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Football recruits from Florida to the Northeast and West Coast highlight Week 1 scouting notes


After featuring 21 players in the Week 0 editionĀ of who we watched, the 247Sports national scouting and recruiting teams combined for a loaded Week 1 edition, featuring live scouting notes on more than 50 football prospects. Fifty pieces of scouting intel is around the high-water mark for this feature that tracks back to last season.

But with the loaded state of Texas set to get underway this upcoming week, the pace shouldn’t slow down anytime soon.

Similar to last season, we expect a Monday publish date for each of these loaded notes packages. We will provide a lengthy list of prospects watched in person, on TV broadcasts and via the wonderful modern technological tool of online streams (this does not include the countless hours of tape). For further organizational sake, we will list players by region or state. Examples: Midwest, East (think DMV to the Northeast), South, Florida, Texas, California or West Coast, etcetera.

Get the latest football and recruiting scoop on your favorite college team today.

Today’s edition features blurbs on 50-plus players across three different classes and includes commitments for the following schools: Alabama, Arizona State, Buffalo, Duke, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, UtahĀ andĀ Virginia Tech.

FLORIDA

Calvin Russell, 2026 Top247 WR (in-person evaluation): After being forced to play quarterback for much of his sophomore season, the All-American Bowl selection spent the first official game of his junior season playing wide receiver ā€” and it didn’t take him long to flash enormous upside as a playmaker on the outside. The dangly Russell reeled in a 39-yard touchdown pass down the sideline to give Miami Northwestern an early two-score lead over Coconut Creek at the Broward Showcase before following it up a few minutes later with a 16-yard score where he took a quick flat route over the middle and raced across the field from 16 yards out.

Russell is still learning some of the finer points of how to be a complete wide receiver, but this past Thursday’s outing was encouraging. He was able to create separation at the first, second and third levels.

Russell, who also holds multiple college basketball scholarship offers, will need to add some mass in the coming years (he’s very thin in the lower half), but it’s hard not to get excited about his potential given the combination of his size, coordination and burst. He should put up big numbers this season with former NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater calling plays for the Bulls.Ā ā€” 247Sports director of scouting Andrew Ivins

J’Vari Flowers, 2026 Top247 CB (in-person coverage): We’re still getting a feel for the cornerback board in the class of 2026, and Flowers is quickly making a case that he’s one of the top slot defenders in the cycle. It’s notable ā€” NFL defenses used a five-DB alignment on 67% of snaps last season, according to Pro Football Focus.

Flowers was excellent this past Thursday in Miami Northwestern’s rout of Coconut Creek. He broke up a pass the only time he was targeted in coverage and produced an electric punt return in which eight defenders touched him before he found the end zone on what would have been a 62-yard touchdown had it not been for a block in the back.

Flowers might be shorter than 5-foot-11, but he makes up for the lack of length with a thicker build and elite speed. He’s the Sunshine State’s reigning 3A champion in the 100-meter dash (10.43 seconds). It’s still very early, but Flowers reminds us a little bit for former Florida corner C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was a decorated sprinter coming out of Cocoa that provided some excitement every time he touched the ball on special teams. ā€” Ivins

Gregory Xavier Thomas, 2025 Top247 safety, Florida State commit (in-person coverage): It might have come in a loss for American Heritage, butĀ Thomas deserves a game ball for his play against Milton. Thomas was tasked with shadowing blue-chip wide receiver CJ Wiley and pretty much shut down his future teammate at FSU.

Wiley, who entered the nightĀ with touchdowns in 14 of his previous 15 games, only saw a handful of targets come his way and never really ran free in the secondary. That’s in large part because of Thomas, who stuck to Wiley like glue.

