*Best player: Ousmane Kromah has rushed for more than 1,500 yards in each of the past three seasons while scoring 75 touchdowns.
*Best position: Offensive line. All five are top-300 national recruits: Alex Payne/North Carolina (169), Mason Short/Georgia (175), Tavaris Dice/Auburn (196), Chastan Brown/Central Florida (278) and Dontrell Glover/Georgia (282). A sixth top-300 OL recruit, Brayden Jacobs/Clemson (208), made Monday’s Class 6A preseason all-state team before it was learned he had transferred Friday from Buford to Milton, Class 5A’s preseason favorite. They are six of the 10 offensive linemen in GHSF Daily’s Georgia Power 100.
*Most highly recruited: Kromah is a consensus top-100 national senior recruit. Gainesville’s Xavier Griffin is the state’s No. 1 prospect in the junior class, according to 247Sports, and is committed to Southern Cal.
*That’s interesting: Chattahoochee’s D.J. Avery is a loyal four-year starter on a team that has won just six games in his varsity career. He played 100 snaps per game last season and scored touchdowns receiving (12), rushing (1), returning kickoffs (2) and returning interceptions (2). He chose Miami of Ohio out of more than 20 offers.
*Snubbed: The best pair of quarterbacks play in Class 5A. Getting the nod here is Luke Nickel, the Miami pledge who led Milton to the Class 7A title last season. Houston County’s A.J. Hill, a Memphis commit, is a top-300 national recruit who has thrown for 7,278 yards in his career. To be continued.
*Underrated: Linebackers Jayden Rubbo of Thomas County Central and Jyarius Carter of Coffee each ranked second on their state-winning teams in tackles last season.
What else is news? Milton won Class 7A with a junior-dominated team last season. Now in 5A, the Eagles have seven preseason all-state players.
Offense
QB - Luke Nickel, Milton, Sr.
RB - Ousmane Kromah, Lee County, Sr.
RB - Corey Watkins Jr., Clarke Central, Sr.
WR - Ahmed Souare, Loganville, Sr.
WR - C.J. Wiley, Milton, Sr.
TE - Ethan Barbour, Milton, Sr.
OL - Chastan Brown, Northside (Warner Robins), Sr.
OL - Tavaris Dice, Hughes, Sr.
OL - Dontrell Glover, Hughes, Sr.
OL - Alex Payne, Gainesville, Sr.
OL - Mason Short, Evans, Sr.
ATH - D.J. Avery, Chattahoochee, Sr.
PK - Alex Nover, Milton, Sr.
Defense
DL - Caleb Bell, Milton, Sr.
DL - Cam Brooks, Thomas County Central, Jr.
DL - Julius Columbus, Gainesville, Sr.
DE/OLB - Xavier Griffin, Gainesville, Jr.
LB - Jyarius Carter, Coffee, Sr.
LB - Ryder Duffy, Roswell, Sr.
LB - Jaedon Harmon, Rome, Sr.
LB - Jayden Rubbo, Thomas County Central, Sr.
DB - Dylan Lewis, Milton, Sr.
DB - Mark Manfred, Sprayberry, Sr.
DB - Dee Reddick, Thomas County Central, Sr.
DB - Ty Redmond, Milton, Sr.
P - Jake Anderson, Northgate, Sr.
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