Behind the Scenes of the 2027 Rankings: January Update

Welcome to rankings update week! For the next two weeks, the class of 2027 is in the spotlight as this group of rising seniors becomes our oldest class. Earlier, I gave readers t<a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/01/three-things-to-know-about-the-class-of-2027/">hree things to know</a> about the 2027 class. Here, as I do every update, I'm going behind the scenes to give readers an idea of some of the thought and numbers that went into the latest 2027 rankings update.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Behind the Scenes of the January Rankings Update: 2027 Class</h2>   We're always player-focused, so I'll never write a piece without including plenty of thoughts on the players themselves.   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.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Update the 2027 Rankings in January?</h3>   This is the easiest rankings update to explain. The season ended in December, so we wrapped up the season in the immediate aftermath of the playoffs. Then, we jumped into reviewing film, production, and updated measurements to give readers a rankings update we can be proud of.   This is a balanced update. What I mean by that is that while some updates are heavier on additions and others are more focused on player movement within the rankings, this postseason update tends to be a mixture of both. We added 66 new players and moved 74 players up at least one spot (Something that mathematically becomes increasingly more difficult with every new player added). Overall, 140 players either rose in the rankings or were added to the rankings. That's about 29% of the 479 players currently ranked, and where we'll spend the majority of our time over the next two weeks.   We always blend production and upside in our rankings process, but given that this update comes directly after the season, it's heavily influenced by production here.   There will be plenty of time to prioritize future stars and potential breakout players in the next update, but here, the majority of our stock-risers moved because of good, old-fashioned success on the field.   You'll also find that a lot of the players who moved in this update were on teams that made deep playoff runs. Why? Simply because those players had more opportunities between our midseason update and now, usually against top teams.   You'll find plenty of state leaders who rose in this update. North Stanly's [player_tooltip player_id='1727067' first='Nathan' last='Helms'] led all juniors in North Carolina with seven interceptions, while improving as a run-stopper and tackler. Dudley's [player_tooltip player_id='1953561' first='Devin' last='Cotton'] got off to a strong start and was a new addition in the last update. He finished the year with a flurry of sacks (10.5 from October on) to lead all juniors in the category.   We also had a few "market corrections," as I like to call them. These are players who moved drastically more because we had them misranked before than because of some sort of first-time production on their part. Providence Day's [player_tooltip player_id='1670269' first='Nick' last='Cherry'] and Cherryville's [player_tooltip player_id='1614576' first='Jackson' last='Heavner'] fit this description.   Cherry had his second-straight All-Conference season, so it wasn't a dramatic improvement in play. Instead, in combing through the rankings, we realized Cherry was probably ranked lower than he should have been, so we moved him up into the FCS range.   Heavner was actually hurt for about half of Cherryville's season, but his strong start to the year reminded us of how impressed we've been with him in the past.   Aside from a handful, though, this update was mainly to add players who became increasingly more productive as the season progressed, and to boost players who continue to improve on the field.   We'll have plenty of coverage on all our new players and movers throughout the week. Let's look at some of the stats that tell the story of this update.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Numbers</h2>   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:   <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/2011141936686797274?s=20 </div></figure>   In this final section, I'll list several accolades and the players who told the story of this update.   If you have other questions or want me to break down some of the numbers further, just reach out on Twitter (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>).   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">From Unranked To Top 200</h3>   While we'll have full scouting reports on all 66 newly-ranked players, we want to give special recognition to the players who moved into the top half of the rankings. Here's every player who moved from unranked to the Top 200.   [player_tooltip player_id='1422524' first='Josh' last='Dobson']* | DB | Hough   [player_tooltip player_id='1607067' first='Andrew' last='Rogers']** | Edge | Grimsley   [player_tooltip player_id='2104567' first='Kessler' last='Petrarca'] | WR | Southern Lee   [player_tooltip player_id='2056052' first='Cooper' last='Hodson'] | OL | Providence Day   [player_tooltip player_id='1957195' first='Davis' last='Weycker'] | LB | Piedmont   [player_tooltip player_id='2089461' first='Sean' last='Kraft'] | LS | Asheville Christian   [player_tooltip player_id='2104572' first='Jalen' last='Jones'] | DB/LB | Dudley   [player_tooltip player_id='2104464' first='Amir' last='Moore'] | Edge | Harrells Christian   [player_tooltip player_id='2085724' first='CJ' last='Dickerson'] | DL | Hunt   [player_tooltip player_id='2078249' first='Landon' last='Hollifield'] | LB | Shelby   *Transferred into North Carolina **Reclassified from Class of 2026   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Movers</h3>   We'll have coverage on all 74 Stock-Risers, but I'm giving special recognition to the 14 players who moved at least 25 spots:   [player_tooltip player_id='1600453' first='Trey' last='Floyd'] | Ath. | Cannon School (+145)   [player_tooltip player_id='1670269' first='Nick' last='Cherry'] | OL | Providence Day (+138)   [player_tooltip player_id='1150991' first='Moreno' last='Fisher Jr.'] | OL/DL | Independence (+132)   [player_tooltip player_id='1865522' first='Desyn' last='Durand'] | WR | Hoggard (+131)   [player_tooltip player_id='1607782' first='Aury' last='Greenfield'] | QB | Jay M. Robinson (+109)   [player_tooltip player_id='1668973' first='Sione' last='Latimore'] | WR/TE | Cox Mill (+95)   [player_tooltip player_id='1953561' first='Devin' last='Cotton'] | Edge | Dudley (+90)   [player_tooltip player_id='534079' first='Rahlai' last='Anderson'] | RB | Northside-Jacksonville (+73)   [player_tooltip player_id='1727067' first='Nathan' last='Helms'] | DB | North Stanly (+53)   [player_tooltip player_id='1614576' first='Jackson' last='Heavner'] | RB/WR | Cherryville (+47)   [player_tooltip player_id='1788073' first='Jackson' last='Heath'] | DB | Hough (+39)   [player_tooltip player_id='1675176' first='Landon' last='Walker'] | Edge/DL | Cedar Ridge (+37)   [player_tooltip player_id='1953755' first='Mez' last='Harris'] | QB/DB | Hunt (+34)   [player_tooltip player_id='1348404' first='Landen' last='Agee'] | RB/DB | North Lincoln (+28)   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Watchlist-to-Ranked Jumps</h3>   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:   [player_tooltip player_id='1788164' first='Tauatevalu' last='Tuionetoa'] | OL | Hough   [player_tooltip player_id='1788242' first='Tyson' last='Stancil'] | LB | West Mecklenburg   [player_tooltip player_id='1702088' first='Faison' last='Manning'] | LB/RB | A.L. Brown   [player_tooltip player_id='1720935' first='Ricky' last='Trower'] | LB/RB | Overhills   [player_tooltip player_id='1154553' first='Mookah' last='Simpson'] | RB | T.C. Roberson   There's plenty to come from Matt Morrow, Joshua Graham, and I on the 2027 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.

Welcome to rankings update week! For the next two weeks, the class of 2027 is in the spotlight as this group of rising seniors becomes our oldest class. Earlier, I gave readers three things to know about the 2027 class. Here, as I do every update, I'm going behind the scenes to give readers an idea of some of the thought and numbers that went into the latest 2027 rankings update.