AJC Varsity Class 4A-2A Private preseason all-state: 4-star RB headlines picks

Ahead of the 2026 football season, AJC Varsity is announcing our preseason all-state teams. Today, we announce Class 4A-2A Private.

Class 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A, 2A and A have already been published.

Best player: Jerry “Andrew” Beard, a running back committed to Florida, has 4,204 yards from scrimmage and 44 touchdowns in his two seasons at Prince Avenue Christian.

Most highly recruited: Beard is a consensus top-200 national prospect and Prince Avenue’s second-highest rated recruit in history behind former Georgia and Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff.

Best position: Cornerback. Brexton Bell, Brayden Bailey and Emerson Lewis are Division I prospects.

That’s interesting: Bailey is a son of former Georgia cornerback Champ Bailey, a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Beard is a nephew of former Georgia All-America running back Garrison Hearst. Taylor Markakis is a son of former Braves outfielder Nick Markakis and also plays baseball.

Snubbed: After graduating a senior class that won 10 games each of the past four seasons, Fellowship Christian doesn’t have a representative on this team. The Paladins have had at least one first-team AJC all-state player each season since 2017 and 11 overall in that time.

Underrated: As a sophomore, Michael Miller quietly passed for more than 2,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 with 37 total touchdowns last season. In track and field, he ran on GAC’s winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams and fifth-place 4x400 team.

What else is news? Calvary Christian, the Private runner-up to Hebron Christian last season, has seven preseason all-state picks, the most of any team in any classification. There are only 27 teams in the 4A-2A Private playoff division.