Behind the Scenes of the 2027 Rankings Update: October

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's rankings update time, and this week, the 2027 class takes center stage. There will be plenty of time to highlight big movers and new players, going in-depth on specific players. Here, though, is one of my favorite exercises. I'm bringing subscribers behind the curtain, so to speak, giving them an idea of our thought processes with this update. Who moved, and why?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Behind the Scenes of the Midseason Rankings Update: 2027 Class</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We're always player-focused, so I'll never write a piece without including plenty of thoughts on the players themselves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But we can still take a look at big-picture themes. Here, I've got numbers, stats, and thoughts to accompany our rankings update. I always welcome your thoughts and feedback as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Update the 2026 Rankings in October?</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We've never done a midseason rankings update, at least while I've been at Prep Redzone North Carolina. So, why this year? Honestly, the easiest answer is because we can. As in, we have the infrastructure, manpower, and time to put together an update.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last year, it was frustrating having to wait all season to post rankings that included players we put on the back end of the site after Week 1. So, instead of making the players who have balled out from the first snap of the season wait another 6-8 weeks to see themselves with a number on their profiles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our biggest focus in this update was early-season performance. We prioritized moving up players who have excelled on the field. These players are juniors now, and plenty of athletes are reaching or even raising their potential, putting up numbers to back up their athleticism. Some of the guys who moved up are thriving in their first extended varsity action, while others are embracing expanded roles. We tried not to punish any player too harshly for not starting or for not playing as well, but we did bump players down to make room for guys who are impressing on the field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We didn't throw out our priors. We still remember strong camp performances. We also watched less film over the first seven weeks of the season than in the offseason. We focused more on what we saw live, what we picked up after games, and what we've heard from coaches around the state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To be honest, I don't have a full grip on this class. There are plenty of guys we identified early, many of whom have had some growing pains. There are also plenty of late bloomers who are just coming into their own. Odds are, we'll have plenty more guys pop up in the next 15 months.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I do feel confident that this class has a few truly elite prospects. While we shook up the top six, there's little to separate these guys. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1607779' first='Jaxon' last='Dollar']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1678635' first='Jalaythan' last='Mayfield']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='320308' first='Xavier' last='Hasan']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1553113' first='Rashad' last='Streets']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='651173' first='Quinton' last='Cypher']</strong>, and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1610603' first='Tre' last='Geathers']</strong> are all future high Power 4 starters, and several could play early.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What do they have in common? Elite physical traits. And they're not yet close to their technical ceilings. That's great for the junior class. Only Hasan and Cypher are what I'd call true technicians at their respective positions, and even they could grow in some of the nuances. But we've seen plenty of growth from these guys, and their trajectories imply they'll be substantially better a year from now as they continue to develop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Numbers</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Let's dive into some numbers around this rankings update. I've started tracking stats for our rankings, giving some insight into the update. Take a look at some of the key numbers in this update:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/whelms21/status/1977857630467916204","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <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/1977857630467916204 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There weren't as many new players as I'd hoped, perhaps because the senior class is so deep, but we still added 34 worthy players. Accordingly, this update was heavy on movement, with 64 players moving up at least one spot. Of those, plenty moved up a lot more, including 16 who moved 15+ places in the rankings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Our three biggest movers were guys who have shone in very different ways this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1608319' first='Max' last='Davis']</strong> has been a star for Burns against top competition, and the film is even better than the impressive stats. Charlotte Catholic's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1706428' first='Aidan' last='Flynn']</strong> looks like one of the better kickers we've covered, while Cleveland's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1702810' first='Owen' last='Hulbert']</strong> has gone from relative obscurity to another in a long line of great Cleveland quarterbacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In this final section, I'll list several accolades and the players who told the story of this update.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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>).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">From Unranked to Top-300</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Of those 34 new players, several went straight from off the radar to well within the rankings. Here's every player who went from unranked to the top 300</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1953538' first='Tristan' last='Thompson-Wynn'], </strong>WR/DB, Brevard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1923076' first='Eric' last='Henriquez']</strong>, LB, Porter Ridge</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1953561' first='Devin' last='Cotton']</strong>, Edge, Dudley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1953767' first='Ramir' last='Watson']</strong>, QB, Myers Park</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1895409' first='Amari' last='Pearson']</strong>, RB, Jacksonville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1654254' first='Jackson' last='Tolbert']</strong>, QB, Christ School</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1149027' first='Hez' last='Krider Jr'].</strong>, RB, HPCA</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1844273' first='SaRonn' last='Thompson']</strong>, WR, Jacksonville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1865522' first='Desyn' last='Durand']</strong>, WR, Hoggard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Movers</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>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 25 spots in the rankings:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1608319' first='Max' last='Davis'].</strong> RB, Burns (+165)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1706428' first='Aidan' last='Flynn']</strong>, K, Charlotte Catholic (+147)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1702810' first='Owen' last='Hulbert']</strong>, QB, Cleveland (+118)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1334992' first='R'maunni' last='Watson']</strong>, QB, Seventy-First (+47)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1580801' first='Joseph' last='Bailey'], </strong>DB, South Garner (+40)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1666255' first='Landon' last='Lee']</strong>, WR/DB, Stuart W. Cramer (+30)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1078753' first='Ethan' last='McGarrigan']</strong>, QB, Apex Friendship (+28)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1622591' first='Ethan' last='Cuadra']</strong>, LB/DB, Mountain Island Charter (+27)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1649251' first='Noah' last='Nelson']</strong>, OL, Enloe (+26)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Watchlist-to-Ranked Jumps</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I end all of these with watchlist-to-ranked. I love these because everybody wins. We put guys on the watchlist primarily if we know of them, but haven't seen much varsity film. These are all players with potential but little production. When the production comes, we can slide them into the rankings. When they impress, they move far into the rankings. Here are the five highest-ranked players who moved from the watchlist this update.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1776529' first='Ferrell' last='Price']</strong>, QB, Northern Guilford (267)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1663329' first='John' last='Erguiza']</strong>, WR, Union Pines (277)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1788239' first='Chris' last='Baker']</strong>, LB, Forest Hills (312)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1788111' first='Avery' last='Hollifield']</strong>, QB, A.C. Reynolds (384)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1704843' first='Loyalty' last='Fuller']</strong>, LB, Ayden-Grifton (386)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>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.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->