By LEE BRECHEEN, Louisiana Football Magazine
In my career I have seen some great players come out of Shreveport-Bossier at the linebacker position.
Some of my favorites to cover?
My list begins with Loyola College Prep’s Jon Alston, who was 6-1, 205 with the Flyers and got bigger at Stanford. He did great with an NFL career. I thought when Roovelroe Swan at Green Oaks High School (6-3, 215) signed with LSU he was destined for greatness. He was one of the best I have ever seen play the position and only an injury in my opinion kept him from becoming an All American and NFL player. I also liked Bubba Alexander (6-3, 210) out of Evangel Christian, and he signed with LSU.
There were some legendary linebackers before my time – two that stand out in anybody’s book are Bo Harris, a great LSU Tiger out of Captain Shreve who was a very good pro in Cincinnati, and Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer Leo Sanford, a Fair Park stud and a star at Louisiana Tech in the early 1950s who was a Pro Bowler with Chicago and helped the New York Giants win the 1958 NFL crown.
Linebacker is a tough position for college coaches to recruit. They are looking for guys who can run 4.6 in the forty as an outside linebacker or if it’s a 4.7 or 4.8, then the kid moves inside at Mike linebacker with height and decent speed and toughness all rolled into one. The reason this position is tough to recruit because you can’t find many players 6-1 to 6-2 who are 210 to 220 pounds with 4.6 speed playing the position in high school, but there are a few players in the 6-0 to 6-1 200 to 215-pound range running 4.7 or 4.8.
This season, the linebacker position will be as strong as it’s been in years locally.
Here are some of the best players I have actually seen play in full pads who are in the Class of 2026: Ke’adre Garner (6-1, 220), Airline; Keyshawn Williams (6-1,220), Green Oaks; and LB/RB Damari Drake (6-0, 215), Evangel Christian. One thing all these kids have in common they are fast and will play the run and pass at a high level for college.
Drake is also a running back. He has verballed to Grambling, but I think is going to continue to be recruited nationally. Miami was hot on his trail, among others. Williams has the ability to be a starter at the FBS level. Garner can run a 4.52 in the forty and has a nose for the ball that you can’t teach.
There are more local linebackers I love watching that should get a shot at college ball and I hope all of them do,
That list includes Mark Copenhaver (Parkway), Hayden Horton (Loyola),Brady Prine (Parkway), LaMelvin Adger (Captain Shreve), Briggs Savage (Captain Shreve), Braylyn Jackson (Airline),David Weeks (Calvary Baptist) ,Justin Reeves (Calvary Baptist), Beckett Moore (Benton), John Rachal (Southwood), and Woodlawn’s duo of T.J. Winzer and Mel Washington.
Shreveport-Bossier is a hotbed for high scoring offense, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t talented defensive guys around and these senior linebackers are worth the price of admission.
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)