North Dakota 2026 Spring Rankings Preview

NORTH DAKOTA-- After a long hiatus from last fall, we have update our North Dakota 2026 rankings <a href="https://prepredzone.com/dakotas/rankings/north-dakota-rankings/2026-rankings/">here </a>. Rankings take a lot of time and effort, so we certainly appreciate those that have stuck with us thru the Fall and Winter and into Spring. This 2026 ND class grew substancially since last time, expanding from 60 prospects up to 92 prospects with another 25 or so on our watchlist for future evaluation. The biggest thing I will tell my Dakotas prospects is after the season, go thru your tape consistently and be sure create a highlight tape. I felt this time around I had plenty of sound football prospects that did not do their due diligence and get their tape up before or after basketball or wrestling season, which saw a significant shift within our rankings moving those prospects into our watch list as in my eyes as a scout, it doesn't show the drive that you want an opportunity at the next-level and that is what we are all about giving prospects across the Dakotas, the exposure to college programs thru rankings and content.   With every rankings update, I think it is best to unleash a preview of the class. Go over the trends of the class with who positions are trending upwards, how much change there was in the rankings (this class had a lot), and who are some of our favorites from the newcomers to the rankings and the stockrisers. With all that said, let us preview the North Dakota 2026 Spring Rankings Update!   Our PRZ Prospect Evaluation Process:   Our #1 priority and goal with Prep Redzone Dakotas is to put prospects on the map for college coaches and college programs at all levels to advance their exposure. We evaluate prospects on next-level potential not stats, not on the team's rankings in the state, it's all about prospect upside and how their skillsets fit in and apply at the next level when it comes down to measurables, athleticism and everything else that college programs measure as far as skillsets within their evaluations. All prospects will need to have tape available or have been referred to us by our anonymous sources throughout the North Dakota or South Dakota. Some prospects will peak early in their high school careers which is why our rankings change 3-4 times per year at Prep Redzone Dakotas, because we also always factor in several live evaluations year-around thru prospect camps in the spring and summer, games during the fall season, as we have seen several prospects within a 3-month span add 30 pounds of muscle and a couple inches of height, while others stay the same. That is our process with every rankings update for those of you that are new to us! The main goal? Expose as many prospects state-wide to make sure they get next-level opportunities thru our network of college programs from Division I FBS, FCS, Division II, NAIA, Division and the JUCO ranks.   Meet Our New Top 5:   Being that the last update came before the 2023 fall season, we have seen plenty of skillsets burst their our early expectations as well as just the opposite. The North Dakota top five prospects are completely different than what you saw last summer, as we had some new arrivals to the state, prospects that had posistion changes and my favorite thing about this 2026 class, great upcoming play on both sides of the trenches. Lets meet our brand new Top 5.   #5: [player_tooltip player_id='1113072' first='Cash' last='Danner'], DB, Thompson <a href="https://twitter.com/CashDanner">Twitter</a>   #4: [player_tooltip player_id='675358' first='Evan' last='Wiersma'], DL, Central Cass <a href="https://twitter.com/Evanwiersma74">Twitter</a>   #3: [player_tooltip player_id='674788' first='Braxton' last='Dahl'], OL, Bismarck Century <a href="https://twitter.com/Bdahl34">Twitter</a>   #2: [player_tooltip player_id='1112591' first='Aiden' last='Wunderlich'], OL, Central Cass <a href="https://twitter.com/aidenw426">Twitter</a>   #1: [player_tooltip player_id='1214201' first='Hunter' last='Evans'], OL, Williston <a href="https://twitter.com/Hunter_evans67">Twitter</a>   Key Points from this 2026 North Dakota Rankings Update   The Offensive Line Depth is Outstanding   Within just our top three prospects alone as you can read above ,screams the future Division I level targets there are and I genuinely believe that list extends down into our OL4 and #7 overall prospect in Mandan's [player_tooltip player_id='1226683' first='Nathan' last='Volk'].   