The Runway: Class of 2027 Prospects to Know – 9/6
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As we head into a new season of youth and middle school football around the country, below is a look at some class of 2027 prospects (athletes beginning their eighth-grade school year) that have come across my desk. As football…
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Continue ReadingAs we head into a new season of youth and middle school football around the country, below is a look at some class of 2027 prospects (athletes beginning their eighth-grade school year) that have come across my desk. As football recruiting and evaluating continues to change, the eighth-grade season is becoming a pivotal time for young athletes to garner early attention from Universities. Here’s a look at some prospects that are on the trajectory to be playing a high level of football for years to come.
Located in Birmingham, Alabama, Oak Mountain Middle School has the luxury of two very dominant 2027 prospects in their backfield. We’ve covered big Ba’Roc Willis Ba’Roc Willis 6’3″ | 225 lbs | LB Moody | 2027 State AL a few times over the last year, a 6-foot-3, 207-pounder that punishes on both sides of the ball. However, making his debut on Prep Redzone Next is Kylan Baker Kylan Baker 6’0″ | 160 lbs | DB Moody | 2027 AL . Baker is a smooth 5-foot-9, 135-pound back who uses speed and quickness to slash defenses while Willis isn’t mowing them over. Baker is a really fun prospect to watch run the ball, as he has elite balance and bounces off hits like a pinball. Offensively I see a lot of similarities in his game to former first round pick, Clemson great, and now Tigers Running Back coach, CJ Spiller. He also plays Linebacker on defense and is very quick blitzing up the middle.
Highlights
Like I mentioned in Fogleson’s writeup above, size and/or speed will almost always get prospects at least a foot in the door when being evaluated. For German, it’s all about the elite speed he already has. Jyden is the son of Jammi German, a former standout for the Miami Hurricanes. After an impressive college career, Jammi was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the third-round of the 1998 NFL Draft and went on to play four seasons in the league. Jyden has a lot of the physical tools necessary to go equally as far as his dad did, highlighted by his 11.10 speed in the 100M. Just an eighth-grader, he’s already playing varsity at Evangelical Christian School in Fort Myers and is currently the second leading rusher on the team.
A Running Back I absolutely fell in love with this summer during the Future Stars Game events in Atlanta. After impressing me from the second I saw him in warmups on the first day back in June, at the end of the week White went on to pick his up first offer from the Arkansas Razorbacks. White is absolutely rocked up for only being a 2027 prospect. He’s built like a brick-you-know-what and on top of that, was hand-timed at a 4.63 in the forty, giving him the fastest time out of anyone on the Georgia Future Stars team. At 5-foot-7 and 170-pounds, he runs downhill like a tank without breaks. Without question one of the top 2027 Running Back’s in the country right now.
It’s been quite the middle school football ride for Bouwkamp. After an injury last year in Tennessee through a wrench in some key off-season development, he and his family relocated to Indiana. He has since reclassed to the class of 2027, and is looking to make up for the unfortunate lost time of a year ago. This season he is taking the field for Heritage Christian in Indianapolis and is continuing to put the pieces together. A 6-foot-3, 175-pound Southpaw with a live arm, he should have a distinct advantage physically due in part to his strength. He’s already bench pressing 190-pounds, squatting 300-pounds and deadlifting 325-pounds. Time will tell on this one.
If you follow high school football in the state of Kentucky, I’m willing to bet you’ve heard the last name Goodin before. Eighth-grader Kade Goodin Kade Goodin 6’2″ | 170 lbs | QB Collins | 2027 State KY is the younger brother of Kenyon Goodin Kenyon Goodin 6’3″ | 185 lbs | ATH Martha Layne Collins | 2023 State KY and the two of them could be quite the duo next season at Martha Layne Collins. While Kenyon already holds an offer from Eastern Kentucky and racked up 854 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore, Kade is blazing his own path in middle school. This summer the younger Goodin was named the Offensive MVP in the Kentucky vs. Tennessee Future Stars game and has kept rolling through competition. The 6-foot-1, 160-pound, three-sport athlete (baseball and basketball) showed just how dangerous he is during the second game of this season. In that game he scored touchdown’s as a Quarterback on a designed QB Keeeper out of the Wildcat, as a Running Back, as a Wide Receiver and as a Punt Returner. Kid is special.
A few weeks back I wrote about 2027 Nebraska prospect Kadin Logan Kadin Logan 5’7″ | 170 lbs | ATH Lincoln Southeast | 2027 NE as a kid that should be getting recruiting attention quite early this year, as an eighth-grader. I didn’t have to look too far for another Nebraska prospect to put on your radar early, Logan’s teammate Tory Pittman III Tory Pittman III 6’0″ | 180 lbs | ATH Omaha Central | 2027 NE is another good one. A standout in Track and Field, he was clocked at an 11.64 in the 100M this past May and finished third in the long jump with a 20′ 11.5″ at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships. On the football field he’s a threat on offense as a Wide Receiver, and in the Punt/Kick Return game. As a bit of a throwback guy, personally, I love a clip I saw from a recent game where he lined up as a Wide Receiver to the near side of the field and ran across the field to cutoff and pancake block a Safety, to spring his Running Back for a long touchdown run. Little things, win rings.