Combine Preview: ’26 Under the Radar Defensive Prospects to Watch
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130 prospects are already slated to make their way to Mylan Park in Morgantown, WV on May 4th to compete at the PRZ WV Combine Series! We’re here to give you a preview of who will be in attendance and…
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Continue Reading130 prospects are already slated to make their way to Mylan Park in Morgantown, WV on May 4th to compete at the PRZ WV Combine Series! We’re here to give you a preview of who will be in attendance and the talent that will be on hand. Here are the 2026 under-the-radar defensive prospects that will be in attendance that you need to watch for!
There are still spots left for our Combine coming to Morgantown, WV on May 4th! Code WVHSCombine24 will get you a discount if you’d like to attend! The deadline to register is May 2nd. For more information please click this link.
It’s been a while since we’ve last had the chance to see Robert C. Byrd defensive lineman Trevor Dean Trevor Dean 5’10” | 235 lbs | DL Robert C. Byrd | 2026 State WV in action, but that will change this Saturday at the combine. We haven’t gotten to see any updated film from his sophomore season yet, but Dean was highly impressive when we saw him in person at a camp the summer before his sophomore year. He earned MVP honors there and was dominant in 1-on-1s, so it will be great to see how he’s progressed since then. Size will be the big question for him moving forward at 5’10 235, but Dean didn’t let that stop him when we last saw him, and we expect more of the same a year later. Our biggest question for him to answer at the combine will be just how much has he progressed since we last saw him and whether has he taken the next step in his development.
Another prospect that we haven’t seen film of from his sophomore year but have seen him live in person before that impressed us is North Marion’s Toby Michael Toby Michael 6’0″ | 170 lbs | ATH North Marion | 2026 WV . Michael will be making the big jump from one of the smallest public schools in the state at Hundred to 2023 Class AA State Runner Up North Marion this upcoming season. He was Hundred’s workhorse last season on both sides of the ball as a run-first quarterback where he eclipsed 1,400 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns along with 157 total tackles and 14 TFLs on defense. We have Michael ranked as an ATH right now but likely translates most to linebacker at the next level. The two main questions we have for him heading into the combine are can he prove he can make the jump up in competition from a small school, and can he show he fits best as a linebacker prospect?
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Riverside’s Riley Gilmore Riley Gilmore 6’3″ | 170 lbs | ATH Riverside | 2026 WV will be a very interesting prospect to watch at the combine given his versatility as an athlete. He played everywhere for the Warriors last season and hasn’t cemented himself into one position yet. We have Gilmore ranked as an ATH right now, and will include him in the defensive combine preview, but he very well could work out as a QB at the event. He also saw reps at safety and as an OLB/Edge type player as a sophomore, and we like him at those spots the most right now with a limited QB sample size. That’ll be the question we have for him at the combine is which position he works out at, and can he show which one he fits best at this stage of his development. Gilmore could open eyes as a quarterback if he elects to compete at that position at the combine and could switch to that spot in our rankings in the future.
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Princeton’s Brady Cline Brady Cline 5’8″ | 165 lbs | LB Princeton | 2026 WV is another prospect who could be considered for the offensive or defensive side of the ball but will begin as a LB on our Watch List. Most of his available film from last season was at linebacker, so that’s the spot we like him the most at right now. Cline could compete with the RB or WR group as well at the combine but had some quality LB reps in his highlights. That’s the question we have for him to answer at the event is whether he’ll work out primarily as a LB or choose to get some offensive reps too. At 5’8 165, Cline still has some growing to do as a linebacker but appears to have the quickness and athleticism that you want for that position. We’ll get a better idea of his ability and outlook as a prospect at the combine, but he flashed quality athletic traits with the film he does have available.
