Pearce graduate Corey Coleman is one of 32 Texans picked in the three-day draft; Five sets of high school teammates also selected.
Video: Facts from first round of the 2016 NFL draft.
Players from Texas, Florida and California high school combine for 87 picks in the 2016 NFL Draft.It's always a neck-and-neck race as to which state produces the most football players during the three-day NFL Draft.
For 2016 Texas, with 32 players, edged traditional powers Florida (30) and California (25).
Georgia, which has definitely made a case lately as the next football hotbed, came in with 16, followed by Ohio with 14 and Illinois with 10.
Among the Texas natives, four were picked in the first round, led by wide receiver Corey Coleman of
Pearce (Richardson) with the 15th pick by the Browns. He was followed by wide receiver Josh Doctson of
Mansfield Legacy (Mansfield) at No. 22 by the Redskins and cornerback William Jackson III of
Wheatley (Houston) at No. 24 by the Bengals.
Jackson's teammate at Wheatley, cornerback Xavien Howard, was picked in the second round (No. 38) by the Bengals.
The combination of Jackson and Howard was one of five sets of former high school teammates to get drafted. The others:
Glenville (Cleveland) — Defensive end Willie Henry by the Ravens in the fourth round (No. 132) and quarterback Cardale Jones also in the fourth (139) by the Bills.
Walsh Jesuit (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) — Quarterback Connor Cook was picked in the fourth round (No. 100) by the Raiders and punter Drew Kaser in the sixth round (179) by the Chargers.
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) — Defensive end Joey Bosa in the first round (third overall) by the Chargers and quarterback Jake Rudock in the sixth round (191) by the Lions.
Our Lady of Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) — Cornerback Kendall Fuller was a third-round pick (84) by the Redskins and Blake Countess, another cornerback, was a sixth-round selection (196) of the Eagles.
Joey Bosa, St. Thomas Aquinas
File photo by Gray Quetti
