The Top Breakout Star At Each Position In 2025

Get 25% off your subscription by entering Knight25 in the coupon code area. Enjoy!   The 2025 football season has come to an end and the calendar has officially flipped to 2026. Throughout the month of January, we'll be putting the spotlight on some of the top individuals from the 2025 football season. From All State Teams to our Player Of The Year award and much more! In today's post, we're recognizing the top breakout stars at every position. For some of these athletes, we knew about them back in August but they were still waiting to break out under the Friday night lights. Keep it locked in to Prep Redzone Oklahoma for more individual spotlights throughout the month. And be sure to check out our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@PrepRedzoneOklahoma">PRZ-Oklahoma YouTube Channel</a> for exclusive (and free) video content recapping the 2025 football season!   QUARTERBACK - [player_tooltip player_id='1522514' first='Nash' last='Henry'] - Sophomore - Norman North   Norman North sophomore quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1522514' first='Nash' last='Henry'] isn't your typical "breakout star" compared to some of the other players on this list. Henry has been a name that's been known in football circles for the majority of the last two years. He was definitely a prospect that it wasn't a matter of "if" but "when" he had that breakout moment. And it didn't take long for him as he emerged as QB1 for the Timberwolves in 2025. In his last two games of September, Henry threw for over 900 yards and seven touchdowns. Overall, he threw for over 3,200 yards and 29 touchdowns while completing 62% of his passes. When you look at Norman North over the last decade, one thing they do is produce D1 quarterbacks at a very high level. Henry could very well be the next man up and he has two more years to prove just that.   RUNNING BACK - [player_tooltip player_id='693905' first='Delijah' last='Matthews'] - Junior - Carl Albert   A lot of what was said about Henry can be repeated here with running back [player_tooltip player_id='693905' first='Delijah' last='Matthews'] from Carl Albert. Matthews was at the top of the list for predicting the possible breakout stars of the 2025 football season and he certainly did that. And just like Norman North has become a factory for D1 quarterbacks, the same can be said with running backs at Carl Albert. Matthews is the next guy in line and it didn't take long for Matthews to solidify himself as one of the best running backs and one of the best overall players in the state. He finished the year with over 2,000 yards on the ground and broke the school's single season touchdown record. He was our <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/01/2025-players-of-the-year-by-class/">5A Player Of The Year</a> and also earned Gatorade Player Of The Year honors. There weren't many players that lived up to the hype more than Matthews in 2025.   WIDE RECEIVER - [player_tooltip player_id='1732291' first='Jamele' last='Alexander'] - Senior - Altus   Altus made a run back to the playoffs in 2025, finishing the year with an 8-3 record. You could circle a few different Bulldogs that fit under the "breakout star" umbrella. Senior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='1732291' first='Jamele' last='Alexander'] was lights out from start to finish and ended up being one of the top producing wide receivers in Class 5A. As Altus moved from a run-first offense to certainly more balanced, if not a pass-first attack, Alexander flourished. He finished the year with 89 catches for 1,219 yards and 17 touchdowns. His 17 receiving touchdowns were among the best in the state, regardless of class. Alexander is the only senior on this breakdown and the rare example of a player that had his breakout moment during his senior season. He went from a solid role player for Altus to one of the top receivers in Class 5A.   OFFENSIVE LINEMAN - [player_tooltip player_id='1833634' first='Gavin' last='Wilson'] - Sophomore - Bixby   This should come as a surprise to nobody that has followed this Bixby dynasty over the last decade. The Spartans have another emerging star on the offensive line. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1833634' first='Gavin' last='Wilson'] lined up for the Spartans at right tackle throughout the 2025 season. Coming into the year, we knew about their left tackle, who has solidified himself as one of the top 2027 prospects in the country. Now, it's clear that the Spartans have one of the top 2028 prospects in the country on the other side of the offensive line. Wilson's recruitment started to take off during his sophomore season and it has absolutely exploded in the month following the season. As we write this, he recently picked up an offer from Oregon. That's going to be just the tip of the iceberg for Bixby's latest marquee offensive line prospect.   DEFENSIVE LINEMAN - [player_tooltip player_id='1831885' first='Damon' last='Davis'] - Junior - Southeast   Southeast junior defensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1831885' first='Damon' last='Davis'] had a season similar to Henry at Norman North. It didn't take long to figure out he was going to be a name to know. In the third game of the season, Southeast shut out John Marshall 21-0. In the game, Davis finished with seven tackles, five coming behind the line of scrimmage and four sacks. Overall, Davis finished the year with 68 tackles, including 26 tackles for loss. He also totaled 14 and a half sacks on the season. Davis was also very helpful toward their turnover margin. He forced five fumbles and recovered four of them. He also had an interception and two blocked punts. For now, Davis is our breakout star on the defensive line. But his size and overall athletic ability project him to making a move to linebacker in the future.   LINEBACKER - [player_tooltip player_id='1829699' first='Kade' last='Klein'] - Sophomore - Jenks   We're cheating here. It's our list, we don't care. Jenks sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1829699' first='Kade' last='Klein'] might not be your traditional linebacker. Throw on the tape and you see plenty of plays that he made as a traditional linebacker but you also see him playing in the secondary and making plenty of plays as a "roving" defender that seems to be just as capable to break up a pass as he is to blow by an offensive lineman and hammer an opposing quarterback. Needless to say, Klein is going to be opposing quarterback's worst nightmare over the next two seasons. In the first game of the season, Klein was one of the more impactful defensive players on the field for a young Jenks defense. He ended up having a terrific breakout sophomore season. So no matter where he lines up on the field, he's going to have an impact.   DEFENSIVE BACK - [player_tooltip player_id='485526' first='Noah' last='Gillespie'] - Junior - Broken Arrow   It was around this time last year that Broken Arrow junior cornerback [player_tooltip player_id='485526' first='Noah' last='Gillespie'] picked up his first D1 offer from Tulsa. At the time, he was finishing up his sophomore year at Union and he was a 2027 prospect that certainly had a high upside. In the summer, he moved over to Broken Arrow, joining the Tigers and a secondary that was already full of elite D1 talent, specifically in the 2027 class. It didn't take long for Gillespie to earn his spot in the starting lineup and in our opinion, he was one of the best cornerbacks in the state, regardless of class. He was routinely matched up with a really good wide receiver and when he was tested, it seemed like he always had an answer. Gillespie is another example of a prospect was primed to have that breakout moment very soon and it certainly happened in 2025.   ATHLETE - [player_tooltip player_id='1633137' first='Lane' last='Simpson'] - Sophomore - Cushing   Going back over our notes from the summer, Cushing sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='1633137' first='Lane' last='Simpson'] was a player that we put the spotlight on as a potential breakout player. Cushing needed some new wide receivers to step up and Simpson was one that we thought could step into that role. He certainly backed up the preseason hype. He became one of the team's top weapons on offense, finishing the year with 47 catches for nearly 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. But he's our breakout star athlete for what he brought to both sides of the ball. Defensively, Simpson would emerge as one of the top ball hawks in the state. He finished the year with eight interceptions. Simpson looked like a player that had the makings of being one of the breakout stars but it was his play and his production from this fall that earned his spot here.

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