2026 North Dakota Positional Breakdown: DBs

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>NORTH DAKOTA--</strong> Although our defensive back list in the 2026 class in North Dakota has plenty of room to grow, we wanted to do our first positional breakdown with who are the top defensive backs in North Dakota in the 2026 class. Despite these smaller class ranks, these 2026 defensive backs carry plenty of upside yet to be seen with three seasons left in a high school football uniform. Let's meet the defensive backs the lead the Roughrider State so far.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>3: [player_tooltip player_id='674779' first='Elijah' last='Jilek'], D, Dickinson Trinity</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/ElijahJilek">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Elijah showed off as the last man standing on the second level that consistently made a handful of tackles on tape. He has growth in his game to be seen in the coming years by being able to launch his feet quicker beyond the second level as I would like to see Elijah have more pop in his football to climb to the ball versus waiting for the ball to come to him. We will need to see more pass coverage reps in 2023 out of Elijah come this upcoming 2023 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>2: [player_tooltip player_id='929957' first='Xander' last='Hanson'], DB, Bismarck Century </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Xander cracked our rankings inside our top 10 and as DB2, and showed a handful of versatile mix on tape. What first popped out for me with Xander is his football IQ, as this young man certainly shows off as a cornerback that is routinely in the right spot at the right time with his ball-tracking ability. He plays with a smooth downhill presence within his reps especially with his coverage along the outside edges. He also has some catchy bursts to watch grow as I believe his ball-tracking with his footwork has some growth to work on with his back-pedal getting more smooth. Xander's basketball background this summer also intrigues me with his growing athleticism, as his name get called out a handful of times by our Prep Hoops scouts this summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"fontSize":"medium"} --> <p class="has-medium-font-size"><strong>1: [player_tooltip player_id='533097' first='Israel' last='Bauer'], DB, West Fargo Horace</strong> <a href="https://twitter.com/israel_bauer2">Twitter</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Israel pops out with his football IQ on the first rep you see on tape and shows off extremely early with his footwork why he is our DB1 in North Dakota in the 2026 class. He also consistently shows off an aggressive trigger crashing into the backfield and does so with significantly strong vision. He also plays with a fearless demeanor against bigger wide receivers in pass coverage as he consistently has the physicality to compete with any sized wide receiver that comes his way. This kid has a fascinating work ethic that I am excited to see him on both sides of the ball in the 2023 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->