'26 Rankings - New Addition Linebackers

The brand-new 2026 rankings have been posted, and with it are a few New Addition LBs. I'm extremely excited for ALL of these New Addition LBs this coming season. Ranging from D1 prospects to new Varsity starters, here are my seven New Addition Linebackers from the Class of 2026.    Brain already has several D1 offers and sports a high ceiling as a dual-sport athlete. In college, Brian projects as an on or off-ball outside linebacker. Last season, Brian played a multitude of positions. Offensively, Brain was primarily utilized as an H-Back. There, Brian was a safety valve in the passing game and a physical blocker in the run game. He played his part, and he executed it well. Defensively, Brian mostly played on-ball. As an EDGE rusher, Brian displayed an impressive getoff in addition to a good variety of rush moves, mostly with power. I'll be honest and say that Brian is still a bit raw on the defensive side of the ball, but I believe in Cass Tech like no other to develop Brian.     Levi is one of the biggest wildcards in the Class of 2026. On one hand, I like his tape. On the other hand, I don't love Levi's current skill as an on-ball linebacker. Levi's highlight tape shows great aggression as an off-ball (and on-ball in a 2-pt) linebacker. Against the run, Levi shows the decisiveness and aggression needed to be a great D2 prospect. Time and time again, Levi works through gaps and blocks in order to attack the running back. As a run-stopper, Levi is phenomenal. Rushing the passer, Levi is very underdeveloped. I was fortunate enough to watch Levi at a recent prospect camp at GVSU. There, he worked out as a defensive end. At that position, Levi struggled a lot. If he can get a few pass rush moves under his belt, he can be a great hybrid LB. Regardless, I really like Levi's upside as an off-ball outside linebacker. I think of Levi as a future GLIAC prospect, and I hope he shows improvements this Fall.     I'm very excited to see Isaac's 2024 highlight tape. His 2023 tape showed some promising stuff as a decently reactive off-ball MLB. Based on his tape and measurables, I'd call Isaac a good D3 prospect. This offseason, I was able to view testing numbers. Pound for pound, he was the 2nd-best tester at the Western Michigan camp. That said, he has room to play a whole lot faster and make a ton more plays next season. I'm ranking him based on projection, and I look forward to seeing Isaac meet my expectations.     I'm very eager to see how [player_tooltip player_id='1298710' first='Ben' last='Bullock'] fares this coming season. I'll be honest upfront- the OAA Gold is a weak league, and Berkley has been on a downward trend over the last couple of years. As for Ben, I am highly impressed with his 2023 highlight tape. In short, he's a reactive and physical linebacker. Against the inside run, Ben reacts relatively quickly. Even on outside runs and against the pass, Ben does a good job of keeping his effort up, having made a few great sideline-to-sideline plays. I do think that Ben needs to improve all-around in order to become a college prospect. If he was a Senior, I'd say Ben is a good D3 prospect. Because he's had a full camp season + going into his Junior season, I expect a significant jump from Ben this season, hopefully propelling him to being a D2 prospect.     I'm very much looking forward to watching Amare during his Junior season. As a sophomore, Amare earned a ton of playing time with one of the most successful programs in Michigan. Although he's undersized as an off-ball linebacker, Amare's physicality and instincts are unmatched. Watch a single minute of his film, and you'll see a linebacker who explodes toward the ballcarrier and someone who's not afraid to put his body on the line. I especially like how Amare's eyes are always in the backfield, and he reacts extremely quickly to the play. He seems like an extremely high-effort and smart linebacker, and with some more muscle, he will be a Division 2 prospect come next offseason.     I am incredibly interested to see how Sam performs this coming season. Last season, I came way incredibly impressed with his performances. Although his tape is short, I'm impressed with how Sam played against a few extremely good programs. Against Davison and Mona Shores, Sam shoots the gap incredibly quickly and is able to make plays in the opposing backfield. In other instances, Sam shows amazing effort in making sideline-to-sideline stops. All-around, Sam's effort and confidence seems great. Not to mention, it's incredibly difficult to earn playing time at Rockford, let alone as an undersized off-ball LB. That said- Sam is an undersized LB and that will limit his ceiling significantly. No matter what, Sam seems to be a great high school LB who should find a lot of success this season.     Lastly, we've got [player_tooltip player_id='1298732' first='Carter' last='Kulinski'] from Farmington. He's someone I first discovered from my Hudl Discoveries series, and someone I expect to have a breakout season this Fall. In fact, he's in my <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2024/05/my-top-7-breakout-candidates-of-the-oaa-blue/">Top 7 breakout candidates</a> of the OAA Blue. It doesn't look like Carter was a full-time Varsity starter, but when he was out there, he played incredibly well. I especially like his IQ (reactivity, anticipation) against the run, and his motor. Against outside runs, Carter does a great job at working past potential blockers to eventually make a tackle. In addition, he seems to play with great confidence and good physicality- great for a Sophomore on Varsity. We'll see how Carter fares moving forward, but this is a linebacker that I'm quite optimistic about.

The brand-new 2026 rankings have been posted, and with it are a few New Addition LBs. I'm extremely excited for ALL of these New Addition LBs this coming season. Ranging from D1 prospects to new Varsity starters, here are my seven New Addition Linebackers from the Class of 2026.