NFL Draft Recap: Texas High Schools Send Talent to the NFL

By Travis Atkinson

With the 2016 NFL Draft in the books, now comes the time to analyze the class as a whole and see what we can find. In all, 253 athletes’ were selected in the NFL’s 3-day process, 32 (12%) of them played High School football in Texas.

Four former Texas High School football players were among those selected in the 1st round of the draft, starting with the Cleveland Browns selection of Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman with the 15th pick. Coleman played his high school ball at Pierce High in Richardson, Texas before going on to have a prolific career at Baylor. In three seasons of play at Pierce High, Coleman earned 3,864 all-purpose yards and 61 touchdowns. His senior season, Coleman received 2011 first-team Class 4A All-State and District 10-4A MVP honors as a wide receiver.

Coleman is a speedy receiver who can really stretch the field, he averaged over 18 yards a catch and had 20 touchdowns his senior year at Baylor. Cleveland is hoping they get with Coleman what they got with former Baylor wide receiver Josh Gordon, whom they drafted in 2012, only without the substance abuse problems. Gordon led the league in receiving yards in 2013 with 1646, but has played a total of five games the past two seasons after suspensions for a DWI and violating the leagues substance abuse policy.

It didn’t take long for another Texan to go off the board in the 1st round, as TCU wide receiver Josh Doctson went to Washington with the 22nd pick.  Doctson is a product of Mansfield Legacy High, where he was a 3-year letterman. In 2010, his senior year, Doctson caught 35 passes for 558 yards and 5 touchdowns in nine games, and earned first-team All-District 5-5A honors. A 3-star recruit coming out of Mansfield Legacy, he spent a year at the University of Wyoming before transferring to TCU.  In his junior and senior seasons with the Horned-Frogs, Doctson had a total of 2,345 yards receiving and 26 touchdowns.

Doctson will provide a spark to a Washington offense that ranked 11th in passing yards in 2015. Washington has primarily small receivers on its roster, perfect for stretching the field or working in the slot. But at 6’2’ and 202 pounds, Doctson provides a large target to throw to and has the tools to be a true #1 receiver; something Washington hasn’t had for awhile. With DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon as the only established veteran receivers on the team, it won’t be long before Doctson is making plays.

Doctson wasn’t the only Mansfield Legacy graduate to be drafted. He is joined by his high school teammate Rees Odhiambo, a guard out of Boise state, who was selected 97th overall by the Seattle Seahawks.

The city of Mansfield also produced another draft pick, this time from Mansfield High. Hassan Ridgeway, a defensive tackle from the University of Texas, heard his name called by the Colts in the 4th round with the 116th pick. Ridgeway was the only Longhorn selected in the draft.

The first round draft picks continued with University of Houston corner back William Jackson’s selection by the Bengals with the 24th pick.  Jackson went to high school at Wheatley High in Houston, Texas. He was joined by high school teammate Xavian Howard, who was drafted out of Baylor in the 2nd round with the 38th pick by the Miami Dolphins. Together the duo helped lead Wheatley High to a 5-7 record and a 2nd round playoff trip during their senior season.

The last Texan to go in the first round was offensive tackle Germain Ifedi out of Texas A&M. He played high school football at Houston, Westside and was selected by the Seahawks with the last pick in the 1st round.

Ifedi is an NFL ready lineman who should be an immediate starter for the Seahawks. Seattle is looking to revive the physical rushing attack that earned it a Super Bowl in 2013 and appear to be doing this by seeking out talent from the state of Texas. The Seahawks selected offensive linemen Ifedi and Odhaimbo (mentioned earlier) in the 1st and 3rd round, but they were not done there. In the 6th round at pick 215, Seattle took center Joey Hunt out of TCU by way of El Campo High.

Other notable Texas High School graduates to be drafted were Oklahoma State’s defensive end Eamnauel Ogbah and Alabama defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson. Ogbah was drafted with the 1st pick of the 2nd round by the Cleveland Browns and played high school football at George Bush High in Richmond, Texas. He has tremendous power and strength, making him a terrific option against the run; but his lack of quickness or athleticism could make him a liability in pass rush. Cleveland is hoping Ogbah can be the force needed to turn its lackluster defense into something resembling a quality group. The Browns defense was atrocious in 2015, ranking 30th against the run and 22nd against the pass.

Some had Alabama’s A’Shawn Robinson pegged as a 1st round pick, but come draft day the 6’4’ 320 lb product of Arlington Heights High in Fort Worth slipped all the way to the Detroit Lions at the 46th pick because of concerns about his pass rush skills.

The Lions hope Robinson can be the replacements for defensive tackles Ndamkong Suh and Nick Fairley, whom Detroit lost in back to back free agency periods.  For their sakes he better be, Detroit’s defense was middle of the pack in 2015; it ranked 19th against the run and 18th against the pass.