Posistional Changes Were Big This Go Around   I felt with this group we saw what were athletes before last update in our eyes, have transitioned and found their true at the next-level. We mentioned Thompson's [player_tooltip player_id='1113072' first='Cash' last='Danner'] at defensive back, but others that come to mind that made a posistion change were LaMoure/Litchville Marion running back [player_tooltip player_id='1226996' first='Gunner' last='Thielges'], West Fargo Horace defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='477496' first='Jaxon' last='Narum'], Flasher linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1214228' first='Jason' last='Weinberger'], Central Cass safety [player_tooltip player_id='929959' first='Colton' last='Cruchet'], and Fargo Davies defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='674792' first='Kolten' last='Tesch'] and amongst plenty of others, were all athletes that made switches to what their natural posistion will be going forward within our rankings. We also saw a new ATH1 in Linton/Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock's [player_tooltip player_id='1226855' first='Larry' last='Umber'], who at 6'4 220 pounds is dominant on both ends of the field and still has plenty of upside left to show off.   Who Are a Few of my Favorite Stockrisers and Newcomers?   For stockrisers and newcomers in this 2026 class, I have to stay at the linebacker posistion for both of those answers. For stockrisers, Velva's [player_tooltip player_id='1037663' first='Luke' last='Selzler'] is a favorite of mine that significantly rose from before September 2023. Loved that young man's nose for the ball with his vision and at his 6'2 200+ pound frame he surprised me with his range he could cover. For newcomers, I have to look at one our XL linebackers in this class in Beulah's [player_tooltip player_id='1226856' first='Ray' last='Lundstrom'], who I can't even find on Twitter yet, which is wild. The 6'3 235 pounder hits like mack-truck when coming downhill, and the amount of physicality I constantly see with his contact and his solid athletic movement has me drawn for more tape upcoming in the near future. Another shortlist of names in both categories in this 2026 ND class are:   Stockrisers   [player_tooltip player_id='669334' first='Gus' last='Werremeyer'], OL, Fargo Davies <a href="https://twitter.com/GWerremeye87985">Twitter</a>   [player_tooltip player_id='930006' first='Drayson' last='Johnson'], QB, Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood <a href="https://twitter.com/drayson_10">Twitter</a>   [player_tooltip player_id='929929' first='Christian' last='Deadmond'], ATH, Minot North <a href="https://twitter.com/Christian12here">Twitter</a>   [player_tooltip player_id='1226854' first='Easton' last='Benz'], WR, New Rockford-Sheyenne <a href="https://twitter.com/BenzEaston">Twitter</a>   Newcomers   [player_tooltip player_id='1226686' first='Nolan' last='Marshall'], DL, Grand Forks Central   Brody Siedler, ATH, Velva   [player_tooltip player_id='944403' first='Ian' last='Skari'], WR, West Fargo <a href="https://twitter.com/ian_skari">Twitter</a>   [player_tooltip player_id='1224585' first='Kayden' last='Williams'], OL, Northern Cass <a href="https://twitter.com/kwilliams7771">Twitter</a>   What is On Tap for Content in the Coming Weeks?   ontent will flow between both Dakotas daily over the next week or two from each of these groups of article series:   Newcomers (Multi-Part Series)   -Who was added to our prospect database of 2025 prospects and what do they bring to the table as far as their skillsets?   Stockrisers (Multi-Part Series)   -Which prospects that were already ranked in the 2026 class rose their stock from last fall into this offseason and why did their rank see improvement?   Positional Breakdowns (Multiple Positions)   -We will stack up some of our position groups and evaluate why x prospect was ranked over x prospect due to what their tape shows, live evaluation shows, etc.   Small Town Sleepers   One of my favorite article series every ranking update. Which prospects from sleepy small town America made waves on our rankings whether newcomers or stockrisers? We always love to talk the population too showing off these prospects from small town North Dakota.

NORTH DAKOTA-- After a long hiatus from last fall, we have update our North Dakota 2026 rankings here . Rankings take a lot of time and effort, so we certainly appreciate those that have stuck with us thru the Fall and Winter and into Spring. This 2026 ND class grew substancially since last time, expanding from 60 prospects up to 92 prospects with another 25 or so on our watchlist for future evaluation. The biggest thing I will tell my Dakotas prospects is after the season, go thru your tape consistently and be sure create a highlight tape. I felt this time around I had plenty of sound football prospects that did not do their due diligence and get their tape up before or after basketball or wrestling season, which saw a significant shift within our rankings moving those prospects into our watch list as in my eyes as a scout, it doesn't show the drive that you want an opportunity at the next-level and that is what we are all about giving prospects across the Dakotas, the exposure to college programs thru rankings and content.