*Best player: Harrison Bailey. No other player can have a bigger impact than Marietta's quarterback. Witness the 2017 playoffs. Marietta was an at-large qualifier, the fifth-place team in its region. Bailey returned from an injury and led the Blue Devils to the quarterfinals, where they lost 51-41 to eventual champion North Gwinnet. In that game, Bailey threw for 335 yards and a school-record five touchdowns.
*Best position: Cornerback/safety. Ten of the top 100 recruits in Georgia from all classifications and positions are Class AAAAAAA defensive backs. The four chosen were North Gwinnett's Warren Burrell (Tennessee), Milton's Joe Charleston (Clemson), Archer's Andrew Booth (Clemson) and Hillgrove's Jaylen McCollough (consensus No. 9 safety).
*Highly recruited: Owen Pappoe. The Grayson linebacker is the consensus No. 1 outside linebacker and No. 11 overall senior prospect in the country. Pappoe is committed to Auburn.
*That's interesting: Seven of the top 50 (and 10 of the top 100) senior prospects in Georgia play for Grayson, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. No other Georgia team in history, including Grayson's talent-rich 2016 championship team, has fielded so many. Only three of those made the preseason all-state team simply because others might've had more decorated 2017 seasons.
*Snubbed? Josh Downs. It's hard to crack a lineup that includes All-America receivers Dominick Blaylock and Ramel Keyton, but this junior from North Gwinnett had 63 catches for 1,109 yards and nine touchdowns for the defending champions last season.
*What else is new? GHSF Daily's preseason all-state teams don't typically choose two quarterbacks but will for the first time this season. In this classification, they are Bailey and Milton's Jordan Yates, a Georgia Tech commit who passed for 2,011 yards and rushed for 893 in 11 games last season. The AJC and GSWA postseason all-state teams recognize only one quarterback.
OFFENSE
QB (pro) - Harrison Bailey, Marietta
QB (dual) - Jordan Yates, Milton
RB - Tyler Goodson, North Gwinnett
RB - Ty Leggett, Colquitt County
RB - Christian Singleton, North Cobb
TE - Arik Gilbert, Marietta
WR - Dominick Blaylock, Walton
WR - Ramel Keyton, Marietta
OL - Jakai Clark, Grayson
OL - Dominic D'Antonio, Etowah
OL - Jeremy James, North Forsyth
OL - Wanya Morris, Grayson
OL - Trey Zimmerman, Roswell
ATH - Malik Washington, Parkview
PK - Ryan Fitzgerald, Colquitt County
DEFENSE
DL - Jaelin Humphries, Mountain View
DL - B.J. Ojulari, Marietta
DL - Colby Wooden, Archer
DE/LB - Kadarius "K.D." McDaniel, Tift County
LB - Tyron Hopper, Roswell
LB - Owen Pappoe, Grayson
LB - Trey Pinkney, Pebblebrook
LB - Rashad Revels, Colquitt County
DB - Andrew Booth, Archer
DB - Warren Burrell, North Gwinnett
DB - Joe Charleston, Milton
DB - Jaylen McCollough, Hillgrove
P - Charlie Pollock, Walton
Coming Thursday: Class AAAAAA
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