Behind the Scenes of the 2028 Rankings: Midseason Update

It's rankings update time, and this week, the 2028 class takes center stage. There will be plenty of time to highlight big movers and new players, going in-depth on specific players. Here, though, is one of my favorite exercises. I'm bringing subscribers behind the curtain, so to speak, giving them an idea of our thought processes with this update. Who moved in the 2028 rankings update, and why?   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Behind the Scenes of the Midseason Rankings Update: 2028 Class</h2>   We're always player-focused, so I'll never write a piece without including plenty of thoughts on the players themselves.   But we can still take a look at big-picture themes. Here, I've got numbers, stats, and thoughts to accompany our rankings update. I always welcome your thoughts and feedback as well.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Why Update the 2028 Rankings in October?</h3>   This is our first time doing a midseason rankings update, and the reason is simple: we finally have the infrastructure to add a fourth rankings update to the calendar. We always update each class after the season, then once in the late spring, and once before the season.   Adding a midseason rankings update allows us to capture some of the year's breakout players before the year ends. We don't have outward-facing depth charts in the high school game, so sometimes, we're surprised by Week 1 starters. A midseason class update allows us to add new contributors and move players based on their play on the field without having to wait for the season to finish.   Accordingly, we focused on production, not upside, in this update. Remember, we rank based on college potential, and a lot of our offseason movement is based on work in the weight room, speed numbers, and position-specific technique. So, it's nice to have an update dedicated primarily to what happens on the actual field.   That means the majority of our big movers have had strong seasons.   There are over 400 schools in North Carolina, so there's a lot to follow during the season. Because of this, we're not spending much time deep diving into the intricacies of the film. There's plenty of time to do that during the offseason. There are probably a few players who have slipped under the radar, and we'll make sure to catch up in a future update. For now, we're focused mostly on the guys who are very obviously moving the needle this season.   You'll see plenty of fast-rising players in this update. Guys like Broughton's [player_tooltip player_id='1606887' first='Darias' last='Johnson'], Northside-Jacksonville's [player_tooltip player_id='1687459' first='Reginald' last='Gray'], and Kings Mountain's [player_tooltip player_id='1687769' first='Christian' last='Jarrett'] were all big movers after strong starts to the season. They're all players with reasonable athletic upside. As the production followed, they moved up the rankings.   The most difficult aspect of ranking this sophomore class was blending potential and production in our rankings for players who haven't finished growing. There are plenty of undersized players who have had excellent seasons, but we can't overrank players who do not yet have college size. Plenty will grow, some won't.   That's why you'll see high-production players like Porter Ridge edge rusher [player_tooltip player_id='1956004' first='Charles' last='Watson'] (who is inside the top three edge rushers in the class in sacks, while playing at a higher classification) ranked a bit lower than expected. Simply put, it's way easier to jump him into the top 75 when and if he grows a couple of inches than to have to drop him in two years. These are early rankings. Most colleges haven't even glanced at this class yet. Patience, there's time.   There are exceptions. Princeton RB [player_tooltip player_id='1616304' first='Teo' last='McPhatter'] is still very undersized. But he has a 40-inch vertical, can outrun everybody on the field, and we think he's a Power Four player, whether he grows or not.   While numbers and overall production play a part, it all comes down to film. We moved some players more than their statistics would suggest. Green Level's [player_tooltip player_id='1272624' first='Luke' last='Pagan'], for example, is on pace to squeak past the 1,000-yard mark. But the film shows a guy who is having an unbelievable season, doing a lot of his damage against loaded boxes and breaking a lot of tackles.   We'll have plenty of coverage on all our new players and movers throughout the week. Let's look at some of the stats that tell the story of this update.