Day 1 NFL Draft notes: Texas and Ohio are big winners

By Mitch Stephens May 1, 2017, 12:20pm

Lone Star, Buckeye states each produce four first-round picks.

Video: High school highlights of Patrick Mahomes
See Whitehouse quarterback and MaxPreps 2013-14 Athlete of the Year before becoming a first-round NFL draft pick.


The first day of the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia on Thursday was memorable for many reasons: Late trades, high drama, 70,000 fans and loads of emotion, highlighted by a teary-eyed Takk McKinley carrying his late grandma's large-framed photo on stage.

From a high school perspective, we saw plenty of Texas and Ohio as each state had four natives picked among the top 32 players.

Leading the pack for Texas is Cleveland's No. 1 pick Myles Garrett, a Martin (Arlington) graduate. Defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, No. 3 to the 49ers, is from Coppell.



The other first-round picks from the Lone Star state are quarterback Patrick Mahomes of Whitehouse to the Chiefs at No. 10 and Jamal Adams of Hebron (Carrollton) to the Jets at No. 6.

All four Texas picks were in the Top 10.
Graphic by Ryan Escobar
The Ohio selections were second pick Mitch Trubisky, the Mentor quarterback taken by the Bears at No. 2, along with safety Marshon Lattimore of Glenville (Cleveland) to Saints at No. 11. The Raiders  chose cornerback Gareon Conley of Washington (Massillon) with the 24th pick and the Cowboys drafted defensive end Taco Charlton of Pickerington Central at No. 28.

Since 2006, Texas now has 45 former prep players selected in the first-round compared to 18 for Ohio.

The only state with more picks than Texas in that time is Florida, which had no former players selected Thursday, the first time that's happened since 2009.

Other notes from Thursday.

* Three other states — California, New Jersey and Alabama — claimed products from Thursday's first round.



* California's top pick was receiver John Ross of Jordan (Long Beach) to the Bengals at No 9.

* New Jersey's top choice was linebacker Haason Reddick of Haddon Heights to the Cardinals at No. 13.

* Cornerback Marlon Humphrey of Hoover to the Ravens at No. 16 was the first of three selections from Alabama.

* Defensive end Derek Barnett, the first pick the Eagles at No. 14, is the second Brentwood Academy (Brentwood, Tenn.) product picked in the first round in two years. The other was cornerback Jalen Ramsey who was picked by the Jaguars with the fifth pick last season.

* With Lattimore's selection, Glenville now has 13 first-round selections since 2006, the second most of any high school behind St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

* Thanks to the Watt family, Pewaukee (Wis.) boasted its second first-round pick since 2006. Linebacker T.J. Watt, younger brother of J.J. Watt, was the 30th pick by the Steelers. J.J. Watt was the 11th pick by the Texans in 2011.



* Running back Christian McCaffrey of Highlands Ranch became the second first-round selection from Colorado since 2006. McCaffrey went with the No. 8 pick to the Panthers. The other Colorado native was tackle Nate Solder of Buena Vista, taken with the 17th pick of the 2011 draft.

* Wide receiver Corey Davis of Wheaton-Warrenville South (Wheaton, Ill.) is by far the highest selection from an Illinois native since 2006 after being taken fifth by the Titans. The next highest Illinois selection was Laquon Treadwell of Crete-Monee (Crete), the No. 23 pick of the Vikings in 2016. Davis was ranked the 368th top receiver out of high school by 247Sports and his lone college offer was to Western Michigan.
Christian McCaffrey of Valor Christian was the eighth pick overall Thursday, making him the top pick from Colorado since 2006.
Christian McCaffrey of Valor Christian was the eighth pick overall Thursday, making him the top pick from Colorado since 2006.
Graphic by Chris Spoerl