The first full weekend of Louisiana vs. All Y’all Players of the Week, with the NFL joining the mix, did not disappoint — at any level.
Perhaps as notably and impressively as any of the candidates and awards, a pair of top high school performers kicked off the weekend with particularly eye-catching Thursdays, including a state record.
And their peers, some great college student-athletes and some professionals representing The Boot in various capacities at the highest level of the game kept the momentum rolling all the way through Monday Night Football.
Here’s the rundown of this week’s nine winners, including more details on each performance.
HIGH SCHOOL
Offense — Jack Grace (2029), Country Day QB: If you set a state record, you’re likely landing a Player of the Week recognition as well. And, after Thursday night, the Cajuns’ sophomore gunslinger stands alone atop the Louisiana record books with his nine touchdown passes thrown in a 70-35 rout of The Willow School. Grace did a remarkable job of running the Country Day offense and getting the ball out to his weapons in space. The performance is one that should be a major confidence-builder for the young quarterback heading into big matchups the rest of the season and his career.
Defense — Daelyn Early (2028), Madison Prep LB: The Chargers handled their business against nearby rival University Lab, 38-21, on Thursday, including a stout defensive performance to contain and disrupt the Cubs and their cast of explosive playmakers. Early, the junior linebacker, reported 12 tackles, including four sacks, as one of relentless and hyper-productive game-changers in Madison Prep’s eye-catching early-season win.
Special Teams — Gaines Randol (2027), Brother Martin DB: The Crusaders cruised through their Covington trip to St. Paul’s to improve to 2-0 with a 47-16 victory. Brother Martin played from ahead throughout. But when the Wolves finally found the end zone for the first time, trimmed their deficit to 27-10 and tried to build on that potential spark, Randol instead housed the ensuing kickoff 98 yards to immediately continue snowballing Brother Martin momentum. The return showed his patience and vision as he followed his blockers and weaved his way through traffic, then some good balance through contact to break a tackle and enough speed to finish out the final 40-plus yards despite the Wolves’ chase.
COLLEGE
Offense — Arch Manning, Texas QB: A first half (and, for that matter, multiple years) worth of criticisms and social-media memes aged real, real poorly Saturday evening as the New Orleans native and former Isidore Newman star led his Longhorns charging back to a 24-23 upset of No. 1 Ohio State. Manning finished 23-for-37 for 195 yards, a touchdown and an interception and rushed eight times for another 24 yards. Those raw numbers were tempered by four drops by receivers — one of which accounted for the interception and another of which missed a touchdown opportunity — and don’t effectively quantify the clutch finish with 17 of his final 24 passes completed, including a pair of fourth downs.
Defense — Princewill Umanmielen, LSU EDGE: The Tigers’ defense has been loaded with standout performances each of its first two games thus far, but the disruption the edge-rushing transfer from Ole Miss has brought to the unit has been a definite headliner. Umanmielen wrapped up three sacks Saturday, tied for the second-most in a game in program history, to bring his two-game total to five sacks, which is more than any LSU player had all last season and ties for the second-most in any two-game span in program history. He is already nearly halfway to the program’s season record of 12 sacks with still 10 remaining regular-season games to play.
Special Teams — DKhai Joseph, Southeastern Louisiana WR: The Lions scored on all three of their third-quarter possessions to turn a halftime deficit into a two-touchdown lead. All three phases chipped into the decisive stretch. The three possessions featured the three best starting field positions of the game for either team with one coming after an interception and two Joseph punt returns. The former East St. John star returned three punts in all for 64 yards, including 56- and 7-yarders during the third-quarter run. He also showcased his explosiveness on offense with seven catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns of 50-plus yards, including the go-ahead score in the third.
PROFESSIONAL
Offense — Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings WR: The former Destrehan and LSU star helped lead his team to a 39-22 defeat of its rival Green Bay Packers with one of the weekend’s top receiving performances. Jefferson caught a game-high eight passes for a team-high 92 yards and two touchdowns. He caught eight of his nine targets without a single drop, created consistent separation and hauled in his only tightly contested catch opportunity for one of PFF’s top receiving grades for the weekend, particularly at his volume. Jefferson was one of seven receivers with two touchdowns, tied for fourth in the league in receptions and had the 11th-most yards.
Defense — Mansoor Delane, Kansas City Chiefs DB: The rookie cornerback out of LSU had his NFL debut cut short as he aggravated a shoulder injury with which he had had trouble during the offseason. But in just a few snaps, he showcased why Kansas City selected him this spring as the top defensive back in the 2026 class. Delane snatched an interception on the first throw his direction to help the Chiefs, despite having kicked off, strike first in an eventual 31-10 defeat of the rival Broncos on Monday Night Football. He earned PFF’s highest defensive grade in the league for the limited sample size and, though it was just a few snaps, he garners the first LVAY NFL DPOTW honors for the early-career milestone and high-impact of highlight play.
Special Teams — Daniel Carlson, New Orleans Saints K: The Saints’ kicker earned one of the league’s top PFF grades for his position this weekend with his 3-for-3 extra-point and 1-for-2 field-goal performances. His 28-yarder midway through the fourth quarter pulled New Orleans within four points to help keep its rally rolling. He had the distance for, but narrowly missed wide-right a 62-yarder in the final seconds that would have won the game in regulation and landed him in elite company among the longest field goals in league history and an even smaller group among longest game-winners. While he ultimately didn’t sink that kick, the Saints appear to have a potential weapon in their new specialist and may have boosted their confidence in the distances from which they can utilize him.
