Five 2028 Outstate LBs to Watch

We dive back into the homeland of the great state of Minnesota for this one, as I took a deep drive at the tape from five Outstate linebackers in the 2028 class that folks should have their eyes on in the coming years which includes, a 2028 from Caledonia who I believe is "next up" to play at the Division 1 level, a couple LBs that missed their 2025 seasons but are destined for comeback years in 2026, and more!    Jacob missed his sophomore season at Rochester Century, but man rolling back his tape from his freshmen season there's some good skillsets to look forward to in 2026. Jacob shows off the instincts you look for at the middle linebacker position and doesn't take long to show it. He's one that you can tell carries a well-versed motor especially when he's crashing thru blockers like dominoes to cause his share of chaos in the backfield. He also shows off a great first step to penetrate into the backfield, going back to that instinctive I mentioned as well. Surely a 2028 prospect out of Rochester I'll have to keep tracking in the 2026 season.     I drive past St. Cloud Cathedral just about every day, so seeing that the Crusaders have our LB3 in the 2028 class at the moment, I had to get a glimpse of 2028 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1654632' first='John' last='Hughes']. The first look that I liked from John on tape, is his persistency he has with getting ideal position angles on the ball carrier. He shows off what appears to be a sound tackler at the point of attack, and one provides assurance when he makes intial contact as a run-stopper. Where John left likely his biggest mark in my eyes is playing out in space, as the 6'1 175 pounder plays bigger than his measurables in space and you see the motor that this young man has at his disposal.     Parker might be one of the more undersized linebackers on this list of Outstaters, but he surely has skillsets that caught my attention quickly. He shows off great vision from his first look and uses that smaller frame to his advantage to squeeze thru tight windows downhill to make a sure tackle. He shows off impressive read steps that generates great downhill penetration into the backfield. He's one linebacker that surprised me with his range he carries at his size. Parker is surely a linebacker that plays with a chip on his shoulder.   <a href="https://x.com/ParkerBurmeist2">TWITTER</a>     Coming out of 2A powerhouse Jackson County Central is 2028 linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1652558' first='Kollin' last='Brennan'] who we got the chance to watch live and in person at US Bank Stadium a couple short months ago. Kollin's one of the biggest linebackers we have on this Outstate list, but what I liked on tape about Kollin is how he fits in tight windows down to the ball carrier as he uses his athleticism to his advantage. He also possesses the sudden twitch that you want your linebackers to have getting downhill to the ball carrier which Kollin's is intriguing to me as he possesses nearly ideal measurables already for the college level. He's one that I could surely see rising up in this 2028 class here soon.   <a href="https://x.com/Kollin_Brennan">TWITTER</a>     Cooper goes down as one of my favorite camp finds last summer in this Minnesota 2028 class, as he put together some excellent live reps at the SDSU prospect camp. It's also worth mentioning that in what I recall was a stacked group of upperclassmen linebackers, Cooper got pulled up to the upperclassmen group for his play that we had a front row seat for. His 2026 tape shows off the smooth soft hands that I saw last summer and one that generates power very quickly to drive the ball carrier backwards which seems to be awfully common the more you watch Cooper on tape in 2025. He has excellent vision and in my honest opinion, has some of the tighest window to scratch and crawl thru more than any linebacker in this group which is certainly why he's our LB2 in the class. The 6'3 215 pounder, should be the next 2028 target out of powerhouse Caledonia that you see playing Division 1 football from my view.

We dive back into the homeland of the great state of Minnesota for this one, as I took a deep drive at the tape from five Outstate linebackers in the 2028 class that folks should have their eyes on in the coming years which includes, a 2028 from Caledonia who I believe is "next up" to play at the Division 1 level, a couple LBs that missed their 2025 seasons but are destined for comeback years in 2026, and more!