2027 Player Rankings Update: Newly Ranked Watchlisters, Part VI

<p>For some prospects, the long wait is over. Part of the beauty of Prep Redzone's rankings watchlist is in the name and intention itself – we watch. After watching countless hours of film, here some of the prospects who lived on our watchlist for various periods of time, only to be revealed as top prospects.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Picking up where I left off last time covering our most recent rankings release, the heritage of Middletown football continues on, this time in the trenches with [player_tooltip player_id='1684616' first='Brendan' last='Roudi']. Aside from having the world's greatest name bestowed upon him (something he and I both share), Roudi finishes his blocks and drives opponents into the ground. For as long as his arms appear on tape, it seems that he does a good job of getting his hands in tight - something his coaches might call "the difference" - as he drive blocks opponents. Good leg drive and motor helps him displace his matchups, yet improved bend will aid this even more. Roudi has the versatility and smarts to play either guard and tackle. In pass protection, I saw him attack the defensive lineman's arms to neutralize their attack. On his film it seems that Roudi is asked to lock on his assignment often and his film would benefit from him picking up a late blitzer when uncovered and dominant clips of him double teaming down linemen. </p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/BrendanRou40488 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">For reigning North II champion Shabazz, [player_tooltip player_id='1562000' first='Adekunbi' last='Adetayo'] is a baaaaaad man in the trenches. Adetayo has a very good get off, which he weaponizes to generate force and momentum that he maintains as he runs through the body of ball carriers when tackling. His "plus plus" get off allows him to threaten with speed, while he also understands how to use his natural length well to wreak havoc. For instance, when stunted inside, Adetayo's rip with his long arms make him an extremely difficult assignment to block. I would, however, like to see him work his hips around when pass rushing and bend the corner flatter. For as great as he is pass rushing and disrupting by slanting inside, his film would benefit from instances of him squeezing and establishing a new line of scrimmage.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/1ts_israel </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">I know my blind spots and South Jersey is one of them. However, my time covering Jersey football I have come to realize that Atlantic City has some freaky-type athletes. Add [player_tooltip player_id='1552382' first='Omar' last='Kelly']'s name to that list. Kelly, a defensive back, has been shown to roll down as a safety and disrupt things that way. Although his first step tends to be forward-to-a-hop rather than dropping, he is instinctual and physical, often laying the boom to crossers off the middle. His twitchiness is on display when coming off the edge - especially when called to block a punt. An aggressive player, we see him fly and go nuts all over the field. He wraps low well, particularly below the knees, while keeping his leverage to force/box things back to linebacker help. Blessed with speed, he absolutely can hawk someone down <em>even if </em>they manage to get past him. A very raw talent, Kelly does a break job of breaking on crossers and looks to use his hands to break things up.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/0mar_kelly9 </div></figure>     <p class="text-gray-700">This offseason Donovan Catholic seemed to clean up South Jersey in terms of transfers. Leaving 3-time North V State Champion Toms River North is [player_tooltip player_id='498245' first='Jael' last='Hester'], as he takes his talents across town to Donovan Catholic. Hester is a safety who flies to fill the alley. His hips are fluid and he flips them well; however, on tape it seems like his movements can be cleaned up so he moves more efficiently. Hester is a solid contact tackler, using his shoulder to do so, but it would be encouraging to see him wrap better. Hester absolutely has the athleticism to be a single-high safety, yet based on how he diagnoses plays from that spot I think he might be a dominant split-field player in the mean time as his eyes and reads get coached up.</p>    <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/jael_hester </div></figure>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2027 Player Rankings Update Coverage</h2>   <p><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2026-player-rankings-update-breakout-candidates-part-i">Breakout Candidates, Part I</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-breakout-candidates-part-ii">Breakout Candidates, Part II</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-i">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part I</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-ii">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part II</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-iii">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part III</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-iv">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part IV</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-v">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part V</a><br><a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/08/2027-player-rankings-update-newly-ranked-watchlisters-part-vi">Newly Ranked Prospects from the Watchlist, Part VI</a></p>

For some prospects, the long wait is over. Part of the beauty of Prep Redzone's rankings watchlist is in the name and intention itself – we watch. After watching countless hours of film, here some of the prospects who lived on our watchlist for various periods of time, only to be revealed as top prospects.