August Rankings Update: Behind the Scenes of the 2026 Class

There's a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into each rankings update. Some of the process is the same for every update, but some things are unique to each class and time of year. We updated our rankings for the rising senior class just before they begin their final year on the field.   In this special piece, I'm looking at what went into building the August update, going behind the scenes of the 2026 class rankings. What themes and thoughts are developing and what is there still to learn as we approach the home stretch for the 2026 class?   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Behind the Scenes of North Carolina's 2026 Class</h2>   We're always player-focused, so I'll never write a piece without including plenty of thoughts on the players themselves.   But, there are some themes developing and some insight I can add to the rankings process and the class as a whole. Here, I've got numbers, stats and thoughts to accompany our rankings update and always welcome thoughts and feedback.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Update the 2026 Rankings In August?</h3>   We update rankings four times a year: In January, May, August, and midseason and all of them serve different purposes. In terms of sheer size, August isn't the biggest update, but it's important. Here, we're setting the tone for the season, making sure we're up to date before games start later this month.   But Will, what's changed since May? What is there to update?   That's a great question, reader, one I can answer here. To be honest, there's not much in terms of change. That's why our top 50 remained largely unchanged. Some rankings updates are primarily to move players, others are to add players.   Here, we focused on adding players to the rankings. In fact, only about 50 players moved up or down more than 10 spots, accounting for the players that were added. We added nearly 150 players.   There are over 500 high schools in North Carolina and covering them all can be difficult. Especially in the craziness of the season and spring, we miss players. The vast majority of the new players added were simply new to us. As Matt Morrow and I did deep dives, we found new players, hidden gems, and potential breakout stars.   Our conference preview and team previews series added dozens of players to the rankings. Some of them are guys I've missed: I couldn't believe we didn't have [player_tooltip player_id='1706156' first='Brandon' last='Pinkerton'] ranked before I dove into my <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/07/east-rutherford-cavaliers-2025-season-preview/">East Rutherford team preview</a>. I felt the same way about Panther Creek defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1678328' first='Jaysen' last='Oriol'], whose film I watched for a <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/06/deep-dive-wake-county-idls/">Wake County Deep Dive</a>. With a state this big, sometimes looking at it from a new perspective can help us find so many future college prospects.   We don't move players up or down because of offers, but we're also not infallible. We added two guys to the rankings who now have SEC offers, including Seventy-First defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1693969' first='Makijah' last='Latiker'], a guy with great film who we simply missed during the season. A Georgia offer holds weight, but he's not in the top 75 because the Bulldogs offered, he debuted there because he's that good.   We have several guys "overranked" compared to their current offer lists. We're higher on [player_tooltip player_id='1076281' first='Cameron' last='Melvin'], [player_tooltip player_id='736967' first='Cohen' last='Kilgannon'], [player_tooltip player_id='1099168' first='Lan' last='Farmer'], and numerous others than their offer lists indicate. We have Division II commit [player_tooltip player_id='1194747' first='Brandon' last='Bevilacqua'] above numerous FBS commits. In other places, our rankings match other sites and college recruiting boards because there's a better consensus on some prospects.   Expect our midseason rankings to have more drastic changes than this update. Simply put, the season matters and what players do on the field is a huge part of our rankings. For now, celebrate the scores of newly-ranked players.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Numbers</h3>   Let's dive into some numbers around this rankings update. Last update was the first in which I tracked rankings stats and I did it again this time. Take a look at some of the key numbers in this update:   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/whelms21/status/1952353591903011285 </div></figure>   That group of 135 new players includes 130 who went straight to the rankings from off our board completely. In our various series this summer we were able to watch A LOT of film. Accordingly, we've actually already written about the majority of the players added to the rankings (As always, click on a player's profile to see every article we've ever written about him) and we're excited to see these guys in action this fall.   