Off-Season 2027+ Watchlist Pt 2: A deep group of intriguing RBs headlined by young stars in the SEC

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Covering over 150 Prospects for this upcoming College Football Season, my FULL Prospect Watchlist can be found on the most recent episode of my podcast, found here: https://cjfreel.substack.com/p/168-future-prospect-tiers-and-watchlist While it is still extremely early & before the 2026 College Football season has even began, the foundations of how we will value future prospects begins with the years prior to their final season. RB is admittedly a position more than most where a player can rise up with a smaller sample, but just like any other position, it is nice to see improvement from the players who already have an established foundation. My prospect Watchlist linked above goes into a bit more detail on my own methodology as well as comparisons in class value between 2026 & 2027. // All Tiers Alphabetical + By Year RBs (2027) 1: Jadan Baugh, Florida ; Isaac Brown, Louisville ; Nate Frazier, Georgia ; Ahmad Hardy\, Missouri ; *Justice Haynes, Georgia Tech via Michigan ; **Kewan Lacy, Ole Miss ; Jordan Marshall, Michigan ; Wayshawn Parker, Utah ; Antwan Raymond, Rutgers Notable 2: Mark Fletcher Jr., Miami (FL) ; L.J. Martin, BYU ; Hollywood Smothers, Texas via N.C. State // Futures 1: Jordon Davison, Oregon (2028) ; Bo Jackson, Ohio State (2028) ; Ezavier Crowell, Alabama (2029) ; Savion Hiter, Michigan (2029) // Full Write-Up: https://cjfreel.substack.com/p/168-future-prospect-tiers-and-watchlist The RB Tiers are by far the most broad, likely because production itself including multi-year production is often less important at the RB position, making the delineation of prospects a bit more open and subjective. This is also why for today's post, I've decided to include all of Tier 1 and some of the top considerations from Tier 2, even though Tier 2 has far more names than what is shown here. Important Note\: *This write-up was made prior to Ahmad Hardy being shot in the upper leg at a Concert. There is no new write-up regarding Hardy because there is not enough good information to generate one. As of now, it seems that Hardy's intention is to play College Football this year. The biggest names in my Tier 1 are some of the first listed in Alphabetical order: the four potential early declare SEC RBs Jadan Baugh, Nate Frazier, Ahmad Hardy & Kewan Lacy + the consensus favorite among returning RBs Justice Haynes. Hardy is a clear case of huge pros but concerning cons; Hardy is one of the best contact balance RBs in the last several classes, but he may lack the agility or change of direction typical of a back his size. [...] Nate Frazier got off to a poor start after being one of the most hyped RBs prior to the 2025 Season, but that poor start has now overshadowed what was a pretty solid recovery through the back half of 2025 and into the postseason. While some may believe Frazier is just a big name at this point, he has fantastic agility, burst, & change of direction, has flashed as a receiving back, and was the #2 RB in PFF Rushing Grade behind only Jeremiyah Love during that back half of 2025. [...] My dark horse in this class seems to be Antwan Raymond, the RB from Rutgers. Raymond admittedly does not have the best size, but I’m frankly stunned at the complete lack of interest in Raymond. A workload RB who shows excellent contact balance, great quickness, and a strong Receiving Profile particularly compared to the last Rutgers RB, Kyle Monangai, Raymond has my eye entering 2026. The original write-up only covered Tier 1, but Fletcher, Ma…