Former Sac-Joaquin Section football players on NFL 53-man rosters to start season

By Staff Report Sep 6, 2022, 11:30am

Arik Armstead, Brandin Cooks, Shaq Thompson headline list of alumni from the Greater Sacramento area.

California's second largest section, with nearly 200 high schools, has some of the country's top football talent. At the end of August, when the NFL teams cut their rosters to 53, there were 19 former Sac-Joaquin Section gridiron stars were spread throughout the 32 NFL teams.

While the area is rich with talent, it just shows you how difficult it is to make it the professional level as that only represents one percent of NFL players. With that being said, it's crazy that Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills), Central Catholic (Modesto), Grant (Sacramento), Folsom and Roseville all have two graduates about to hit the field this week.
Arik Armstead, Pleasant Grove
Arik Armstead, Pleasant Grove
Photo: Todd Shurtleff
Below is a look at all 19 players

DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys
Johnny Mundt, Minnesota Vikings

Ahkello Witherspoon, Pittsburgh Steelers



Akiem Hicks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Josiah Deguara, Green Bay Packers
Jonah Williams, Cincinnati Bengals

Lamar Jackson, Chicago Bears

Carl Granderson, New Orleans Saints
Shaq Thompson, Carolina Panthers

Brandin Cooks, Houston Texans

Nate Sudfeld, Detroit Lions



Tanner Vallejo, Arizona Cardinals

Ian Book, Philadelphia Eagles
Ross Dwelley, San Francisco 49ers

Arik Armstead, San Francisco 49ers

Jordan Kunaszyk, Cleveland Browns
Kolton Miller, Las Vegas Raiders

Taron Johnson, Buffalo Bills

Mykal Walker, Atlanta Falcons



** This includes only active NFL players as of Aug. 30
** NFL.com was used for NFL roster information
** High school is where they finished their prep career