Gorney’s Predictions: QBs Duckworth and Henderson, Louisiana five-stars
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has three predictions on four-star quarterback Landon Duckworth, possible five-stars in the state of Louisiana and Houston QB commit Keisean Henderson’s ranking.
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1. DUCKWORTH WILL END UP AT OLE MISS
Landon Duckworth committed to South Carolina early in his recruitment but the four-star quarterback from Jackson, Ala., backed off that pledge last June and has completely reopened things.
Months later, UCF and South Carolina were high on the list as Duckworth still has admiration for the Gamecocks and his connection with then-coach Gus Malzahn stood out. Malzahn is now the offensive coordinator at Florida State and so the Seminoles are going to be a contender in Duckworth’s recruitment as well.
Many others will be involved, too, as Duckworth is a crazy athletic and talented four-star quarterback but Ole Miss feels very much like the team to beat.
Duckworth visited Ole Miss this week, he’s hit it off with coach Lane Kiffin and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and playing in Kiffin’s offense is a major draw.
What’s also somewhat telling is that Ole Miss has slowed down slightly with some other top quarterback targets – mainly five-star Ryder Lyons and four-star Luke Fahey – as Duckworth has become an even bigger priority.
2. THERE WILL BE MORE FIVE-STARS IN LOUISIANA
There are six players from the state of Louisiana in the top 100 of the Rivals250, which feels like a lot but this class not only is excellent at the top, there is depth in the state and it’s reflective in the rankings.
Maybe not enough.
Right now, the only five-star prospect is Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic’s Blaine Bradford who looks and plays a lot like former five-star Minkah Fitzpatrick. A very easy argument could be made for at least two other Louisiana standouts to end up with five-star rankings and there could possibly be others.
Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab two-way lineman Lamar Brown has been excellent at offseason events, can literally be dominant at offensive guard or on the defensive line and has high-level athleticism and toughness in the middle. LSU and Texas A&M are battling it out for him.
At a recent event, LSU commit Richard Anderson from New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr had some elite measurements and he carries 340-plus very well. The hard-nosed and surprisingly quick defensive tackle would have five-star potential if he can keep his weight in order and keep the same power.
And Louisiana might not be done there. It’s an outside shot but New Orleans Karr four-star safety and fellow LSU commit Aiden Hall is currently ranked No. 34 nationally and he has the instincts, speed and physicalness to be considered among the five-star elite as well.
RELATED: Louisiana state rankings
3. KEISEAN HENDERSON WILL END UP HIGHER THAN NO. 6 NATIONALLY
There has been a very healthy debate about the top of the 2026 rankings and what the quarterback order should be.
We’ve settled on Tennessee commit Faizon Brandon, then Ryder Lyons, followed by Jared Curtis and then Houston commit Keisean Henderson all in the top six. But the Spring (Texas) Legacy standout might be too low – even at No. 6 overall.
Months ago, it wasn’t perfectly clear that Henderson would stay at quarterback but after seeing his development at the Navy All-American Bowl and then at the recent Elite 11 workout, it’s pretty clear that he’s not only a five-star but could move even higher.
No. 6 in the country is nothing to laugh at but if he’s the next Shedeur Sanders – or even better since he’s way ahead of Sanders at the same stage – then the Houston commit should get a bump higher in the rankings, ahead of some other quarterbacks.
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2025-03-29 09:10:38
