a stud on the 7v7 circuit and we're wanting to see it translate to the gridiron on a Friday night. We think the potential is certainly there and if he reaches that ceiling, he will soar up the ranks when the next update drops in October. [player_tooltip player_id="194065" first="Cale" last="Fugate"] - Bixby (Ranked #126 Overall - #12 DB) The THIRD Bixby Spartan on this breakdown is defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="194065" first="Cale" last="Fugate"]. Good luck to teams looking to pass on the Spartans this fall. They're absolutely loaded in the secondary. Fugate is another Bixby prospect that is on the rise in the recent ranking update after checking out his film from the past two seasons. We didn't know much about Fugate before a few months ago but as we dove into new prospects and what their film looked like, we became fans. Bixby is moving up to 6A-1 and that's one of the biggest storylines in high school football this fall. We're looking forward to seeing how Fugate and the Spartan defense looks against 6A-1 teams week after week.