Top Class of 2026 Linebackers: 704 Metro Area

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='284098' first='Thomas' last='Davis Jr.'] - Weddington</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The son of former Carolina Panthers star Thomas Davis, [player_tooltip player_id='284098' first='Thomas' last='Davis Jr.'] has made a name for himself in his career, now entering his junior year. This is evidenced by his current recruiting situation, where he currently has offers from Campbell, Charlotte, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Connecticut, North Carolina, NC State, Auburn, Tennessee, Miami, Wake Forest, Indiana, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Penn State, Troy, Memphis, Southern California, James Madison, West Virginia, LSU, UCLA, Norte Dame, Ole Miss, and Ohio State. Needless to say, Thomas is a player desired by many at this point in his career. At 6'3 and 205 pounds, when you look at the tape, Thomas is a very physical player who can light up skill players in space - forcing fumbles in the process. Thomas can play all 3 downs - with the athleticism to cover the middle of the field in zone coverage and speed to run down wide receivers in space. Simply put, Thomas is one of the best linebackers in the state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1246060' first='Caleb' last='Gordon'] - Ashbrook </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At 6'0 and 215 pounds, Caleb stepped into being a big-time player last season for the Green Wave, holding down the middle linebacker position. From a recruiting perspective, Caleb has offers from Charlotte and Austin Peay, and I think this spring and summer camp season will be big for him as far as growing recruiting interest and potential offers. Looking at the film, a couple of things stand out immediately. First, it's Caleb's speed overall - on blitzes there are plays where Caleb is in the back untouched at the snap. That to me reflects some strong football IQ in timing the snap, as well as knowing an offense's tendencies. Second, Caleb is a very sure tackler in space against skill players - on the highlight, the majority of these tackles were solo tackles as well. Finally, Caleb demonstrates good ability to play zones in the middle of the field in pass coverage. I'm excited for Caleb to grow his game even more this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1169874' first='Brandon' last='Creech'] - Sun Valley </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A first-team All-Conference selection, Brandon stands at 6'0 and 215 pounds with a 4.5 overall GPA - some very impressive accolades! From a recruiting perspective, Brandon currently has an offer from Charlotte and has a good chance to build on that overall interest during the upcoming camp season. Looking at the film, Brandon is a strong tackler in space, often running plays down outside the hashes toward the numbers and making tackles against both running backs and wide receivers from his middle linebacker position. Brandon takes good pursuit angles on these sideline to sideline plays and also shows some very good speed with these plays. Brandon also shows good ability to play man coverage in the passing game - he has a nice interception in coverage against a running back he returns for a touchdown, as an example. I think the camp season can be good for Brandon to get more schools exposed to his overall athletic ability.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Chris Wurster - Stuart Cramer </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>An All-Conference selection, Chris had a very strong sophomore season with 96 total tackles and 14 tackles for loss. Even more impressive, Chris did this for a team that was having a bit of a rebuilding season overall. At 6'2 and 190 pounds, Chris also sports a 3.9 GPA, another impressive accolade. When you take a look at the film, Chris does an excellent job of sifting through offensive linemen and lead blockers to make tackles in the interior run game, over and over again. Chris also does a great job of taking good pursuit angles and making solo tackles outside of the hashes in the perimeter run game as well. I would like to see Chris active during the camp season so he can show his full package of speed and agility to go with his size - that will make college recruiters interested in him from a recruiting perspective as well. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->