Watch List to Rankings: 2028 Update

It was great to go through the Watch List and see several athletes with highlights posted from their freshman season that have come out since the debut of the 2028 rankings. In total we saw seven athletes make the jump from Watch List to the rankings. These seven athletes are almost perfectly scattered throughout the overall rankings providing depth and highlighted by a very excited DL prospect up near the top of the list. I'm glad we got these fresh looks just before the season kicks off so we can very quickly see the progress made this offseason. Let's turn on the tape and talk about these kids.    Brookfield Central has an impressive 2028 in DL [player_tooltip player_id='1585378' first='Afanyu' last='Nfor'], a 6'6" 230 lbs DE who is well on his way towards becoming one of the top talents at his position. The rare frame is just starting to figure out and tap into its potential. Afanyu naturally plays with his hands, keeping OTs at bay and showing that he can powerfully toss them off balance then burst to the QB. Nfor seems to have easy range once he gets into the backfield as his long strides close on the ball handler quickly. As he continues to develop his hand fighting and pass rush moves along with continuing to improve his burst off the line we could see Afanyu launch himself into the Top 10 very quickly. I'm anticipating an exciting year for the incoming sophomore.     Milwaukee Marquette always has a stable of talent to have a close eye on, and one of those up and coming talents is DE [player_tooltip player_id='1709716' first='Zac' last='Meulemans']. The 6'3" 230 lbs DE is developing at a very high rate. The incoming sophomore shows off so many ways to win in his freshman tape. You see the burst off the snap, active hands, power to get OTs off balance, some ability to dip and bend, and the motor to make the chase down play. Zac is also light on his feet and has shown effective use of lateral jukes and cuts to give himself a leverage advantage against the OL. Zac is clearly well coached and brings a lot of physical tools to the table. Big things ahead for him.     Throughout my years of covering WI recruiting it has become more and more apparent that colleges put quite a bit of value into athleticism at the QB position. That is great news for a kid like [player_tooltip player_id='1288107' first='Hunter' last='Klippel'] who is gearing up to potentially take his first snaps on varsity this fall. This past spring as a freshman Hunter was already posting elite athletic numbers including a 4.54 40, 35" vertical, 4.11 shuttle, and a .97 flying 10. The kid can fly in the open field and make you miss with his ability to stop/start and cut on a dime. On top of it all Hunter is an accurate passer that can hit targets in stride at every level of the field too. He is a true dual threat with tape to back it up. I'm excited to see him on Friday nights, watch the tape, and see what type of numbers he can put up.     Jace made his rankings debut a strong one, but it could be just the start as the sophomore has been pulled up to practice with the varsity at the center position. It is a well deserved honor following a dedicated offseason including weight room success highlighted by a 425 lbs squat. In his recent practice clips Jace is looking explosive, violent, and powerful off the snap at center. The big man is very light on his feet while also still carrying power through every movement. When engaged Jace is able to quickly get underneath his man and remove them from their gap. If he can carve out playing time for the State Champs then we could be in store for a serious breakout year.     Jeremiah has been on the camp grind hard this summer, and the clips coming out from that are showing an OL recruit who is coming into his own. He is growing and building a solid frame, currently sitting at 6'2" 220 lbs and plays on top of some very nimble feet. All summer long Jeremiah has shown that he is able to win the race out of his stance and win the positioning battle to cut off defenders. It has also been great to see him use his length, constantly working his hands and also watching him naturally play with leverage. Jeremiah is just getting started in developing towards what he could be in three years. I'm excited for what is to come in his development.     The biggest takeaway from the freshman highlights is that Connor is going to be an athlete you can trust out in space to make a tackle. The highlights are primarily him closing downhill and making 1 on 1 tackles in space. While coming to make the play Connor does a great job of using leverage to either make the tackle or force the ball back inside to the help pursuing across the field. I'm looking forward to seeing Connor in coverage this season as he gets more updated film.     Also making the jump to the rankings from the Watch List is Grafton's [player_tooltip player_id='1579592' first='Andy' last='Tran']. He spent 2024 making several big plays at WR for the JV team flashing deep threat abilities several times throughout the highlights. Andy's ball tracking on those deep routes, and other routes too, allowed him to consistently run underneath passes so he could catch them in stride and continue to pile up yards. Andy also flashed the hands and concentration to make tough catches through tight windows. The '28 WR has shown he can be a playmaker out wide.

It was great to go through the Watch List and see several athletes with highlights posted from their freshman season that have come out since the debut of the 2028 rankings. In total we saw seven athletes make the jump from Watch List to the rankings. These seven athletes are almost perfectly scattered throughout the overall rankings providing depth and highlighted by a very excited DL prospect up near the top of the list. I'm glad we got these fresh looks just before the season kicks off so we can very quickly see the progress made this offseason. Let's turn on the tape and talk about these kids.