X Discoveries: Six Underrated Juniors/Sophomores

A couple of days ago, I sent out a call to action for my X/Twitter followers. It was a call for players to shout out their breakout teammates, and since that post, I've received over 50 names to research. This article features six of those players, all of which being either Juniors (2026) or Sophomores (2027).    Antonio was shouted out by his cousin, [player_tooltip player_id='318570' first='Marcello' last='Vitti'].   I'm glad Antonio's tape crossed my feed. In short, Antonio is a raw DB/WR prospect with excellent size and a very high ceiling.   Most of his tape (DB and WR) shows Antonio catching deep balls. Defensively, Antonio has the speed to match almost any receiver downfield and the length to always have the upper hand on 50/50 balls. You'll see several examples of this on the tape below- consistently good defense of deep routes. Offensively, Antonio can scream downfield and be that physical deep threat. When Divine Child needs a big play, it's worth to take a deep shot to Antonio.   What I'd like to see moving forward is more fundamental polish. He has a few comeback routes on tape, but those routes are honestly sloppy. Contact balance is another point of emphasis offensively.      Westland Glenn is my #31 Ranked team in Division 1, and [player_tooltip player_id='1522336' first='Michael' last='Gray'] seems to be a big reason why.   First off, he has THREE kick returns for a touchdown in weeks 1-3 alone. The big thing that stands out with the returns is his patience. Michael doesn't full-out sprint right away or run laterally- he waits for his blocks and navigates open space without running east-west.   I like the rest of his tape quite a bit as well. Go to 1:58 and watch as Michael diagnoses the run pre-snap and sprints to the sideline, forcing 3rd down. At 2:40, you see more of that patience and vision.   A lot of his recruitment will ride on his athletic testing numbers as well as his 1-on-1 man coverage. With his current tape, I'd say Michael is a future GLIAC prospect.      Will has taken his Varsity opportunities in stride, and he's had a very productive season thus far.   The beginning of his tape shows the turnovers he's forced. The first interception shows great instincts on a comeback route that the QB threw late, and the second interception was a great heads-up play.   Throughout the rest of the tape, Will shows several great run stops. I always love seeing a safety wo can defend the run, and Will has several highlights where he takes good pursuit angles to cut off the RB. He seems to be a solid open-field tackler, which is critical for his position. Moving forward, I'm excited to see what Will does against Seaholm, a Veer team. I'm also looking forward to seeing his performances against Oxford and Roseville.      Now, we'll look at [player_tooltip player_id='1522340' first='Avery' last='Taylor'] from a lesser-known Division 4 squad, Center Line.   Avery has some good linebacker instincts. At 0:17, he diagnoses the toss very quickly and takes a good angle to get to the ball carrier. The very next play, we get to see make a tackle while lining up on-ball. Throughout the tape, Avery consistently shows good run-stopping ability. He isn't the fastest linebacker, but he takes good angles, works around blocks, and is undoubtedly a great player for this Center Line program.      Below are [player_tooltip player_id='1522341' first='Masai' last='Ali']'s highlights against Eastpointe. As running back no. 1 for Center Line, Masai plays the role of elusive back.   Check out the play at 1:08. Masai makes the first defender miss, breaks another tackle, and turns what would be a -1 yard loss into a 13-yard gain and a 1st down. At other points in the tape. Masai bounces it outside and gains a ton of yards downfield.   There's currently a small sample size, but I'm looking forward to further evaluating Masai's tape once the season ends.      Jeramiah is a very similar athlete to Masai, who I talk about above.   A smaller running back, Jeramiah sports good elusiveness and vision. He consistently waits for his blocks to develop before exploding through the hole, and this type of patience is rare for a sophomore prospect. When it is time to hit the hole, Jeramiah shows good explosiveness and overall athleticism. He doesn't currently have that top-end open-field ability like Hill from Davison, but the potential is 100% there. Furthermore, plays like 2:45 show good contact balance. It's a good sophomore season for Jeramiah, but with a productive offseason, I could easily see him exploding onto the scene in 2025.

A couple of days ago, I sent out a call to action for my X/Twitter followers. It was a call for players to shout out their breakout teammates, and since that post, I've received over 50 names to research. This article features six of those players, all of which being either Juniors (2026) or Sophomores (2027).