Six 2027 New Orleans prospects to watch this season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Louisiana high schools are fast approaching fall football camp and, in just over a month, the 2026 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A strong wave of talent coming through the state means plenty of notable players to watch — as usual for the typically rich recruiting ground — including many for the final go-round in their respective high school seasons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Heading into August, Prep Redzone Louisiana will take a look around the state region-by-region at some of the most promising student-athletes to take a Friday night to see while they're close before heading off to college opportunities around the country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are half a dozen seniors from New Orleans — not including the neighboring bayou, river and north shore regions which will have their own separate articles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='723579' first='Easton' last='Royal'] —5-11, 205 WR — Brother Martin</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Crusaders' star is one of the top prospects to watch not only in the city and state, but the entire country both in terms of his elite and electric performance on the field and in the continued intrigue of his recruiting process as home-state LSU fights to flip him from Texas. Him having a college future was obvious from an early age as a smooth athlete with great hands and feel for the game, and he's only been a rocket ship from there in his continued development and the notoriety to go along with it to the point at which he's now one of the best wide receiver prospects to come out of a state with a prodigious track record of producing them. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1323402' first='Miguel' last='Whitley'] — 6-0, 180 WR — St. Augustine </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1356127' first='Ray'Quan' last='Williams'] — 6-0, 165 WR — St. Augustine </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three of the top handful or so of the wide receivers in Louisiana's strong class at the position reside in the same city and district, including two on the same team. Whitley and Williams are among the recruiting headliners of a Purple Knights program that reached a title game this past December for the first time since the 1970s and is among the top tier of contenders for the crown again this year. Whitley, a major stock-riser during the past year, committed to Ole Miss early in the summer. Williams, who committed to Tulane early this summer, has been stalled some by injuries during the past couple of years, but is now healthy again, gearing up for a season in which he is eager to disprove any doubters and receiving new Power-Four offers eager to challenge the Green Wave for his signature. And while the dynamic duo that has been making plays for St. Augustine for years draw the heaviest recruiting and media attention, the team has several talented wide receivers capable of big plays, games and seasons. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1610129' first='Juelz' last='Batiste'] — 6-3, 225 EDGE — Edna Karr</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1593649' first='Zyion' last='Wesley'] — 6-4, 285 OL — Edna Karr</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For an Edna Karr team dealing with more doubters than usual because of its heavy 2026 graduations, the talent — both returning and on the rise — in Algiers remains quite impressive. In terms of the established and highly recruiting rising seniors, Batiste and Wesley are the top-billed. Batiste is a long, disruptive edge rusher who had his share of highlights as a junior among a senior-loaded front seven and has kept his head down in preparation for a final high school season in which he knows opponents will more heavily key in on slowing him down — or at least trying to. Wesley is a powerful, tenacious mauler up from on offense and a fiery and hard-nosed leader of not only his line group, but the program. They committed this summer to Ole Miss and Mississippi State, respectively, meaning their practice battles could ultimately make their way to Egg Bowl matchups in the SEC. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='934561' first='Rontrae' last='Carter'] — 5-11, 165 DB — Archbishop Shaw</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The one-time wunderkind, all-district eight-grader is now a TCU-committed prospect set for his fifth and final season of a decorated prep career. Few, if any, players in the state have been making as many plays and at as high a level as long as Carter, but he remains hungry to not only get back to Caesars Superdome for a third straight December, but to bring home a second title in three years. Carter is an instinct and explosive athlete who helps set a hard-hitting tone to the Eagles' defense and is just as likely to blow up a play behind the line of scrimmage as the read and jump a pass play back in coverage to snatch an interception.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->