Takeaways from north Louisiana preseason action
Rivals National Recruiting Analyst Marshall Levenson was on the sidelines for a pair of preseason matchups in the Shreveport area this week, featuring a number of notable recruits in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes.
Here are some of the takeaways from the live evaluations.
Zeigler has the makings of the real deal
I have seen Malachi Zeigler four or five times this season offseason, so I have a pretty good read on his abilities and arm talent. But Friday night was the first where I was able to see him in pads. It was just a scrimmage, so there was not nearly as many reps or opportunities as would be normally given, but I learned a bit more about the 6-foot-3, 200 pounder. First thing, his resilience. Zeigler was forced to use his legs often as the pocket was never clean for more than just a second or two. But no matter how many bodies they sent at him, he constantly found a way out of it and turned it into positive yards. We know he has a big arm, but the mobility was a really good sight to see on Friday.
At his size, he is not easy to bring down and was consistently shaking tackles off and fighting for extra yards. While he was on the move quite a bit, we also got to see some off platform throws as well as various arm angles, which comes from his baseball background. If his offensive line can hold up during the season, Zeigler will be able to let it rip a bit more. But even if he’s using his legs, I anticipate big numbers from him.
Houston fits the surgical mold
I got an in-depth look at Peyton Houston this offseason a number of times. The biggest was during a multi-hour spring practice, where I was able to see him work drills as well as live reps in practice. Now, I got to see him face off against an opponent. Again, it was a scrimmage, so it was not timed as a normal game, but he managed to go 15-21 for 267 yards and three touchdowns to one interception. He also added 82 rushing yards.
Houston has not played much at the varsity leve previously, so there was not much film to go off of. But, seeing the bullets flying live, Houston had no issue with pressure in his face and put the ball where it needed to be with accuracy. With a cool, calm demeanor in the pocket, Houston loves to push the ball down the field and should be in for a big season on the stat sheet. My biggest compliment of Houston is the way he goes about processing and distributing the ball. My word for it is surgical. He takes care of the ball and beats a defense with his timing and accuracy. Everyone around Houston constantly raves about his ability as a passer as well as the way he carries himself on and off the field.
Stock up for Witten Van Hoy
This was the first time I have been able to see TCU commit Witten Van Hoy in person and boy I was impressed. I was not aware how well built and proportional Van Hoy is at a recently measured 6-foot-7.25 and 305 pounds. He holds that size very well and is a good mover, which was my biggest takeaway in regards to his ability. He is ranked as a three-star prospect as of now, but if he has a strong senior season, he will certainly be in the discussion for a fourth star. There are not many players walking around at his size that look how he does.
He was strong at right tackle all night on Friday and had his way with defensive lineman. The TCU commit loves to finish his blocks and had a few occasions of simply throwing his defender out of the way.
An intriguing defensive playmaker in 2026
When I arrived to the scrimmage on Friday night, one of the first names coaches made sure to point out was Demarcus King. It was not hard to see why as he looks great at 6-foot-2, 215 pounds and toned up. King was a regular playmaker on the defensive side at the edge rusher position. Not only was he making an impact in the pass rush getting to the quarterback, but he set the edge well all night and was very involved in the run game. He was the primary tackler a number of times throughout the night.
King does not yet have an offer but programs such as Louisiana Tech, UNT, and Houston have been in touch. There is plenty of room to improve for King, but there is upside in his game.
The future is certainly on the interior for Bradford
I liked what I saw from Minden three-star offensive lineman Jonathan Bradford. While Bradford played tackle for Minden, our current positional ranking at guard is accurate. Bradford is 6-foot-4 and nearing up on 300 pounds if not already eclipsing the weight. He does have great length though, which was nice to see. I really liked what I saw in the run game with Bradford, who has the ability to displace bodies in front of him. He also showed a few times he can move into the second level and search for a new target to block.
