Eight 2026s Playing Above Their Measurements

When we released our updated Class of 2026 rankings last week, we did so with the continued belief that high school players don't need to look like their NFL positional counterparts to earn a spot.   In fact, we have multiple players who stand shorter than 5-foot-6 and a handful south of 150 pounds included alongside the types of players coaches typically send out for the coin toss hoping to impose a bit of intimidation.    That's because production matters.   These eight players have all delivered when their teams needed them to do exactly that.    [player_tooltip player_id='1592665' first='Jordan' last='Roseborough'] OL, Dutch Fork   The Silver Foxes' right guard missed the playoffs due to an injury, but by that point he's established himself as a technically sound lineman capable of handling anything the staff asked him to do. The 5-foot-10, 235-pound junior was dwarfed in size by even other members the Dutch Fork line. Yet, he held his own, proving he could stand up or knock down opposing linemen, pull to the left or right and open a bunch of holes in the process.     [player_tooltip player_id='1161156' first='Javen' last='Cook'] ATH, Clinton   No matter how you shake it, Cook is among the smallest players in the entire Class of 2026. At 5-foot-4 and 145 pounds, though, he's also arguably the biggest producer pound-for-pound in South Carolina. In the Devils' playoff run alone, he rushed for 584 yards and four touchdowns in four games and finished the season with 1,824 yards and 21 rushing scores while averaging 8.2 yards per carry.     [player_tooltip player_id='1165159' first='Jordan' last='Strong'] DB, Lewisville (pictured)   You finish top three in the state in interceptions, we don't care if you're the pea the Jolly Green Giant carried around. And at 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, the Lewisville junior isn't exactly a pea. What he did do was put up nine picks for a team that was among a very small number of actual Class A title contenders. Throw in another 60-plus total tackles and what he did on offense and special teams, and Strong's move into the top 100 for the class felt more than natural.    [player_tooltip player_id='1327713' first='Matthew' last='Hillstock'] WR, Easley   Hillstock isn't tiny, necessarily, but at 5-foot-9 and 165 pounds, he's not pushing the limits of the position, either. Easley struggled a bit this fall, but the offense produced as a much more consistent clip when he was on the field. In his eight games in 2024, Hillstock put up 44 receptions for 631 yards (14.3 yards per reception) and five touchdowns to go along with a couple trick-play pass attempts (73 yards) and a few rushes that netted him another 52 yards.     [player_tooltip player_id='1592619' first='Kai' last='Nathan'] DB, Walhalla   We'd be lying if we said the first time we noticed Nathan was when we were initially watching film of his teammate [player_tooltip player_id='867240' first='Silas' last='Parish'] do what we all know he was capable of the last couple seasons. Alongside Parish, we noticed a fast-as-all-getup hybrid and immediately looked up No. 1 on the roster. It was Nathan, all 5-foot-5 and 135 pounds of him, making stops and proving time and again that his speed and tackling ability was more than enough.     [player_tooltip player_id='1267334' first='Kameron' last='Vance'] WR, Northwestern   Our highest ranked 2026 south of 5-9, Vance (5-foot-7, 160 pounds) is very much following the lead of 2025 receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1012637' first='Jackson' last='Repp'] from Christ Church (5-foot-8, 160). Translation: You don't need to be 6-feet tall to impact a receiving corps in a big way. As a junior, Vance gave Northwestern quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='241044' first='Finley' last='Polk'] one of the most active targets he could have asked for. Vance caught 72 passes, and it wasn't as if opposing defense forgot he was there.     [player_tooltip player_id='1592591' first='Zy' last='Whitlock'] LB, Chester   It's not as if [player_tooltip player_id='1165099' first='Darriyarn' last='Baxley'] (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) and [player_tooltip player_id='816734' first='Terry' last='Radford'] (6-foot-2, 260) - Chester's top two ranked players in the class - are absolutely massive. So it stands to reason that Whitlock at 5-foot-8 and 170 isn't either but can also be highly effective. We just watched him put up his second straight 100-tackle season and produce another 22 tackles for loss. His edge takes over any size disadvantage.     [player_tooltip player_id='1267345' first='Brandon' last='Nance'] ATH, Dixie   When your own school lists you at 5-foot-5 and 150 pounds, clearly they're not worried about perception. Nance made the important part of perception matter by rushing for another 1,142 yards while averaging 10.9 yards per carry. He scored 22 touchdowns for the Hornets. He also broke up a bunch of passes and recorded north of 20 tackles in semi-regular duty on defense. Nance is Dixie's best player and the biggest reason this team won eight games and made the playoffs.

When we released our updated Class of 2026 rankings last week, we did so with the continued belief that high school players don't need to look like their NFL positional counterparts to earn a spot.