2025 Ranking: Prospects that Improved their Rank the Most, Part 1

<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Enjoy our newest rankings release. Use promo code “mankarious30” for 30% off your first subscription to Prep Redzone New Jersey.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   After milling through countless hours of Hudl and Qwickcut film, the 2025 Prep Redzone New Jersey player rankings were in a dire need for a serious update. After rolling up my sleeves and getting to work, here are the prospects who performed at an extremely high level last fall, and thus, made the biggest jump in our official rankings.    Moving up 36 slots to #11 overall is Pope John's [player_tooltip player_id='344220' first='Tylik' last='Hill']. As a running back Hill is just about as explosive as they come. Blessed with elite, break away speed Hill is used in many different sets and situations, including the slot and kickoff. Hill has a forward lean when he runs, allowing him naturally gain an extra yard or two when tackled. Despite being just 5'9", Hill is able to see the forrest through the trees, making concentration grabs through triple coverage. Although I will refrain from using the word "silky," he does make several smooth cuts against the grain. A bit shorter, Hill is able to hide behind blockers and eek out when they least expect it. At times he looks like his stumbling, but I have concluded that the flailing combine with the forward lean is just how he runs and helps him make people miss. He should continue to chin the ball, however. With violent jump cuts, the spin move, and the stiff arm available to him, I am not sure how confident he is with them. On one clip he he was 1-on-1 with a single-box linebacker in a gaping hole. Rather than win in a spacious phone booth, Hill opted to bounce it and gain huge yardage that way.   Prior Overall Ranking: 47   New Overall Ranking: 11   New Positional Ranking: 2     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/TylikHill/status/1723767471386018300 </div></figure>    Ak-Khabir Bethune is an athlete out of Plainfield that does a number of things well on the football field. Starting with his speed, Bethune has jets to burn past defenders. Should he not be able to beat them deep, he high points the ball extremely well. His routes are more "solid" than anything, but he will find nifty ways to create separation due to his shiftiness when running them. Against unsuspecting competition, Bethune is good for a sharp double-move to bust loose. Defensively he is often the first man to the ball, wrapping and holding up a defender while he waits for the cavalry to arrive and punch at the ball. From his cornerback position Bethune excels at jamming his defender - although he can get off balance at times doing so. Lastly, he is rangey, both in the sense that he can recover ground and extend to play the ball. Against better competition, he still achieves separation but just not as much - showing us that the ability exists and can be further tapped into at the next level. Moving forward I want to see him come back and attack the ball a bit often, allowing him to show us the more creative side to him as a ball carrier. Bethune has committed to play at Towson.   Prior Overall Ranking: 69   New Overall Ranking: 40   New Positional Ranking: 4     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BethuneAl/status/1806323869097103475 </div></figure>    Perhaps the largest specimen in the class of 2025, DePual's [player_tooltip player_id='803130' first='Jay' last='Gardenhire'] is a mountain of a man that figures to be a road-graded tackle in college. Although he must morph his body to better equip him to bend at the next level, Gardenhire has extremely quick feet for his size, often reaching play side with ease and even reaching a 4i backside at times. With this ability, Gardenhire absolutely buries edge players who slant inside. When blocking he gets his hands in nice and tight. As he steers the ship, he is an outstanding on-or-drive blocker. His film currently possesses only a few clips of him in pass protection, but he should have more confidence in his feet and avoid crossing them when alternating between powering down and kick sliding. For me, I think Gardenhire can achieve more movement when doubling on the defense's primary level first, before he climbs to level two. Having already prefaced that he will need to change his body before getting on the field collegiately, I expect his ability to climb and secure his assignment on the second level will improve.   *Note: since the rankings began Gardenhire has since transferred to play his senior season in the state of Michigan.   Prior Overall Ranking: 83   New Overall Ranking: 37   New Positional Ranking: 7     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/JayGardenhire/status/1806124139901571484/ </div></figure>    Already having committed to Wake Forest, [player_tooltip player_id='1023090' first='Charlie' last='Wingfield'] is probably more of a modern-day tight end. Used often in Y-out sets, Wingfield is a mismatch that favors the offense. Due to his size and length, he creates natural separation from his defender. Additionally, he uses that same size to deny a defender his path to the ball, as well as his length to high point the ball. Additionally, he has a tremendous catch radius. Wingfield also uses that same physical prowess when possessing the ball, often lowering his shoulder to gain yardage and when blocking. Somewhat of an acrobat, we see that he has the grace to tight rope the end zone and get his feet down. His routes are solid, but where Wingfield shines is when he looks to set up lesser opponents with a move, leaving them exposed in space. As the route grows longer, Wingfield finds himself separating moire and more. Defensively we see Wingfield do a great job tomahawking the ball as he rounds the edge and also serve as an exceptional wrapping tackler. As he prepares for the Demon Deacons, I want to see Wingfield take the fight to blockers more than last year. Often I would see him accept the figurative fight rather than take it to his opponent.   Prior Overall Ranking: 151   New Overall Ranking: 77   New Positional Ranking: 4     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/charliewing111/status/1781455407694684567/ </div></figure>    [player_tooltip player_id='313583' first='D'Hani' last='Cobbs'] of Camden has joined an elite class of 2025 New Jersey wide receivers with FBS potential that does not come along very often. Cobbs gets extremely fast releases and can achieve top speed very quickly. This immediately gets defensive backs on their heels and afraid to get beat deep, opening up many routes over the middle in the process. Not to overstate, however, he has shown to routinely get behind defenders that are playing him with a 10-yard cushion. Cobbs tracks the ball over his head nicely as well and can high point and get-up-to-get-it as well. An explosive returner, Cobbs is dynamic in the open field as he can cut, jump-cut, and step back to evade converging defenders who also sets up his blocks nicely. Cobbs seems to slow down a bit when breaking the stem on in-cutting routes. I also encourage him to switch the ball to the outside arm when possessing it. Cobbs has committed to Villanova.   Prior Overall Ranking: 71   New Overall Ranking: 31   New Positional Ranking: 8     <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/cobbs_d/status/1786100378955653608 </div></figure>