Q1 Rankings Update: New 2027 Defensive Linemen

North Carolina's 2027 class has the potential to be special. In the Fall, sophomores all over the state not only played, but played well. Accordingly, we added more players to this class in a single update than we've ever added before. This week we're highlighting the new additions to the rankings, guys who are just starting their high school varsity careers, but have already caught our eyes. Here, we're breaking down the new interior defensive linemen.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2027 New Additions: Defensive Linemen</h2>    A two-way player with several recent offers, Archer is ranked by some recruiting services as an offensive lineman, probably because of his size. However, he's a rare blend of power and speed on the interior of the defensive line. Despite his height, he plays with good leverage and pad-level. That's the biggest factor for us keeping him as an interior defensive lineman. He's extremely disruptive and is likely a future Power Four player.     Oh my, the length of Kamba is impressive. He's a man amongst boys at the 1A level and knows how to use his strength, length, and balance to control both sides of the line of scrimmage. He plays offensive line as well, but he's a prototypical 3-technique, with excellent balance and power on the inside. He's raw, but the tools are ridiculous.     There are a bunch of really talented defensive linemen at smaller schools and Rushing is one of them. His stats as a sophomore were good, but don't tell the whole story of his dominance. Rushing has excellent gap integrity and can stonewall double-teams in the running game. He's a patient and persistent pass-rusher who can cause interior disruption. He certainly hasn't reached his ceiling as a pass-rusher and that potential makes him a candidate to move up from our Group of Five bucket to a true Power Four prospect.     Dobbins lines up all over the place for Crest and often comes off the edge. His height might push him inside long-term and that's okay with us. Guys his size shouldn't be able to move with the suddenness and quickness that he does and he gets up to full-speed in a hurry. On film, he makes offenses look like they're playing in slow motion. His upside is tremendous and if he can put on a bit more weight while maintaining quickness, he's going to fly up my personal board.     New Bern has a history of producing hulking defensive tackles and Cooper looks like the next great one. His overall sophomore stats aren't overly impressive, but he's raw and his athletic profile should translate. Simply put, he's huge and he's strong, two things that give him a pretty high floor at the college level. He's still figuring out the ins and outs of pass-rushing, but as a run defender, he excels.     Broome has bulked up quickly compared to what he used to be and you can tell on film that he got more comfortable as the season went on. There's a lot of untapped potential here, some of it simply coming from Broome adjusting to his size and growing into his body. He flashes elite gap-shooting ability and when he combines that with the ability to hold up offensive linemen at the point of attack, he's going to be a great prospect.

North Carolina's 2027 class has the potential to be special. In the Fall, sophomores all over the state not only played, but played well. Accordingly, we added more players to this class in a single update than we've ever added before. This week we're highlighting the new additions to the rankings, guys who are just starting their high school varsity careers, but have already caught our eyes. Here, we're breaking down the new interior defensive linemen.