Louisiana 2024 top-10 players

It’s no secret that the state of Louisiana consistently produces some of the best football players in the nation. Here is an early look at who I feel are the best 8 players in the upcoming cycle (2024). Keep in mind that it is still really early in the process and a lot can change between now & December/February 2024. Let me know what y’all think and/or who I may have to look out for.

10. Bobby Kennedy (St. Augustine HS/New Orleans)

                       Billy Embody/On3

The 6’4, lbs. ATH is sort of a ‘raw prospect’ at CB after switching over from wide receiver following his sophomore year. He is a physical DB who plays close to the line of scrimmage, which at his size usually intimidates whatever receiver he is covering. He has good hand placement to defend passes when they come his way and from what I’ve seen he also likes to make tackles, rarely letting ball carriers get by him, He has offers from Ole Miss, Tulane, Southeastern Louisiana and Alabama State.

 

9. Kavion Broussard (Zachary HS/Zachary) 

                           Sam Speigleman/On3

The 6’6, 250 lbs. offensive tackle is another player on this list that is making a change from a different position, but has taken to it like a fish in water. He has very quick feet which helps him neutralize the speed of rushers coming off the edge on the QB’s blind side. He also has a long wingspan and isn’t afraid to get down & ‘dirty’ with the physical aspect of playing in the trenches. He does have a bit of a slender frame but has a lot of time to add weight to play at the next level. Broussard currently has offers from Florida State, Miami (FL), Mississippi State, TCU and Texas Tech.

8. De’Myrion Johnson (Westgate HS/New Iberia)

                           Rivals

The 6’3, 280 lbs. defensive lineman lives in opposing teams’ backfields. Johnson can play both the interior and on the end. Johnson is great at using his hands to shed would be blockers at line of scrimmage and causes havoc once he is in the backfield. He also has a high motor and does not give up on plays until the whistle blows. He currently holds offers from LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M, Oregon, Ole Miss, Miami (FL), Auburn, Nebraska and other schools.

7. Wallace Foster IV (Warren Easton HS/New Orleans)

                      Rivals

The only reason Foster isn’t ranked higher on this list is because he missed most of this past season because of a broken leg. The 5’10, 170 lbs. prospect is a lockdown corner who essentially eliminates half the field. Has elite coverage skills, great speed and is also very good at making tackles in the open field  on short passes to prevent long plays. Foster is currently committed to LSU, but also holds offers from Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Tulane, Ole Miss and other schools.

6. Josh Jackson (St.Augustine HS/New Orleans) - 

                                           St. Augustine HS

The 6’3, 190 lbs. WR is a dynamic playmaker who has a knack for finding his way to the end zone on a regular basis. He has good speed for his frame, is excellent at getting separation from defenders, has great hands and is hard to tackle after he catches the ball. As of now, he has offers from Michigan, Ole Miss, Nebraska, Marshall, Louisiana-Monroe and Grambling State.

5. Wardell Mack (John Ehret HS/Marrero)

                            Rivals

The 6’1, 175 lbs. CB is very athletic and deceptively fast. Has great ball skills for a DB and can break on passes at the snap of a finger at any level of the field. This past season he played WR as well and created a lot a ‘highlight’ plays at that position as well & can take routine screen passes and turn them into touchdowns on a regular basis. He currently has offers from LSU, Alabama, Michigan State, Florida State, Texas, Nebraska and a host of other schools.

4. Ju’Juan Johnson (Lafayette Christian Academy/Lafayette)- 

                      Coach Fuse

The 5’11, 175 lbs. ATH is a playmaker. While he primarily lines up as a QB for Lafayette Christian, he projects to be a defensive back at the collegiate level. That being said, he makes phenomenal plays with the ball in his hands on offense and is very exciting. It’s like ‘must-see’ tv. He recently committed to the University of Colorado but also holds offers from LSU, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Penn State, Oklahoma as well as a host of other schools.

3. Kolaj Cobbins (Destrehan HS/Destrehan)

                            Jerit Roser/Louisiana vs. All Y’all (YouTube)

The 6’4, 205 lbs. edge rusher is a monster coming off the end for the Wildcats. His speed and knack for defending the outside running game make him one of the most sought after prospects in the entire country. As of now, he holds offers from LSU, Michigan, Alabama, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Oregon, Colorado, Texas A&M, Tulane and others.

2. Tylen Singleton (Many HS/Many) - 

                        Rivals

Standing at 6’2, 200 lbs., Singleton is a safety with great range and coverage skills in the open field. Singleton is an hard hitting playmaker who embraces contact which is a huge plus if a defensive coordinator wants to line him up close to the line of scrimmage too offset opposing teams run game. Singleton holds offers from LSU, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Southern California, Michigan, Florida State among others.

