Grading the 2028 Offensive Position Groups

My “grading the position groups” articles are among my favorite to write. It can be extremely helpful when looking at a class as a whole to break it down by position to see what the strongest positions are in the class. It can add context to the class as a whole and give insight to college coaches about where the state's areas of strength lie for each class.   I've graded every position group in the 2026 and 2027 classes during their rankings rollout weeks. Now, I'm looking at the 2028 class. It can be tricky to try to grade a class so early, but I'm going to try, knowing these grades will change multiple times in the coming years. Here, I'm grading each of the offensive position groups based on depth, top-end talent, and potential. Let's grade the top 2028 offensive position groups.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Grading the 2028 Offensive Position Groups</h2>   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Quarterbacks: B</h3>   The Numbers: 19 ranked, one top 25, four top 50, 12 top 100   Highest Ranked: [player_tooltip player_id='1616126' first='Kaden' last='Craft'] (No. 6 overall), Lake Norman   Strongest Level: FCS   It's really difficult to project the level of non-slam dunk quarterback prospects in the 2028 class, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this class, especially at the FCS level.   There isn't a lot of varsity film out there for a bunch of players, but we have 19 with enough film to rank. I like the second/third tier of this group a lot. Beyond the dual-threat Craft, who holds multiple offers from FBS schools, there are a lot of players with great upside. [player_tooltip player_id='1616122' first='Jabraylan' last='Patterson'] received a recent Arkansas offer and a few other guys have FBS potential. I particularly like [player_tooltip player_id='1616112' first='Jonah' last='El-Amin'] and [player_tooltip player_id='866234' first='Kylen' last='Crisp'] as guys in the RDU area who could eventually move up significantly in our rankings.   There's a ton of projection here. I don't think this challenges as one of the best quarterback classes we've seen, but I do think there's value for schools at multiple levels of college football and the depth of this class could prove better than normal.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Running Backs: B+</h3>   The Numbers: 20 ranked, three top 25, six top 50, 12 top 100   Highest Ranked: [player_tooltip player_id='1176263' first='Ennis' last='Stiles'] (No. 8 overall), Jay M Robinson   Strongest Level: Group of Five   The lack of elite talents bumps this down into the B-range but I really like this group of running backs. Guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1616304' first='Teo' last='McPhatter'] and [player_tooltip player_id='950967' first='JaMarion' last='Morrison'] don't have any offers, but have the talent to play at that level. There are plenty of backs who played limited snaps as freshmen, so we have some idea of their talent, but don't have a huge sample size for us to work with.   The bottom half of our rankings are intriguing as well. Players like Midway's [player_tooltip player_id='1687440' first='Wesley' last='Tew'] and Union's [player_tooltip player_id='1616528' first='Tobias' last='Cromartie'] have unique athletic profiles and plenty of early production at small schools. That makes them difficult evaluations, but there's some athletic upside. On the other side, Northern Durham's Kamaree Moore was impressive in limited reps as a freshman, so it's not difficult to project what he could do with a more full-time role.   But, the early returns are good, and I'm interested to see how this class progresses.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: C</h3>   The Numbers: 13 ranked, two top 25, six top 50, 11 top 100   Highest Ranked: [player_tooltip player_id='651159' first='Braylon' last='Clark'] (No. 1 overall), Country Day   Strongest Level: Low Group of Five/High FCS   I'm grouping the pass-catchers together. We only have two ranked tight ends, and the receivers group is smaller than it typically is at the stage. There's certainly some talent here, but we've been spoiled with the last few wide receiver classes in the Tar Heel state.   The headliner is our top prospect in Country Day's [player_tooltip player_id='651159' first='Braylon' last='Clark'], but guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1636010' first='Tylan' last='Grimes'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1421082' first='RJ' last='Lynch'] have exciting upside as well. I'm not worried about the overall low numbers at both tight end and receiver, as they're both positions with plenty of late-bloomers at those positions.   I'm intrigued by smaller-school guys like [player_tooltip player_id='1608472' first='Logan' last='Davis-Hilton'], Andre Ramseur, and [player_tooltip player_id='590094' first='Amari' last='Coulter'], all of whom had strong freshman seasons. I expect more players to join this group, so don't be disheartened by the lower grade.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Offensive Line: A</h3>   The Numbers: 16 ranked, four top 25, six top 50, 15 top 100   Highest Ranked: [player_tooltip player_id='548207' first='Grayson' last='Williams'] (No. 3 overall), Southeast Raleigh   Strongest Level: Power Four   The rare 'A' and an even more rare future Power Four-dominant group. In fact, the 2028 class has as many players with Power Four offers (3) as the 2026 class. We have four players ranked in the Power Four range and these guys are just rising sophomores!   We still have Dudley's [player_tooltip player_id='1097828' first='Azhir' last='Waddell'] ranked on the offensive line, which helps the group, but even if we switched him to the defensive line, this would be an elite group. Interestingly, several schools boast multiple players in these offensive line rankings. [player_tooltip player_id='1097767' first='Trevor' last='Howard'] joins Williams at Southeast Raleigh, while Palisades ([player_tooltip player_id='1246669' first='Ephraim' last='Holmes'], [player_tooltip player_id='1113107' first='Tim' last='Hames'], [player_tooltip player_id='1687749' first='Christopher' last='Strayhorn']), Mallard Creek ([player_tooltip player_id='1600577' first='Austin' last='Ballou'], [player_tooltip player_id='1616108' first='Achraf' last='Ouardi']), and Asheville ([player_tooltip player_id='1112736' first='Jack' last='Biddle'], [player_tooltip player_id='1113122' first='Brenton' last='Miller']) all have multiple players ranked in the top 80 of our 2028 rankings.   I don't want to put pressure on this class, but it has the potential to be one of the best offensive line classes in state history.   Disagree with my grades? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter/X (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>).

My “grading the position groups” articles are among my favorite to write. It can be extremely helpful when looking at a class as a whole to break it down by position to see what the strongest positions are in the class. It can add context to the class as a whole and give insight to college coaches about where the state's areas of strength lie for each class.