Friday night lights return with a Thursday night special Aug. 20 at Paycor Stadium before the 2026 season begins in earnest Aug. 21.
The Enquirer has previewed the top players in the area in various ways. Football is the most difficult sport in which to rank players because of all the numerous positions; their responsibilities are vastly different from each other.
With that said, here is The Enquirer's overall ranking of the top 25 football players in Greater Cincinnati ahead of the 2026 season.
25. Levi Guttman, Cincinnati Country Day
Guttman was the Miami Valley Conference-Gray Player of the Year and was a third-team All-Ohio signal-caller, throwing for 1,879 yards and 27 touchdowns to three interceptions. On the ground,
he ran for 969 yards and eight touchdowns.
24. Jayden McKinney, Winton Woods
McKinney has played two varsity seasons for Winton Woods and last season had 24 tackles (14 solo) as a defensive lineman with 5.5 sacks and three tackles for a loss. He's ranked as Ohio's No. 11 player by 247Sports.
23. Jonny Lind, Covington Catholic
An Army commit, the offensive/defensive lineman had 58 tackles for the Colonels last season, including a team-high four sacks.
22. Chris Bradley, North College Hill
Bradley, an Indiana University commit, was at Lakota West last season before heading over to North College Hill for his senior campaign. An all-state defensive back last year, Bradley had six interceptions.
21. Gage Croley, Goshen
The Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference-American Player of the Year last season, Croley was second-team All-Ohio with 2,007 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in 11 games.
20. Tysin Weaver, Anderson
The first-team All-Ohio receiver had 91 receptions for 1,375 yards and 20 touchdowns for the state finalist Raptors.
19. Cordell Ball, Oak Hills
Ball was the Greater Miami Conference's top receiver in 2025 and an All-Ohio honorable mention, making 56 catches for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns in 11 games. The 6-foot-2 receiver is a three-star recruit with offers from Cincinnati, Louisville and Iowa State.
18. Reilly Newman, Lakota West
A four-star commit to Iowa, Newman was a first-teamer in the Greater Miami Conference and the district and was a second-team defender in the state. The 6-foot-7 senior had 48 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and 1.5 sacks last season.
17. Kenyon Norman, Lakota West
The honorable-mention All-Ohio running back and Northwestern University commit had 915 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 games last season while also catching 29 passes for 311 yards and three more scores.
16. Noah Bilinski, Springboro
Bilinski was first-team in the conference and district and was a third-team receiver in Ohio, hauling in 84 receptions in 11 games for 1,082 yards and nine touchdowns.
15. Tayden Lorenzen, Highlands
Lorenzen is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound tight end committed to the Miami RedHawks. Lorenzen for the Bluebirds last season ran 123 times for 541 yards and 18 touchdowns and caught 26 passes for 321 yards and four scores.
14. Chuck Alexander, Withrow
The Iowa State commit was a second-team all-district receiver last season, hauling in 21 passes for 369 yards and six touchdowns in eight games.
13. Judah Blair, Lakota West
Blair, a first-teamer in the Greater Miami Conference last season, is the state's No. 4 player in his class, according to 247Sports, and the No. 4 linebacker in the country. In 12 games as a sophomore, he had 66 total tackles (30 solo), 16.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks and an interception.
12. Antwoine Higgins, Anderson
The linebacker will head to Kentucky after the season. Higgins, as a junior, helped Anderson to another state final with over 60 tackles and a pair of interceptions for the Raptors.
11. Emmett Queen, Beechwood
After spending his sophomore season at Covington Catholic, Queen headed to Beechwood, where he went off for 2,710 yards and 39 touchdowns to just two interceptions. The Wake Forest University commit averaged over 200 yards a game and completed over 71% of his passes.
10. Josiah Pouncy, North College Hill
Pouncy, the state's No. 25 player and a Louisville commit, has transferred from Taft after 127 tackles last season (59 solo) and one interception he returned for a touchdown. The linebacker also had 30 tackles for a loss while getting second-team all-district and honorable mention All-Ohio honors.
9. Ryan Minges, East Central
Ryan Minges got time in just a pair of games last year, still managing to amass 293 yards and four touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2024, Minges ran for 1,517 yards and 25 touchdowns and has committed to Miami (Ohio).
8. Monsanna Torbert Jr., Princeton
Now at Princeton after starting his career at Taft, Monsanna Torbert is a University of Michigan commit with the state's No. 6 ranking in the class. Ranked as a cornerback, Torbert has been a standout quarterback after throwing for over 3,600 yards and 50 touchdowns with another 1,000 rushing yards over the last two seasons.
7. Owen Scalf, Anderson
In his junior campaign, the QB was first-team All-Ohio after going 407-for-564 through the air for 4,961 yards and 41 touchdowns while getting 677 more yards and eight scores on the ground, leading the Raptors to the state final game.
6. Kal-El Johnson, Moeller
A Taft starter who transferred to Moeller last year, Johnson was a second-team offensive lineman in the Greater Catholic League-South. The 6-foot-8, 320-pound Johnson is a four-star recruit committed to Georgia Tech.
5. Lorenzo McMullen Jr., Princeton
According to the 247Sports rankings, the Taft-to-Princeton transfer is the No. 2 player in Ohio and the No. 8 wide receiver in the country for the 2028 class. Using the site's composite ranking, McMullen is the top player in Ohio and a five-star recruit.
4. Devlan Daniel, Indian Hill
Devlan Daniel repeated as Cincinnati Hills League Offensive Player of the Year last season and was first-team in the district and the state for Division IV. He passed for 1,192 yards and 13 touchdowns last season and ran for 1,116 yards and 21 more scores.
3. Kaden Estep, Elder
Estep led Elder to its first 10-0 regular season since 1991 last year, completing 190-of-280 passes for 2,430 yards and 15 touchdowns while running for 924 yards and 10 more touchdowns. The Miami RedHawks commit was the Greater Catholic League-South Offensive Player of the Year, first-team all-district and first-team All-Ohio.
2. Ace Alston, Anderson
The No. 5 player in Ohio for the 2027 class, according to 247Sports, Ace Alston is the No 10 cornerback in the country and a Notre Dame commit. He recently made USA Today's Top 100 senior football players list.
Anderson has reached the Division II state final the last two seasons, with Alston combining for 99 tackles and five interceptions in that span.
1. Tyler Fryman, Beechwood
Tyler Fryman was a longtime University of Louisville baseball commit before decommitting in June and switching to the University of Kentucky, where he'll play baseball and football. He's among preseason candidates for Kentucky Mr. Football. Also an indoor track state champ, Fryman caught 62 passes last season for 1,320 yards and 23 touchdowns. Fryman also had four more rushing scores and even had a 64-yard touchdown pass on his only attempt of the year. The Enquirer named him the 2026 Boys Athlete of the Year as well as the Northern Kentucky Baseball Player of the Year.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Enquirer ranks Cincinnati's top 25 high school football players
