Before the season even began, it was apparent that the 2020 high school football season would be unlike any other. The landscape of prep football has changed significantly in recent years due to an increase in private schools and charter schools. With so many different types of schools playing football, there’s no doubt that this year’s top 100 list stands out from previous seasons. Thanks to smaller class sizes and less state restrictions on roster size, teams across the country are now able to field rosters of 50 or fewer players instead of the typical 80-man squad we’ve grown accustomed to. This also means there’s a lot more competition for spots on these rankings, which we feel has made them stronger than ever before. Instead of just focusing on team size, we’re taking a much closer look at individual player performance as well as their potential for continued growth as a senior.
Who made the Top 100?
The most important question of the day. The Top 100 players in the nation come from all different backgrounds, representing all different types of schools. After going through the list, we can see that the South continues to dominate with the majority of the top spots being claimed by players in that region. However, there are certainly some northerners who made the cut as well. We’ve got two players each from the Midwest, Southwest and West with a couple players scattered across the East as well. And while we don’t have any players from Canada on the list, we did end up with a couple Hawaiians, which is definitely a first. There were a couple expected omissions that we’ll get into later, but in general we’re very happy with this list and the best part is, we’ve only just begun.
Jumping in a DeLorean to go back to 2019
If you’ve ever watched the Back to the Future movies, then you know that we’re in prime time to jump into a DeLorean and travel back through time. In this case, we’re going back to the 2019 high school football season. The reason for this is that this upcoming season is going to be the first time we’ve ever seen kids play high school football in a post-popup transfer era. With the majority of the 2020 class having been born in the fall of 2016, they were old enough to enroll in a high school by the time the NCAA implemented the six-month transfer rule. So while we’ve seen players in the past transfer between high schools, we’ve never seen what happens when they’re able to transfer between schools at the drop of a hat.
80 Rotational Players That Didn’t Make The Cut
With the inclusion of the 2020 class, we’ve also expanded the overall rankings to include 100 players instead of the usual 80. This gives us much more breathing room and also forces us to be much more specific with our rankings. Because of this, we’ve kept our original 80 from last year’s list, but also have an additional 80 players that are ranked outside the Top 100. Because of all the movement in the rankings, we’ve also decided to no longer tack on “Next in Line†to the end of each ranking. Instead, we’ve created a separate article that includes all the players who just missed the cut and what needs to happen for them to make the Top 100 in 2020.
Positions that were hardest to rank
– Quarterbacks – The Quarterback position was the most challenging to rank this year, with each of our writers having a different individual ranked in the top spot. – Offensive Tackles – While we usually don’t have a problem ranking offensive tackles, this year’s crop came in a little bit thinner than usual. – Defensive Ends – Defensive end was definitely the most top heavy position we’ve ever ranked.
Running Backs with the highest potential
– Johnathan Gray – Johnathan Gray has been a major force on the field since he stepped foot on the field as a freshman. – Jaylin Bradley – Jaylin Bradley stepped onto the field as a freshman for an elite 2019 high school football team. – Zion Hooker – Zion Hooker is coming off of a breakout season in which he broke the all-time rushing record for his high school. – Edward Green – Edward Green was a major contributor for an elite high school football team as a freshman.
Receivers with the highest potential
– – Skyler Green – Skyler Green has been a major receiving threat for the last two high school seasons. – – Harry Crider – Harry Crider has been a consistent receiving threat in high school since he was a freshman. – – Braiden Ho – Braiden Ho emerged as a major receiving threat as a freshman and has been on the rise ever since. – – Zachary Herndon – Zachary Herndon has been a dominant receiving threat since he stepped onto the field as a freshman. – – Keontae Briscoe – The younger brother of Clemson quarterback Trevor Briscoe has been a dominant receiving threat since he stepped onto the field as a freshman.
Tight Ends with the highest potential
– – Lewis Wijig – Lewis Wijig has consistently been one of the best tight ends in high school football since his freshman season.
Offensive Guards with the highest potential
– – Matthew Wylie – Matthew Wylie has been a massive offensive guard since he stepped onto the field as a freshman.
Defensive Tackres with the highest potential
– – Jayson Myers – Jayson Myers has been one of the best defensive lineman in high school football since he stepped onto the field as a freshman.
Defensive Ends with the highest potential
– – Camron Hahn – Camron Hahn has been a dominant defensive end since he stepped onto the field as a freshman.
Conclusion
The 2020 high school football season is set to be one of the best in history, and we’re more excited than ever to see what these players do on the field. If you’ve made it this far, then we thank you for reading and sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this article. And if you’re new to Top 100, be sure to check out our Top 100 2019 rankings as well! Keep your eye on the ball, and most importantly, keep your eye out for these players.
