Much like every other position group in this 2026 recruiting cycle, the top linebackers is already largely accounted for when it comes to college commitments. Of the top 50 players at the position in the Rivals Industry Ranking, 48 have already announced their college choice. The two remaining holdouts — DQ Forkpa and JaMichael Garrett […]
Much like every other position group in this 2026 recruiting cycle, the top linebackers is already largely accounted for when it comes to college commitments.
Of the top 50 players at the position in the Rivals Industry Ranking, 48 have already announced their college choice. The two remaining holdouts — DQ Forkpa and JaMichael Garrett — will be on commit watch in the coming weeks and months.
With so many off the board, Rivals is taking an early look at the top linebacker classes so far in 2026:
Texas
The Longhorns have had success recruiting off-ball linebackers in the past couple of years under Steve Sarkisian, but had yet to land of the country’s truly elite players in those spots. That changed last month with five-star Tyler Atkinson choosing UT over Georgia, Oregon and a host of others. He was a Navy All-American last year after a junior campaign where he totaled 166 tackles, (32 TFLs), 46 quarterback hits, 13 sacks, an an interception. And while Atkinson’s commitment got a lot of the attention because of his ranking and the NIL money surrounding his recruitment, don’t sleep on Kosi Okpala.
At 6’1 and 220 pounds, he has played both as an edge rusher and some at safety at the high school level, but will transition to the middle of the defense at Texas. As a junior, the No. 10 LB in the Rivals300 notched 55 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles and 21 quarterback hurries.
Tennessee
While Texas was pursuing Atkinson, they were also extremely high on Brayden Rouse and made a big push for him. Tennessee held them off though, landing a versatile defender who played at LB, EDGE, SAF, WR and TE spots at the high school level last year. For the year, Rouse collected 111 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. The Vols were looking for a pair of ‘backers to elevate their room though, and found one of the nation’s best in TJ White out of Mississippi.
White was down to a final four of Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida State and Tennessee, but ultimately the Vols’ longtime pursuit of him paid off.
Ohio State
Since taking over Ohio State’s linebacker room, James Laurinitis has put a premium on talent and toughness at the position. He helped to sign one of the best LB classes in the country as a graduate assistant during the 2024 cycle and then landed elite ‘backer Riley Pettijohn, four-star Tarvos Alford and highly coveted three-star Eli Lee in 2025.
With a wealth of talent in the Buckeye State at the position this cycle, he didn’t have to go too far to build one of the nation’s best duos. Cleveland-area star Cincere Johnson is one of the more ready-built players in OSU’s class at 6’2 and 240 pounds, and he could see action as soon as next season given that fact. He is joined by uber-productive CJ Sanna, who rolled up 97 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and 7 sacks last season as a junior.
Georgia
Kirby Smart and the ‘Dawgs have become synonymous with elite-level linebacker play during his tenure — and look at the draft picks they have to back it up. The aforementioned Tyler Atkinson was the top one on their board, and they recruited him for more than three years only to be snuffed out by Texas in the final few weeks. But that doesn’t mean all is lost.
In June, they flipped four-star Shadarius Toodle — an Alabama native — away from Auburn after pursuing him for months. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has been a tackling machine at the high school level with a combined 260 over the past two years. Last month, they followed up Toodle’s flip by beating out Alabama, Oregon and Michigan for four-star Nick Abrams, one of the top players in the DMV area.
Ole Miss
Most of the teams on the list don’t come as much of a surprise, but the Rebels? Probably not who you’d expect to see next to some of the other names. But landing Rivals’ No. 1 linebacker in the class will do that. And that’s exactly what Pete Golding and Co. did by flipping Izayia Williams away from his Florida commitment back in May. A top-30 prospect nationally, Williams boasts sideline-to-sideline range, but will be coming off a season-ending knee injury he suffered earlier this summer.
Earlier this month, the Rebels added to their haul with Georgia-based four-star Anthony Davis. Playing alongside tackle machine Atkinson at Grayson (Ga.), he has still managed 172 tackles and 21 TFLs over the past two seasons.
Category: General Sports
