2027 Watch List: 6 Early Specialists to Know

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2027 Watch List has made its debut and 100 of some of the top freshmen in the state have been added. While there will be many more added through the next three years, it's important to recognize some of the 2027 prospects and start getting them on the radar. Here are some 2027 specialists that have shown early signs of developing into future college prospects.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["865341"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"[player_tooltip player_id='865341' first='Micah' last='Cuthbert'] earned some accolades this season as the varsity kicker for the Independence Patriots and is the first 2027 specialist you need to know in this class. Cuthbert was a First Team All-Coalfields Conference selection as a kicker, the only freshman specialist to earn post-season honors. The 5'7 165 freshman is a smooth operator on PATs showcasing fluid mechanics and swing. Cuthbert consistently gets the ball inside the 15-yard line on kickoffs and should improve his power with further weight room development over the next three years. He had good ball placement on called angled and short kickoffs including a pretty and high-bouncing successful onside kick. Cuthbert was successful on a 27-yard field goal during his freshman campaign as well. The biggest thing for him moving forward will be strengthening his leg and pushing the ball closer to the goal line on kickoffs and more evidence of field goal ability.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65b868cdb1264"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18440876/65981ce6b0193012e069f59e' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471c964"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1155329"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"The Bridgeport Indians have an exciting 2027 specialist who doubles as a talented skill player in [player_tooltip player_id='1155329' first='Gavin' last='Williams']. Williams got some varsity run later in the season but was a dynamic player on the Indians' freshmen team. On the freshmen team, Williams booted a 44-yard field goal, his lone attempt, that would've been good from 50+. He was also incredibly accurate on PATs missing just one kick on 39 attempts. Williams was plenty worthy of being in our 2027 RBs to Know article as he rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 19 total touchdowns while totaling just under 1,500 all-purpose yards on the freshmen team. Williams produced when his name was called on the varsity team too where he converted on 24/26 PATs and averaged 35 yards per punt on 2 attempts. The 5'9 155 freshman has a bright future in the Indians' backfield and as a specialist who I bet will put up some big numbers on the varsity team in the future as a skill player too.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471c9f7"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18089886/653bb75a478cf5046ca42d4d' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471ca25"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1155330"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Another varsity starting kicker in the 2027 class was Parkersburg South's [player_tooltip player_id='1155330' first='James' last='Thompson']. Thompson was a reliable placekicker for the Patriots this season as a freshman. He was successful on 80% of his PAT attempts making 35/42 and converted on his only field goal attempt on a 26-yarder. Thompson has a high trajectory on his extra points that will benefit him on more future field goal attempts. Thompson had a lot of reps out of the muddle huddle on PATs which allowed him to kick under pressure showing calmness with free defenders bearing down on him. I thought he showed consistency on his swings, but that is always an area for improvement with more repetitions that he'll get over the next three years. The biggest thing about his game that I'll be looking for next year and further down the road is his kickoff ability. Thompson saw some spot duty there this season, but South will be looking for a new #1 guy there in 2024. I'd also like to see if he can handle punting duties to make him a more versatile kicker, but Thompson is certainly a name to follow in the 2027 specialist group over the next three years.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471cac0"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19656030/654901ac5eec0a0b902bfa7d' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471caed"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1162102"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Parkersburg may just have their next [player_tooltip player_id='370284' first='Casey' last='Stanley'] in 2027 K/ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1162102' first='Cole' last='Sisk']. Like Stanley, Sisk doubled as a talented skill player for the Big Reds along with handling specialist duties on their younger team this season. The 5'9 150 freshman has a limited sample set of highlights available right now, but from the ones available, you can tell he has the potential to develop into a multi-faceted athlete on their varsity team in the future. Sisk can handle all specialist kicking and punting duties flashing the ability to do so at a quality level for a freshman. He gets great ball height on PATs with an athletic swing with obvious power. The lone punting highlight was a beauty traveling 40 yards from the line of scrimmage with good hang time. I'm excited to follow Sisk over the next three years and believe he may develop into one of the top specialist prospects in this class with intriguing skill position ability.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471cb69"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19700112/65b3f8036e81a8123cfd54d3' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471cb95"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["864957"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"Clay County boasts a talented 2026 kicker in [player_tooltip player_id='1133948' first='Jaxon' last='Brown'] but 2027 [player_tooltip player_id='864957' first='TJ' last='Pritt'] will have the opportunity to learn behind him and be the next man up. His best kicking is well ahead of him and is very raw right now, but I believe Pritt can greatly improve over the next three years and develop into a college kicker prospect. He saw some varsity spot duty as a freshman for the Panthers making a PAT and averaging over 30 yards on kickoffs. I was impressed with Pritt's calmness on his successful PAT kick against Mount View in horrible weather and field conditions with a bad snap. His mechanics on kickoffs are a work in progress, but when Pritt uses better fluidity from run-up to kick you can see his power greatly increases. If he continues putting in the work over the off-seasons the next three years and fine-tunes his mechanics, Pritt can work himself into being a notable specialist by his senior year.","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471cc14"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/19402436/6535e39296760609240cfb39' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65baa9471cc3d"} /--> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1168050"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"u003culu003ern tu003cliu003eNo film at this timeu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eTop 2024 K [player_tooltip player_id='370292' first='Eli' last='Tucker'] will graduate leaving an open spot for Petry to step in for 2024u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eFilled in on varsity for the injured Tucker at beginning of the 2023 seasonu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003e15 kickoffs in 2023 with a 32.5 average and long of 45u003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eWent 5/6 on PATsu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eMulti-sport athleteu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://twitter.com/ClaytonPetry27u0022u003eTwitter/Xu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ern tu003cliu003eu003ca href=u0022https://www.hudl.com/profile/20174119/Clay-Petryu0022u003eHudlu003c/au003eu003c/liu003ernu003c/ulu003e","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-65bab01c653e5"} /-->