St. Aug’s Jahkeem Stewart named No. 1 defensive lineman in class of 2026

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Meet Jahkeem Stewart. A 6-foot-6 defensive lineman nicknamed ‘Thanos.’

“If you get in front of me, you’re going to get dominated,” Stewart says.

The St. Augustine sophomore has already earned 26 offers to play college football.

“I mean just going against opponents, to see that kid step off the bus at 6-6 290, that’s intimidating,” St. Augustine head coach Nick Foster says. “But also when the athleticism and the play match up with the eye test, it all goes together. It just creates a terror.”

He is the number one ranked defensive lineman in the country for the class of 2026.

What’s even more impressive is that Stewart has yet to play a season of varsity football.

He had to sit out last year after transferring to St. Augustine High School.

Even though he was sidelined during the season, he impressed college coaches during camps.

“Just keep getting on campus, showing them that I’m a bigger body and not just the same person you see the first time,” Stewart says. “I’m gonna change my body type every time you see me.”

Before moving on to the next level and playing college, Stewart has more goals that he wants to accomplish here at St. Augustine.

He wants to lead the Purple Knights to a state championship for the first time in over four decades.

“All the college stuff gonna fall in,” Stewart says. “I just gotta worry about one thing. Just dominating this football season and get my team to a state championship. Since 1979... been a long time. I feel like I can make a change in that. And I will do that.”

“It’s hard for him to walk in the likes of Leonard Fournette or Tyrann Mathieu and all these guys that came through here,” Stewart says. “But he said the only difference that he wanted to change from them, to be different from them, is win a state championship. See that’s the type of team player he is. Don’t get me wrong. He wears that crown as the number one player in his class in the country. But at the same time, he knows we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

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