By Mark Pszonak
While it hasn’t gotten to the level of basketball yet, football recruiting has reached an international level over the last decade. One of the top Class of 2026 defensive tackles in the country, Valdin Sone, fits this mold and is getting more attention by the day.
Damn near Every coach I talk to said if this kid @Sone_Valdin52 works hard next 3 years he’s a top 10 pick! “He looks better than a lot of NFL players now physically” pic.twitter.com/o7lxgpuPEz
— Brandon Collier (@BCollierPPI) May 13, 2025
This was posted by Brandon Collier, found of PPI Recruits, which is a program that helps international players find homes at American universities. Finding a home for Sone will be easy, as he has quickly become a priority for many of the top programs in the country.
Sone, 6-foot-3 and 320-pounds, was born in Sweden and is of Cameroonian descent. He was initially thought to be an offensive lineman but has since successfully transitioned to the defensive side of the ball despite only playing football for a couple of years. In fact, not only has he been successful, he has dominated at Blue Ridge High School in Virginia.
Because of this, he has picked up upwards of 30 offers and currently holds a top eight (as reported by On3) of Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and USC. He has official visits scheduled to Florida (6/13) and Oklahoma (6/20).
While he is still seen as a project considering his lack of experience, his potential is off-the-charts which has placed him in this position. How quickly he develops at the next level will be one of the more interesting Class of 2026 storylines.
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