AJC Varsity 2026 preseason all-state football team Class 7A

Ahead of the 2026 football season, AJC Varsity is announcing our preseason all-state teams. Today we begin with Class 7A.

Best player: Valdosta running back Marquis Fennell is the reigning offensive player in the highest classification. He produced 2,240 yards from scrimmage and scored 33 touchdowns for a 12-2 last season.

Best position: Running back. Fennell and Brookwood’s Brayden Tyson are seniors who have had the most productive careers, but younger players Kevin Hartsfield of Newton, Christian Schettini of Northgate, Zach Belyeu of North Cobb and transfer Zachary Watts of Carrollton are blue-chip recruits coming off 1,000-yard seasons.

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Most highly recruited: McEachern’s Casey Barner is the consensus No. 1 safety prospect among juniors and the No. 10 prospect overall in his class.

That’s interesting: Buford is the defending consensus national champion, but there are no Wolves here. Nine Buford players signed with Power 4 schools last season. Buford will be good again, but more players have something to prove.

Snubbed: Seven consensus top-400 national prospects and several other Power 4 prospects transferred into Class 7A this offseason. The only one that made this team was McEachern linebacker and Georgia commit Joakim Gouda, who came from South Paulding. Carrollton running back Zachary Watts (from Carver of Columbus) also will get a top-400 tag when sophomores get official rankings. The most outstanding transfers that aren’t here are wide receivers Zyon Robinson (to McEachern from Stockbridge) and Keyon Standifer (to Newton from Athens Academy).

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Underrated: Hard to believe a four-year starter and region player of the year for a Class 7A state power is not a consensus top-100 prospect, but that’s North Gwinnett linebacker Jake Godfree. He’s committed to NC State.

What’s else is news: Harrison has improved steadily this decade and went 10-2 last season with its first playoff victory since the 2019 Class 6A title. The Hoyas have three returning all-state players: Aiden Watson, DJ Huggins and Olrick Johnson.