Breakout Candidates: 6 Linebackers Who Could Step Up

We're slowly approaching the 2026 high school football season in North Carolina. One of my favorite preseason exercises is looking at potential breakout candidates: guys who go from relative unknowns to household names. We usually start with the quarterbacks, but we're going defense first in this one. Let's look at six linebackers who could break through on the field this fall.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Predicting Breakout Linebackers</h2>   Editor's Note: Check out our other breakouts pieces:   <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/07/breakout-candidates-5-dbs-expected-to-step-up/">DBs</a>    Lane's name continues to come up in conversations we've had with coaches and trainers. When I asked CAP 8A coaches and players <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2026/08/cap-8a-coaches-name-their-under-the-radar-player/">which guys could surprise this season</a>, Lane's name came up twice. He's undersized, but he's put in the work in the weight room to take his game to the next level. I think he could have a huge year for an under-the-radar Leesville Road defense.     Even on a defense full of future FBS players, Heath's name keeps coming up as one of the steadiest players on Southeast Raleigh's roster. He had a solid year last season, but looks poised for a big step forward in 2026. The coaching staff is high on the rising senior, and we think he could have a tremendous senior season.     Earnest has been on our radar for a while, and we honestly thought he'd have a breakout year last season. This year, I'm more convinced he's going to make a big impact, as he's bigger, stronger, and faster than last year, when he played well on the JV squad. He can flow sideline-to-sideline and has shown excellent play recognition, able to react quickly to what the offense is doing.     Breakout is a broad term, and in one sense, Werts already did that with a fantastic season-ending performance as a freshman. He had a 12-tackle, three-sack game in a playoff loss to Lake Norman and is back as a sophomore. Unsurprisingly, he's expected to have a larger role, and I'm intrigued to see what Werts can do with a full season's worth of work. He's smooth in the open field and closes in a hurry, making him a potential 100-tackle player.     Another sophomore, Washington has great size and good speed, and he flashed as a freshman. This year, he'll have an increased workload on an intriguing defense. Given his ability to go sideline-to-sideline, we think Washington is a candidate to break out with a huge sophomore season.     Johnson flashed last year on a deep defense, but really made a name for himself in the offseason. Now, he'll need to prove that he's a consistent high-level defender on a down-to-down basis. He has elite closing speed, and as he grows in his processing, he has the potential to be both an elite run defender and a high-upside coverage linebacker.    <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Other Potential LB Breakouts</h3>   Joshua Price | Corinth Hodlers   [player_tooltip player_id='1925428' first='Mike' last='Burgos Resendiz'] | Christ School   [player_tooltip player_id='1647668' first='Elijah' last='Fulton'] | Smithfield-Selma   The 2026 high school football season is nearly here. Think we missed somebody? Let me know on Twitter/X (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>). Want to send this to a friend? Help them get 30% off their first billing cycle with promo code Helms30.

We're slowly approaching the 2026 high school football season in North Carolina. One of my favorite preseason exercises is looking at potential breakout candidates: guys who go from relative unknowns to household names. We usually start with the quarterbacks, but we're going defense first in this one. Let's look at six linebackers who could break through on the field this fall.