1. Trey’Dez Green (East Feliciana HS/Jackson)

                                 Peter Rauterkus/On3

The 6’7, 230 lbs. TE from East Feliciana is the best player in the ‘Pelican State’ so far in this cycle. He is a legit dual-sport athlete that holds offers in football and basketball and I wouldn’t be surprised if playing both sports at the next level plays a factor in his college decision. On the gridiron, he holds offers from LSU, Alabama, Miami (FL), Michigan State, Colorado among others.

Karr 2023 EDGE Jonathan Bax impressive in dominant win over St. Aug

 

Edna Karr 2023 EDGE Jonathan Bax had a really impressive showing in Karr’s Catholic League debut, accumulating 2 sacks in key moments of the game and pressuring the Purple Knights’ QB throughout the evening. I got to catch up with the Texas Christian commit to talk about last night’s game and gave a update on his future at the next level. Please excuse the audio, as I caught up with Bax right in front of Karr’s band and we didn’t have much time before their busses left the stadium. 

Podcast: Edna Karr WR coach Omari "Big O" Robertson

In this episode, Edna Karr HS assistant coach Omari "Big O" Robertson discusses a litany of topics from what makes Karr’s football team so successful to what senior football players should look for when deciding where to attend college and basically everything in between. Check it out below.

Apple podcast link

Soundcloud link

Firing of St. Aug football coach Shows we live in a society ruled by double standards

In a not so surprising development, St. Augustine High School announced that Nathaniel Jones is no longer coaching at the 7th ward school after a video of a ‘racist’ chant the team performed before a game vs. Brother Martin on October 4 surfaced via social media and went viral locally.

The decision to remove Jones from his duties further illustrates how ‘soft’ and ‘politically correct’ society has become as a whole, especially in the Black-American community. The fact that the chant was labeled as ‘racist’ is laughable and scary at the same time. It shows how out of touch certain people are towards the black American culture and proves how others are willing to throw their values and what they believe in to the waist side in order to appease the masses.

That chant was nothing more than players getting themselves hyped and motivated to perform to the best of their abilities. It is no different than what happens in most other locker rooms on a weekly basis at all levels of football: from ‘park ball’ (term used in New Orleans for Pop Warner or recreational league football), middle/Jr. High, high school, college all the way to the NFL.

Was the chant candid and full of colorful language? Absolutely. Was it somewhat inappropriate? Maybe. But to say it was racist is completely senseless. According to several sources, the chant has been used for several weeks (if not longer). That would mean it was performed since the beginning of the current season. During that time, St. Aug has played Booker T. Washington HS, McDonogh 35 HS, Landry-Walker HS and John F. Kennedy HS. All of the schools mentioned have at least a 90% black student population. Would the same chant still be considered ‘racist’ if video surfaced before any of those games? Probably not.

While we’re talking about what is racist and what is not, what is so racist about a black person using the word ‘nigga?’ Yes, the word (or another variation of it - ‘nigger’) has a very ugly history in this country. So does a lot of other words, slangs and common practices that are still used to this day by people from all walks of life. The great thing about America is that we don’t let these these things define us and we have a knack for turning negatives into something that doesn’t affect us one way or another.

Ten years ago, Brother Martin (yes, the same school St. Aug played this past weekend) came under fire for a skit where students wore blackface to imitate St. Aug’s players during a skit in the school’s gym. While their intent may not have been to come off as racist, the undertones of the skit were clearly racial. When the skit became public news, Brother Martin issued an apology and life moved on. No one lost their job(s) over the incident.

St. Aug feeling the need to fire their coach when other institutions refused to do so in the face of more serious circumstances/situation is a prime example of the double standard society has placed on the African-American community. As a Catholic School that is supposed to he the shining light of the New Orleans community, yes St. Aug had a responsibility to protect its reputation, its brand, and and to make this incident a ‘teachable’ moment for its students, faculty, staff, and everyone else. That being said, the lesson wasn’t well received and the punishment does NOT fit the crime. A suspension would’ve sufficed and gotten the same point across.

We live in a world where Donald Trump was elected President of the United States less than two weeks after an audio recording surfaced of him telling someone else to grab a female ‘by the pussy.’, In the very same country, a football coach can lose his job for his BLACK players using the ‘n word’ in a chant that wasn’t even directed towards any individual or any specific group? Please make St. Aug firing their coach over that chant/video make sense.

As long as people give power to certain words to be able bring out negative reactions and emotions, those words will continue to enslave those same people and there will always be an easy way to get the better of those same people. Additionally, as long as people make decisions to satisfy others and to ‘save face’ instead of doing what is best for themselves, it’ll always be more difficult for them to stay ahead of the proverbial curve.