Evaluating the ranked prospects: Maryland 2028 defensive players

Prep Redzone recently released its Class of 2028 football prospect rankings. Here's a closer look at five of the prospects who made our most recent list.    Wills-Dixon plays with a natural feel for the game that is hard to teach. He plays middle linebacker and consistently shows the ability to read run plays before they even develop. Wills-Dixon is quick off the ball, trusts his instincts to hit the correct gap, and quickly gets downhill. He quickly recognizes the run before the snap in a few plays and fills the gap. Wills-Dixon is a little over 220 pounds and very physical at the point of attack. He quickly covers a lot of ground, as shown by the multiple tackles for a loss in his highlights. There's not much on his highlights that show him in pass coverage. That's not a knock on his game; it's just an area that hasn't been fully showcased on film. Overall, he's a player who can set the tone for a defense and make his presence felt on every defensive snap.   Colleges have already taken notice. His early offer list includes Akron, Florida State, Indiana, and Auburn.     Diggs moves with surprising ease for his size (6 3). His highlights show his smooth transitions and his ability to open up and run with receivers downfield. Diggs shows his instincts and football IQ in zone coverage by reading the quarterback's eyes, understanding route combinations, and making quick breaks on the football. His coverage against slant and fade routes in his highlights gives a glimpse of those abilities. Diggs also shows physicality in run support. There's one play where he shed the block of the receiver and helped on a tackle against a back near the line of scrimmage. His man-coverage reps' sample size is limited, making it hard to assess his man-to-man coverage skills fully. He is a long, athletic corner with a high ceiling. Diggs will have much time to showcase his man-to-man coverage skills during summer camps on college campuses.     Pankey plays bigger than he is and relies on his timing, positioning, and technique to make plays. When you watch his highlights, you see a player with good instincts and who anticipates what the receiver will do. There's one play where he's in off-man coverage, reads a corner-route by another receiver, peels off the man he's covering, and intercepts the pass. Pankey isn't afraid to get physical, either. In one press-coverage situation at his goal-line, he stays disciplined with his leverage, gets his hands on the receiver after the snap, and fights through the receiver's hands to break up the pass. I also like his willingness to get involved in the run game. In a couple of plays, Pankey reads it fast, works around blockers and gets in on tackles. Pankey is a name that you need to know moving forward.     Ogbotor has a lean but athletic frame; he can still disrupt the pass-and-run game. Ogbotor's highlights are full of impact plays that showcase his energy, discipline, and knack for making plays behind the line of scrimmage. As a pass rusher, he flashes versatility. His speed off the edge is noticeable on film. When left unblocked, Ogbotor explodes into the backfield and finishes plays quickly. Even when engaged, his bull rush shows his strength and good leverage as he pushes linemen back and collapses the pocket. I also like Ogbotor's ability to shed blocks and maintain outside leverage against the run. He has much time to add more weight to his frame and moves to his pass-rush arsenal. He already has a couple of P4 offers. Ogbotor has a tremendous upside due to his impressive instincts, explosive get-off, and ability to line up in different positions on the line.     James is a linebacker who has the potential to be a difference-maker for his team's defense for the next few years. Despite a small sample of highlights, there are a few things I was able to pick up on. His plays showed him defending against the run and the pass. James is a physical player and is quick to read and react against the run. There's a highlight of him making a tackle behind the line of scrimmage after shooting a gap, and another play shows him hustling to help make a tackle downfield on a run that went away from him. James makes an interception while in zone coverage in the lone highlight of him defending against the pass. From the brief highlights, James plays fast, physically, and smartly. I'm looking forward to seeing how he's progressed a year from now.

Prep Redzone recently released its Class of 2028 football prospect rankings. Here's a closer look at five of the prospects who made our most recent list.