Landen Williams-Callis has claimed 247Sports’ National Preseason Player of the Year honor, and the case for the Richmond (Texas) Randle running back starts with sheer production.
As the prep football season gets rolling in different corners of the country, 247Sports also rolled out its state-by-state Preseason Players of the Year and Preseason All-America Team. From there, the national award came down to a four-man race, with Williams-Callis finishing ahead of Alabama five-star quarterback commit Elijah Haven, Tennessee five-star running back commit David Gabriel Georges and Ohio State five-star edge rusher DJ Jacobs.
Williams-Callis separated himself because his numbers are operating on another level entirely. The Texas commit enters the 2026 season with 7,554 rushing yards and 125 rushing touchdowns on 756 carries, totals that lead all 2027 running backs and place him 67th in career rushing yards in the NFHS record book before his senior year even begins.
What makes that output even more striking is how little he’s had to pound away at defenses compared with other elite backs near the top of the national charts. In 32 of his 45 high school games, Williams-Callis has finished with fewer than 20 carries. If he keeps that kind of efficiency as a senior, he has a real shot to move into the national top 10 in career rushing yards while taking fewer carries per game than anyone else in that group.
The milestones keep stacking up from there. If Williams-Callis runs for 3,828 yards this fall, he will pass recent Texas Tech four-star enrollee Kaegan Ash for the TXHSFB career rushing yards record. That would also leave him second all-time nationally, trailing only Derek Henry’s 12,144-yard mark.
There’s more at stake than records, too. Williams-Callis could help lead Richmond Randle to a third straight Texas state championship game, with the Lions chasing their second title in just their fifth season of varsity football.
The production comes from a back who is listed at around 5-foot-7.5 and 190 pounds, but his game plays much bigger. Williams-Callis brings 10.59-second 100-meter speed, sharp agility, strong balance through contact and the kind of football IQ that fits a player with three relatives who reached the NFL.
One of them, former Oregon State standout Jacquizz Rodgers, followed a similar path as a record-setting high school back who helped lead his school to an improbable state title before spending eight years in the NFL. Rodgers was measured at just under 5-foot-6.
Randle opens the 2026 season Friday with a rematch of the past two 5A Division II state title games against Dallas South Oak Cliff at Prairie View A&M’s Panther Stadium. After moving up to 5A Division I this offseason, the Lions could end up seeing DeSoto in a potential title game if both programs make it back to AT&T Stadium.
247Sports national scouting analyst Gabe Brooks described Williams-Callis this way:
- Ultra-productive back who boasts high-volume durability and explosive big-play juice.
- Often plays at a different speed than everybody else on the field.
- Initial acceleration and top-end gear sit toward the top of 2027 RB class. Supports football speed with 10.4 and 21.8 track speed.
- Sees lanes ahead of time and knows how to change speeds to effectively use blocks.
- Natural low center of gravity helps shrug off glancing contact and play larger than on-paper dimensions.
- May never be a true banger because of lack of size, but excellent natural pad level and tightly-wound build make for consistently effective interior runner.
- Not a ton of pass-catching reps but enough for valuable context (60-plus receptions in first three varsity seasons).
- One of the highest-floor prospects in the 2027 class, regardless of position. Projects as a high-major impact player who should become a legitimate pro prospect.
In Other News...
Texas Finally Gets A Real Jonah Williams Decision In Camp
Jonah Williams has spent much of his Texas career fighting through one injury after another, from a broken collarbone to hamstring issues and then shoulder surgery in March. Now the sophomore safety is back on the field for fall camp, and for the first time the conversation around him is less about what has slowed him down and more about what he can add. Texas has a crowded safety room, but Williams is giving the staff something tangible to work with after a long rehab process.
What stands out in camp is not just that Williams is healthy enough to go, but that he looks more physical and more versatile than he did before the latest setback. He is competing for playing time while also helping on special teams, which gives him multiple ways to stay in the picture as the Longhorns sort out their back end. For a player whose development has been interrupted so many times, simply getting a real decision point in camp is a significant step. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Commit Already Has Arch Manning Doing Double Takes
Arch Manning had reason to pay attention Friday night at Baylor School, where his cousin Marshall Manning made his varsity football debut as a freshman quarterback. The game also put a spotlight on senior running back David Gabriel Georges, the Tennessee commit who opened the season with a standout performance and reminded everyone why he has become one of the most closely watched backs in the country.
Georges has built a national profile as one of the top running backs in the Class of 2027, and the recruiting buzz around him only grows when he turns in a performance like that. For Tennessee, the appeal is obvious: a blue-chip runner already committed and already showing why the Vols wanted to get in early, even in a game that brought an extra Manning storyline to the field. [Read more 🡒]
Will Muschamps Texas Defense Is Built To Make Offenses Uncomfortable
Will Muschamp arrived in Austin with a clear mandate: make the Texas defense harder to deal with, snap after snap, by replacing the steadier approach used under Pete Kwiatkoski with something more aggressive. His background points to a system built on pressure and tighter coverage rules, the kind of change that asks receivers to work for every inch and forces quarterbacks to hold the ball just a little longer than they want to.
At the heart of it is Muschamps preference for man and match coverages, a blend that gives defenders the leverage of zone without giving up the urgency of man-to-man principles. The idea is to keep routes from getting easy answers, and his time at Georgia offered plenty of examples of how that can work when corners, safeties and linebackers stay disciplined within the structure. For Texas, the question is how quickly that style can become muscle memory. [Read more 🡒]