Rivals Rankings Week: Storylines to follow with top 2026 offensive linemen
The new position rankings for the 2026 class are being released and so it’s time to look at storylines at each spot. We next move onto the offensive line.
NEW POSITION RANKINGS: Offensive Tackle | Offensive Guard | Offensive Center | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Running Back | All-Purpose Back | Pro-Style QB | Dual-Threat QB
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Sunday: Who should be No. 1?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-star
Tuesday: New Rivals250 unveiled | Position-by-position | Biggest risers
Wednesday: New offensive position rankings | QB rankings breakdown | RB rankings breakdown | WR/TE rankings breakdown | OL rankings breakdown
Thursday: New defensive position rankings | DL rankings breakdown | LB rankings breakdown | DB rankings breakdown | ATH rankings breakdown
Friday: New state rankings | Who is No. 1 in each state
Saturday: Rivals Rankings Roundtable
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A NEW FIVE-STAR UP FRONT
The biggest national riser up the new rankings is also the newest five-star in 2026, Immanuel Iheanacho. The massive tackle out of North Bethesda (Md.) Georgetown Prep not only wows with his towering 6-foot-7, 340-pound frame – but with what he can do with it.
The rising junior's ascent began on the basketball court and some of that light-on-the-feet movement skill remains despite good weight and mass having been added since. It has all resulted in some two dozen scholarship offers, with some of the latest coming in from Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida State and defending national champion Michigan.
Iheanacho is just two years into his football career, citing the danger of the sport compared to most others, but he has hit the ground running and then some since kicking off his career in 2022. Now he's drawing comparisons to some of college football's recent greats.
"Ohio State compared him to (former All-American) Dawand Jones. Oregon said (former first-round draft pick) Penei Sewell," Georgetown Prep offensive line coach Sean McCleary said. "You have all of these other comparisons of people who are doing very well for themselves on Sundays that, with the proper technique and health, God willing he will be able to reach that ceiling one day.
“They've been gushing about him and now he's just got to be able to put it all together because it's all potential right now.”
RELATED: Meet the new five-star
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TACKLES THE TALK OF THE 2026 CYCLE
Rivals.com
Even before Iheanacho jumped to five-star status, towering tackles have been at the forefront of the conversation at the top of the 2026 Rivals250 for some time. Jackson Cantwell sits as the top-ranked offensive prospect, No. 2 overall. Another five-star who has held the mark for some time is Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy's Keenyi Pepe, ranked one spot ahead of Ihenacho at No. 7 overall.
Tackles already make up three of the eight early five-star recruits in the class of 2026, and beyond the cutoff there are still big names commanding attention. Avon (Ohio) High School's Maxwell Riley checks in at No. 9 overall and fast-riser Pierre Dean shot all the way up to No. 13 to mark five tackle projections among the top baker's dozen in the cycle regardless of position.
Six more made the top 100 and a total of 28 reside in the updated Rivals250 overall. Only wide receiver features more at any one position to date.
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MORE NEW FACES IN THE RIVALS250
As is often the case in the summer update, there are a lot of new names to know among the very best in the rising junior class when it comes to the Rivals250. The big blockers were among those who made a rankings debut, beginning with Iheanacho. Lone Star State prospect John Turntine III also made a strong splash at No. 23 overall after impressing with a 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame and head-turning 7-foot wingspan. The offers have rolled in simultaneously for the well put-together talent, with Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Florida State and USC among the new offers on the table over the last six weeks or so alone.
Fellow tackles and guards also made their first run in the rankings including Samuel Roseborough (No. 163 overall), Desmond Green (No. 184), Kai Pritchard (No. 189), Mitchell Smith (No. 226), Ben Nichols (No. 233), Gabriel Osends (No. 289) and Blaise Thomassie (No. 248).
With the nine new faces added to the growing list, a total of 37 offensive line recruits made the Rivals250.
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A BATTLE FOR THE TOP GUARD SPOT
Nick Lucero/Rivals.com
The interior linemen are on the rise within the update, but at guard there is a particularly interesting battle potentially brewing. Six guards made the Rivals250 cut, but the top two at the position are within two spots of each other overall. Both Pennsylvania native Tyler Merril and Virginia's Darius Gray were in the Rivals250, but well outside the top 100. Now, each has shot right into the mix there, with Merril at No. 91 overall and Gray flanking him at No. 93. The nation's top two ranked guards each bolted at least 20 spots up the national ranking to sit within the top 100 overall.
Each is listed at 6-foot-5, with Merril sitting just over 300 pounds and Gray sitting at a leaner 285 at this time. Each boasts two dozen-plus scholarship offers to their name and each remains uncommitted in the process. Merrill has been the top-ranked guard in the class since the initial 100 recruits in 2026 were ranked back in September. Can he hold on?