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Numbers</h3>   Let's dive into some numbers around this rankings update. I've started tracking stats for our rankings, giving some insight into the update. Take a look at some of the key numbers in this update:   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/whelms21/status/1981022119908569126 </div></figure>   In this final section, I'll list several accolades and the players who told the story of this update.   If you have other questions or want me to break down some of the numbers further, just reach out on Twitter (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>).   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">From Unranked to Top 150</h2>   Of those 42 new players, several went straight from off the radar to well within the rankings. Here's every player who went from unranked to the top 150.   [player_tooltip player_id='1880897' first='Stanley' last='Petrovich'], OL, Middle Creek   [player_tooltip player_id='1855820' first='Kevon' last='Stackhouse'], WR/Edge, East Columbus   [player_tooltip player_id='1969828' first='Jackson' last='Hunter'], Edge, Apex   [player_tooltip player_id='1852705' first='Jaleek' last='Parson'], WR, J.H. Rose   [player_tooltip player_id='1880225' first='Connor' last='Smith'], LB, Middle Creek   [player_tooltip player_id='1969801' first='Micah' last='Hunter'], WR, Hoggard   [player_tooltip player_id='1849424' first='Tahj' last='Brooks'], RB, Chambers   [player_tooltip player_id='1970956' first='Devunh' last='White'], RB, West Rowan   [player_tooltip player_id='1870771' first='Jackson' last='Plume'], OL/DL, Christ School   [player_tooltip player_id='1887310' first='Kayden' last='Smith'], RB/LB, Currituck County   [player_tooltip player_id='1970637' first='Achilles' last='Morales'], QB, Charlotte Country Day   [player_tooltip player_id='1969831' first='Adam' last='Watts'], LB, West Henderson   [player_tooltip player_id='1956004' first='Charles' last='Watson'], Edge, Porter Ridge   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Movers</h3>   While we will write new evaluations this week on every player who moves up even one spot in the rankings, I want to give special recognition to our biggest movers. These stock-risers each moved up at least 20 spots in the rankings:   [player_tooltip player_id='1606887' first='Darias' last='Johnson'], Edge, Broughton (+93)   [player_tooltip player_id='1616134' first='Titus' last='Troy'], RB, Northwest Cabarrus (+69)   [player_tooltip player_id='1687769' first='Christian' last='Jarrett'], Edge/DL, Kings Mountain (+65)   [player_tooltip player_id='1815331' first='Graylon' last='Koontz'], OL, Kings Mountain (+55)   [player_tooltip player_id='1616145' first='Henry' last='Evans'], TE, Rolesville (+50)   [player_tooltip player_id='1666655' first='Leo' last='Ntasin'], LB, Ballantyne Ridge (+24)   [player_tooltip player_id='1272624' first='Luke' last='Pagan'], RB, Green Level (+24)   [player_tooltip player_id='1687429' first='Easton' last='McCullen'], OL, Union Pines (+23)   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Biggest Watchlist-to-Ranked Jumps</h2>   I end all of these with watchlist-to-ranked. I love these because everybody wins. We put guys on the watchlist primarily if we know of them, but haven't seen much varsity film. These are all players with potential but little production. When the production comes, we can slide them into the rankings. When they impress, they move far into the rankings. Here are the five highest-ranked players who moved from the watchlist this update.   [player_tooltip player_id='1815366' first='Lance' last='Martin'], OL, Independence   [player_tooltip player_id='1616115' first='Cailen' last='Napier'], QB, Mallard Creek   [player_tooltip player_id='1599599' first='Brad' last='Earnest'], LB, Heritage   [player_tooltip player_id='866297' first='X'Zavier' last='Edmond'], RB, Mallard Creek   [player_tooltip player_id='1687750' first='CJ' last='Covington'], DB, Richmond Senior   There's plenty to come from Matt Morrow, Joshua Graham, and I on the 2028 rankings over the next week. Stay locked in with Prep Redzone for more insights, evaluations, and rankings updates. 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It's rankings update time, and this week, the 2028 class takes center stage. There will be plenty of time to highlight big movers and new players, going in-depth on specific players. Here, though, is one of my favorite exercises. I'm bringing subscribers behind the curtain, so to speak, giving them an idea of our thought processes with this update. Who moved in the 2028 rankings update, and why?