*Best player: Jadon Haselwood. The Cedar Grove senior is rated the No. 1 wide receiver prospect in the country, but as a high school player, he might be better as a rib-cracking safety. Either way, he'll be the best all-around player and athlete on the field in any game he plays this season.
*Best position: Linebacker. Four will be playing in the ACC next season - Sergio Allen (Clemson), Davis Allen (Clemson), Ahdarrious Gee (Georgia Tech) and Kalen Deloach (Florida State). That led to having five linebackers on the list since none of those, nor returning all-state LB Isaiah Ratcliff, should be left off any preseason all-state list.
Who is ready for high school football?
— WSB-TV Sports Zone (@WSBTVsports) August 2, 2018
Cedar Grove's @jadon_haselwood is the #1 high school wide receiver in the nation. Easy to see why @footballuga is excited to have him next year!
Sports Zone Friday starts Aug. 17 with the best teams, top players and biggest hits! pic.twitter.com/2kt6MAEAEy
*Highly recruited: Haselwood is the consensus No. 1 player in the state and No. 6 nationally. He is committed to Georgia.
*That's interesting: Ringgold wide receiver Andre Tarver, a two-time all-state football player, is probably a better baseball player. He is committed to Mississippi State in baseball but wants to play both sports in college. Mississippi State hasn't agreed to that. Wake Forest, for one, offered a spot to do both.
*Snubbed? Preston Poag Jr. and Cole Kibler. Region 6 has two of the state's best quarterbacks. Poag, of North Murray, passed for 2,211 yards and rushed for 600 in 10 games. Kibler passed for 2,686 yards, also in 10 games. The pro-style quarterback spot went to Monroe Area's Chandler Byron, who rushed for 1,902 yards and passed for 1,784 while completing more than 60 percent of his throws.
*What else is new? Jefferson (AAAA quarterfinalist) and Benedictine (AA quarterfinalist) have jumped into AAA this season, putting this classification essentially on par with AAAA and far ahead of AA. Both have two players on the preseason all-state team. Also moving in was Dante Walker, a four-star recruit who transferred from Riverdale to AAA power Cedar Grove.
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OFFENSE
QB (pro) - Gavin Gray, Calhoun
QB (dual) - Chandler Byron, Monroe Area
RB - Kris Coleman, Liberty County
RB - SeVaughn Clark, Dawson County
WR - Jadon Haselwood, Cedar Grove
WR - Andre Tarver, Ringgold
TE - Nick Jackson, Lovett
OL - Luke Griffin, North Murray
OL - Cedric Hillsman, Peach County
OL - Myles Hinton, Greater Atlanta Christian
OL - J.T. Middleton, Jefferson
OL - Jake Patterson, Pike County
ATH - Zac Corbin, Jefferson
PK - Charlie Ham, Westminster
DEFENSE
DL - Rashad Cheney, Cedar Grove
DL - Eric Hicks Jr., Benedictine
DL - Christopher Hinton, Greater Atlanta Christian
DL - Dante Walker, Cedar Grove
LB - Davis Allen, Calhoun
LB - Sergio Allen, Peach County
LB - Kalen DeLoach, Islands
LB - Ahdarrious Gee, Crisp County
LB - Isaiah Ratcliff, Cedar Grove
DB - Jakeen Harris, Benedictine
DB - Jordan Huff, Morgan County
DB - Brannon Spector, Calhoun
DB - K.J. Wallace, Lovett
P - Patrick Markwalter, Pace Academy
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