Lone Star’s Zach Forbish (4) gestures after scoring a touchdown in the first half of a high school football game against Frisco at Toyota Stadium, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, in Frisco.
Chitose Suzuki/Staff Photographer
With The Dallas Morning News having updated its area recruiting rankings from 50 to 100 players for the Class of 2027, we take a look at five recruits who are under the radar and could be poised for big seasons in 2026.
All five are ranked outside the top 40.
No. 49 Zach Forbish
The three-star Frisco Lone Star wide receiver is committed to Michigan State and is coming off a solid season in which he helped Lone Star to a 15-1 record and state runner-up finish in Class 5A Division I. But he is rated the 108th-best wide receiver in the nation and the 120th-best recruit in Texas.
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Forbish had 42 receptions for 819 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, but expect him to surpass those numbers as a senior. Lone Star lost four-star Florida signee Davian Groce, one of the nation’s premier receivers who had 64 receptions for 1,572 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2025.
Forbish will once again be catching passes from one of the best quarterbacks in Texas. Trey Wright returns after throwing for 4,062 yards and 43 touchdowns.
No. 63 Caris Sela
The Justin Northwest three-star recruit is committed to TCU but is rated the 90th-best running back in the nation and the 155th-best player in Texas. He is not in the top 1,200 recruits nationwide, per 247Sports.
Sela is coming off a junior season in which he ran for 1,670 yards and 15 touchdowns and caught 29 passes for 261 yards and a score. He was the fifth-leading rusher among Dallas-area Class 6A players.
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Sela’s numbers could be helped by realignment. Southlake Carroll and Trophy Club Byron Nelson were the only teams in Northwest’s new eight-team district that won more than five games last season.
No. 68 Ake O’Neal
The three-star Argyle wide receiver is committed to Oklahoma State but is rated the 1,499th-best player in the country. He’s also ranked by 247Sports as the 191st-best wide receiver in the nation and the 191st-best recruit in Texas.
Most opponents will be devoting extra defenders to Argyle four-star wide receiver Julian Caldwell, who is committed to Texas Tech and is coming off a junior season in which the Under Armour All-American had 94 catches for 1,737 yards and 20 touchdowns for a 12-2 regional finalist. That should open up space for O’Neal, who had 21 receptions for 335 yards and one touchdown last year while missing four games because of an injury.
O’Neal is a track standout who qualified for regionals in the high jump and long jump last season and had season bests of 6-6 in the high jump and 22-7 in the long jump. He finished seventh in the triple jump at the state meet as a sophomore in 2025 and jumped a personal-best 47-9.75 to win regionals that season.
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O’Neal will have a new quarterback throwing to him after Hayes Hackney moved to Argyle from Prosper Walnut Grove in the offseason. Hackney threw for 3,164 yards and 37 touchdowns while completing 68% of his passes as a sophomore at Walnut Grove last season.
No. 72 Victor Scott
The three-star Lancaster running back got only 44 carries last season while playing behind Vanderbilt signee Izayah Lee. Scott, committed to North Texas, ran for 242 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 5.50 yards per carry.
Despite his limited action, Scott lists 29 college offers, including Georgia, Ole Miss, Oregon, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Lancaster is leaving Class 6A and dropping to 5A Division I in realignment, which could help Scott pile up big numbers.
No. 84 Brooks Biggers
The Southlake Carroll running back doesn’t have any stars on his 247Sports recruiting page, and he lists only two offers — from Colorado and Texas State. But he could be in line for a big senior season.
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He made the most of his limited action in 2025, running for 336 yards and 13 touchdowns on 68 carries. Carroll must replace 1,100-yard rusher Davis Penn, 4,200-yard passer Angelo Renda and 1,400-yard receiver Brock Boyd, so there will be opportunities for Biggers to play a larger role.