North Dakota 2026 Rankings: Newcomers, Part I

NORTH DAKOTA-- We end our Tuesday night by looking at the first five newcomers we welcome to our 2026 North Dakota rankings. Looking for a list of under the radar hidden gems to start your 2026 board or looking for small school prospects? This is a good start in my eyes and the best is yet to come for a handful of these young men.    Peyton was a late bloomer when putting these North Dakota 2026 rankings together and is one that shows some promise even with the light tape that's out there. What impresses me with Peyton is his agility with his change of direction getting north to south as there is some growing peristence seeing more of his elusive athletic movement on tape. Although he is quite undersized for the RB position, I certainly see some position flexibility that I saw on tape that with growing his frame over the next several months and more tape to end the season, he has a shot to be a stockriser by next update.     Conner is a wide receiver prospect that has the frame I like for the wide receiver position and shows the upside at 6'2 170 pounds with his fluidity as a route-runner especially on intermediate routes. Where he can develop on his routes is getting quicker on his cut-backs to the ball and developing his balance when he gets into the open field. The upside is quite high for Conner and with more tape to produce this fall season the ceiling could be a significant riser by next winter's update.     Cooper is a 6'0 185 pound 2026 defensive back out of West Fargo Horace that shows good downhill vision. He impresses too with his position angles showing off a good football IQ in deep pass coverage. Cooper shows off a suddenness with his release to the ball carrier that I feel has more fire to grow his steps even quicker from an agility perspective. He is another 2026 prospect that the tape is light but the upside is there for the taking with hopefully more opportunities coming his way to show off his skillsets. <a href="https://x.com/_cooperfuchs">Twitter</a>     Lincoln shows off quickly within the first two clips of tape that this kid loves physicality. At linebacker, Lincoln shows off plenty of juice with his footwork and does a sound job of closing the interior gaps with his punneling presence. From a development perspective, Lincoln can improve with his pad-level as although as I stated has great physicality, adjusting his pad-level should create more balanced hands. Like this kid's upside a lot if he can grow out his current 6'2 180 pound frame as he plays every rep with a chip on his shoulder. <a href="https://x.com/harter_lincoln">Twitter</a>     Gavin is a quarterback that I like the raw out of pocket presence as he constantly finds a way to get out tough traffic area and make a clutch throw. There certainly is growth to be developed with his mechanics, but with the amount of reps I see Gavin under duress shows me that there is a ceiling for those mechanics to grow over the coming months. Time will tell how this young man progresses with his development and I am excited to see the further tape.

NORTH DAKOTA-- We end our Tuesday night by looking at the first five newcomers we welcome to our 2026 North Dakota rankings. Looking for a list of under the radar hidden gems to start your 2026 board or looking for small school prospects? This is a good start in my eyes and the best is yet to come for a handful of these young men.