By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine
College coaches go all over the country looking for big lineman with good feet, hands and technique with power. This season the Shreveport-Bossier area will have a huge group – literally.
Most of the local college prospects are over 300 pounds. There is a pretty widespread group who will get a chance to sign college scholarships.
Some will get offers from Football Bowl Subdivision schools (from the SEC to Sun Belt and Conference USA), and more will go to Football Championship Subdivision programs (Southland and SWAC, mostly), or the other levels – D2 (Southern Arkansas, Harding, Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State, etc.) or D3 (Centenary, East Texas Baptist). Some will land with NAIA (Louisiana Christian) or even junior college (Trinity Valley, for example) schools. There’s some place for any kid who is willing to look and some prospects are going to have choices.
This year’s impressive local O-line group will rival any city in Louisiana for size and talent. Last season Devin Harper of Calvary Baptist, a Captain Shreve transfer, was the biggest prize. Harper, 6-5 and over 310 pounds, has really good agility and all the tools to be an NFL player. He is one of the best big men I’ve seen out of Shreveport-Bossier since I started watching in 1992.
Speaking of locals who have NFL potential, C.E. Byrd product Carson Bruno (6-4, 305) is a TCU senior and transfer from Louisiana Tech who started 11 games at right guard last fall for the Horned Frogs. He made plays on the defensive front for the Yellow Jackets.
In the latest class, Harper’s former Shreve teammate Lionel Prudhomme (Arkansas) and Benton’s Witt Van Hoy (TCU) were also Power 4 signees. Several more Class of 2025 local lineman that signed at various levels have a chance to be college starters.
I think the local Class of 2026 group has a chance to be better.
The headliner who has the most potential is at Evangel Christian. I have watched him play in person at ECA and before he transferred, at Minden High School. Jackson Speer (6-6) carries 310 pounds and looks lean and has all the tools to be a national recruit, and some day maybe get to the NFL,
I really like OG/OC Royuan Jackson (6-3, 315) from Huntington High School. He has good feet and is powerful and athletic for his size. Calvary Baptist’s Hunter Bradford (6-3, 285) is very skilled, with big time strength and quickness, and he will be able to sign with a high to mid-major D-1 if he has a great senior year.
There’s a large group of players who are raw and could blossom in their senior seasons. Byrd’s Jacob Martin (6-4, 284), Reilly A. Rogers (6-3, 315) of Northwood, and Isiah Cortez (6-3, 305) at Bossier are on college radars. Mason Whitley (6-4, 360) from Southwood moves well for a big kid, Center Patrick Gray (6-1, 335) and Chris Green (6-1, 305) are two big reasons I like Parkway to be the District 1-5A team to watch.
The biggest sleepers could be Corey Brown Jr. (5-11, 310) at North Caddo and Donovan Jones (6-5, 320) with Captain Shreve. Both are super smart with good feet and play all out. They are the first two on a long list of big guys who can rise into college signees if they have strong senior seasons.
This list could easily grow by 10 or more players, and believe me, the colleges have more than that to keep watch on. If I listed every one, I would run my word count up and over for this article! I’ll probably circle back later this fall to update the scouting report.
In the meantime, while there are plenty of explosive skill position players, be sure to watch the guys up front create room to run and keep defensive attackers off the talented quarterbacks locally. College coaches are definitely taking notes.
Contact Lee at lbrecheen@aol.com
(Lee Brecheen is the longtime publisher of Louisiana Football Magazine, covering all of the state’s high school teams each year since 1997. Free content can also be found at the website lafootballmagazine.com. District previews with scouting reports on every team are posted now. Lee hosts a podcast with guests from around the state — The Sports Scouting Report with Lee Brecheen, available on YouTube)