Another note: When we add a lot of new players, it becomes harder for existing players to move up, especially in the back half of the rankings, so I'm pretty proud of those 63 stock-risers who move dup in spite of the difficulties.   And yes, I'm also pumped about our new class record. Here's to getting 600 ranked seniors by January.   If you have other questions or want me to further break down some of the numbers, just reach out on Twitter (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>).   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">From Unranked to Top 200</h3>   Who moved into the top 200 from completely unranked? Check out this list:   [player_tooltip player_id='1693969' first='Makijah' last='Latiker'], Seventy-First   [player_tooltip player_id='1698756' first='Eisa' last='Evans'], Reagan   [player_tooltip player_id='1368435' first='Kyle' last='Bynes'], Palisades   [player_tooltip player_id='1393063' first='Robert' last='McCollum'], Dudley   [player_tooltip player_id='1743711' first='Devin' last='Goldston'], Leesville Road   [player_tooltip player_id='1718578' first='Maddox' last='McDowell'], Garner Magnet   [player_tooltip player_id='1732008' first='Dorrian' last='Medley'], Hickory   [player_tooltip player_id='1678328' first='Jaysen' last='Oriol'], Panther Creek   [player_tooltip player_id='1737717' first='Marcus' last='Monroe'], North Raleigh Christian   [player_tooltip player_id='1751616' first='Elijah' last='Bachiller'], Palisades   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Movers</h3>   While we will write new evaluations this week on every player who moves up even one spot in the rankings, I want to give special recognition to our biggest movers. These stock-risers each moved up at least 50 spots in the rankings:   [player_tooltip player_id='1301224' first='Preston' last='Broadway'], Metrolina Christian (+50)   [player_tooltip player_id='1068199' first='Zion' last='Wright'], New Bern (+52)   [player_tooltip player_id='1671881' first='Vincent' last='Rosen'], Charlotte Christian (+56)   [player_tooltip player_id='1600773' first='Quinn' last='Rucker'], South Mecklenburg (+62)   [player_tooltip player_id='1644371' first='Hayne' last='Tobias'], Union Pines (+64)   Camereon Cartilidge, Walkertown (+69)   [player_tooltip player_id='1672011' first='Brant' last='Graham'], West Rowan (+72)   [player_tooltip player_id='1572073' first='Elijah' last='Clayton'], Union Pines (+88)   [player_tooltip player_id='1408773' first='Tyler' last='Powell'], Tarboro (+92)   [player_tooltip player_id='1671988' first='Penn' last='Craver'], Myers Park (+92)   [player_tooltip player_id='1672006' first='Taquan' last='Ellerbe Jr']., Red Springs (+96)   [player_tooltip player_id='1600223' first='Bryson' last='Simpkins'], Monroe (+103)   [player_tooltip player_id='1600181' first='Jamarae' last='Lamb'], Wallace Rose-Hill (+145)   [player_tooltip player_id='1663808' first='Malachi' last='Harris'], East Wake (+174)   [player_tooltip player_id='1671990' first='Alex' last='Pannell'], Southern Durham (+238)   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Watchlist-To-Ranked Leaps</h3>   Finally, I love highlighting watchlist-to-ranked movement. To me, it's the best example of everyone winning. Many of our watchlist players get placed there as we wait for them to breakout. The guys who move from watchlist to well within the rankings often do that based on an outstanding camp performance or leave us otherwise impressed after an in-person or deep dive film evaluation. Here's a list of players who jumped from the watchlist into the top 350:   [player_tooltip player_id='1612488' first='Camden' last='Toni'], Willow Spring   [player_tooltip player_id='1368124' first='Matthew' last='Barber'], Charlotte Latin   [player_tooltip player_id='1644205' first='Leo' last='Housel-Rajacich'], Reagan   [player_tooltip player_id='1659584' first='Reginald' last='Holmes'], Wilson Prep   [player_tooltip player_id='1581460' first='Jay' last='Murray'], West Carteret   There's plenty to come from Matt Morrow, Joshua Graham, and I on the 2026 rankings over the next week. Stay locked in with Prep Redzone for more insights, evaluations, and rankings updates. Want to share Prep Redzone with a friend? Promo code Helms30 will get them 30% off their first billing cycle for any subscription.

There's a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into each rankings update. Some of the process is the same for every update, but some things are unique to each class and time of year. We updated our rankings for the rising senior class just before they begin their final year on the field.