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A new name on our radar heading into the combine will be Jefferson’s Leeland Benner Leeland Benner 5’11” | 200 lbs | LB Jefferson | 2026 WV who we like as a linebacker prospect right now. We’ve only gotten to see a very small sample size of his abilities so far from a few short highlights but will get a great look at him in person at the combine to see what he’s capable of. The few available clips make you intrigued as Benner has quality size as a sophomore at 5’11 200 and appears to have some quickness and speed to pair with it. It appears he has some versatility as a middle and outside linebacker who can rush the passer but is also athletic enough to drop into coverage. We’ll be looking for him to answer our questions about where he’s at in his development right now and whether the athletic ability he flashed on the limited tape he has available shows up at the combine.
The North Marion Huskies will have a large contingent of prospects competing at the combine and that will include 2026 LB Jacob Freels Jacob Freels 6’0″ | 215 lbs | LB North Marion | 2026 WV . We don’t have any film of Freels available to us right now, but that’s not always a bad thing, and he could show up at the combine and surprise us. He lists himself as a C/LB, but with 6’0 215 size, we like him as a linebacker prospect heading into the event. We’ll get a real idea and sample size of his ability at the combine which will be the question we’ll want him to answer for just what he’s capable of and his talent level at this point of his high school career. North Marion loses a lot of talent from their state runner-up team and will be looking for players like Freels to step up, and we’ll see if he’s going to be one of those underclassmen to do so. We’ll have more on Freels after the camp, but keep an eye on him as an under-the-radar prospect right now.
Nicholas County will have a representative at the combine, and it’s a good one in 2026 LB Devin Nash Devin Nash 5’11” | 200 lbs | LB Nicholas County | 2026 WV . Nash just missed the cut in the state rankings for our 2026 Top 125 in the spring rankings update, but a good performance at the combine could see himself ranked in the summer update. He was a WVSWA Class AA Honorable Mention All-State performer as a sophomore for the Grizzlies in 2023 and ranks inside the Top 20 as a LB in our positional rankings. Nash has quality size for a young linebacker at 5’11 200 and is your classic downhill run-stopping middle linebacker. He won’t get to show off those qualities as much in a camp setting without contact, but our question for him will be can he also perform in pass coverage? 1-on-1s and the combine testing drills will be eye-opening for us in that regard to get a better idea of his raw athleticism and ability. The physicality and play recognition are already there, so it will be great to see if he can show the versatility to be a complete linebacker prospect.
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Another new name on our radar heading into the combine is Lewis County’s Daniel Gillespie. He’s another prospect with no available film or info right now who’s ready to show what he can do. Gillespie is listed at a few different positions, but we anticipate he’ll compete mostly at linebacker at the combine. He’s listed at 5’9 195 which also bodes well for the linebacker position, but we’ll know more after the event. Our question for him to answer there will be the same for every prospect who doesn’t have any film available right now, what is Gillespie capable of? We’ll know more about him once the combine concludes and will have more information when we wrap up the event in our post-combine articles.
Another one of the many North Marion Huskies set to compete at the combine is Hunter Rogers Hunter Rogers 6’0″ | 225 lbs | DL North Marion | 2026 WV . Rogers is another new name on our radar who doesn’t have any film available right now but will show what he can do this Saturday. It’s always exciting to see prospects for the first time that you haven’t had the chance to see before and could end up surprising you. Rogers is listed as a 6’0 225 OL/DL but will begin on our Watch List as a defensive lineman given his size. He’ll likely get reps on both sides of the line at the event and could quickly flip to OL on our site depending on how he performs. As is the case with every prospect without any film, our question for Rogers will be where is he at in his development right now, and which side of the line will he perform better at? We’ll have more on him after the event and a better evaluation and idea of his ability.
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Devin Silvas will be making the move from St. Albans to Herbert Hoover for the next two years to help bolster their RB and LB group. We like Silvas the most as a linebacker prospect right now with his 6’0 180 size, but we like that he has a running back background with athleticism that’ll translate to linebacker. Silvas is a big, physical athlete who can run and move well for his size and age, and we’ll want to see that on display at the combine. Our question for him to answer at the event is can he confirm that athleticism in the testing portion of the camp, and can he perform in pass coverage in 1-on-1s if he elects to get linebacker reps?