We have gone back and forth about whether to list Thomas as a safety or a cornerback, and we’re starting to lean corner again. Thomas has the size that everyone wants on the perimeter and proves to be an efficient mover who can maintain phase while surrendering turf. It should also be noted that this is the second time Thomas has held his own against a renowned pass catcher as he also fared well last season when tasked with trying to guardĀ Jeremiah Smith. ā€” Ivins

Dia Bell, 2026 Top247 QB, Texas commit (in-person coverage): The first official outing of Bell’s junior campaign was a bit of a mixed bag. He displayed some elite playmaking ability and threw a pair of touchdown passes in American Heritage’s loss but lacked consistency and appeared to be a bit gun shy when it came to throwing at a Milton secondary that featured a trio of Power Four commits.

Bell is a loose athlete with a smooth stroke who doesn’t exactly panic when his protection is breached or the initial snap is off target, but there were too many times when he failed to move off his first read, which stalled drives. We unofficially had Bell going 15-of-27 passing for 165 yards and the two scores. He also picked up another 30 yards or so on the ground via designed runs and scrambles.

It’s easy to see the developmental upside with Bell, but he’s still very much a work in progress. He needs to get more confident as a decision maker, especially when facing a higher level of competition. ā€” Ivins

Byron Louis, 2025 RB (in-person coverage):Ā The American Heritage running back announced during ESPN’s broadcast that he has narrowed his recruitment down to four schools: FSU, Wisconsin, Miami and Georgia. One could make the case that he’s a fit at all four programs.

A downhill 205-pound runner, Louis is an upright, short-stepper who’s hard to get on the ground as he’s strong in the core and frequently in balance. In the loss to Milton, Louis carried the ball 19 times for 171 yards. The rushing total was fueled heavily by a 68-yard scamper in the third quarter where he found a lane and built momentum before reaching his top gear.

Louis might not be the shiftiest running back in the class, but he’s got the makeup of a potential sledgehammer in a power spread attack that can move the chains in short-yardage situations and handle a heavy workload. ā€” Ivins

Julius Jones, 2027 Top-100 WR (in-person coverage): One of the few bright spots Saturday for St. Thomas Aquinas was the sophomore Jones, who ranks early on as the No. 7 wide receiver in the class of 2027.

Jones caught 11 passes for 110 yards in the loss. That included a 52-yard touchdown in which he got loose in the deeper third and shed a tackle before crossing into the end zone.

Jones is the son of former NFL running back Julius Jones and nephew of former NFL running back Thomas Jones. He isn’t the biggest target, but he’s got an explosive lower half and is able to generate chunk plays as he’s evasive after the catch. Plenty of schools have already offered the younger Jones, and he’s looking like one of the top talents in South Florida for his class. ā€” Ivins

Koby Howard, 2025 WR, Penn State commit (in-person coverage): Penn State needs an influx of talent at wide receiver, and the Nittany Lions should be excited about Howard following his performance in Chaminade-Madonna Prep’s loss. Howard totaled 108 yards of offense and a touchdown on nine touches as he split time at wide receiver and running back.

Having had exposure points to Howard each of the past three years, Saturday was arguably the best that he has looked to date. He showed impressive hand-eye coordination and plenty of juice as a ball carrier as he ran with plenty of tempo and was able to navigate his way through traffic.

Howard is coming off a junior campaign at nearby Davie Western in which he racked up 1,065 receiving yards. He could be in store for a big senior year. ā€” Ivins

Donta Simpson, 2025 DL, Miami commit (in-person coverage): When Miami flipped Simpson from Maryland a few weeks ago, the news flew under the national radar. However, it’s looking more and more like a savvy move for the Hurricanes.

Simpson made a difference in the middle Saturday for Chaminade-Madonna Prep as he took on double teams and created some push with his initial get-off. Young for the grade, Simpson carries his mass well and is a rather coordinated individual for someone who’s believed to be pushing 280 pounds.

We were impressed with not only his ability to anchor, but also work laterally down the line of scrimmage, which is backed up by one of the top three-cone drill times on this year’s Under Armour Next camp circuit. Simpson is similar in some ways to former UM defensive lineman Jon Ford, who also came out of Broward County. ā€” Ivins