2026 Rankings Update: Top-20 New Additions

<p><em>Taking a look at some new additions that landed in the overall top-20 in Prep Redzone Nevada's latest 2026 rankings.</em></p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Taufa lands in the top-10 as a new addition to the 2026 Nevada rankings following his transfer from Desert Hills (St. George, UT) to Bishop Gorman. The younger brother of one of the top OL in NV's 2025 class, [player_tooltip player_id='1195280' first='Stewart' last='Taufa'], Ocean's a disruptive DL that totaled 64 tackles, 12 sacks, and 10 TFLs as a sophomore. He's a strong, athletic defender on the edge that possesses the quickness to blow by blockers and flashes his closing speed tracking back to the ball. Taufa holds offers from Hawaii and UNLV heading into his junior season. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ocean_taufa/status/1728199199207108919 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Mann jumped into the top-10 overall and the #2-QB spot in Prep Redzone's latest 2026 Nevada rankings after transferring into Bishop Manogue from St. Ignatius (San Francisco, CA). He's a talented passer that's generated his first three D-I offers over the past two months with the level of arm talent and accuracy he's shown to this point. He excels in the short-intermediate areas where he can get the ball out quick with a tight release and add touch or velocity to fit it into narrow windows. He flashes ball placement finding his receivers downfield and showed some athleticism/escapability from the pocket as a sophomore. Mann comes into his junior season and first with the reigning D-I 5A state champs holding offers from Virginia Tech, Washington St., and Nevada. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BrandonB52Mann/status/1801053977389531386 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Maafala-Barbasa has continued to put his name on the D-I radar with a strong offseason since posting 29 tackles and 4 TFLs as a sophomore for Arbor View. He's a strong, athletic defender on the edge at 6'1”/230 that excels at penetrating the LOS and creating negative plays in the backfield. He's explosive off the ball, possesses the bend/flexibility to change levels, and shows promising development in skillset as a pass rusher. He shows a quick lateral step to get outside the blocker's frame and finishes with quick, violent hands at the POA. Maafala-Barbasa picked up his first offer from Central Michigan in May and should continue to generate D-I interest with a productive junior season. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/tanielumb58/status/1810732303729250687 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">McClendon claimed the #1-DB spot in Nevada's 2026 rankings ahead of his junior season with the productive offseason he's put together. He's a versatile player in the secondary that made plays from both CB and S spots as a sophomore for Desert Pines. He's a twitched-up athlete with great speed and change-of-direction in coverage. He's aggressive as a tackler showing no hesitation flying downhill to close on the ball and can make stops in space. McClendon's a high-upside DB prospect that just picked up his first D-I offer from UNLV in March.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/_darriuss_/status/1770556490925170773 </div></figure>    <p class="text-gray-700">Williams debuts in the top-20 of Nevada's latest 2026 rankings as a potential breakout candidate going into his junior season. He's flashed athleticism and playmaking skillset on both sides of the ball (WR/DB) both on JV last season and through this offseason. He has a strong, athletic build at 6'1"/195 with promising speed and hands as a pass catcher. He's flashed some polish as a route-runner in offseason 1v1s and his ball skills should translate to productive playmaking on either of side of the ball. Look for Williams to prove his upside with a breakout season for Green Valley this fall.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/evan_williams08/status/1789810373949800662 </div></figure>

Taking a look at some new additions that landed in the overall top-20 in Prep Redzone Nevada's latest 2026 rankings.