Video: Looking back at top draft picksRewinding on the high school careers of Baker Mayfield, Calvin Ridley and others.Without a pick among the first 16 selections, Florida high school products got off to a slow start in the 2018 NFL draft.
But the Sunshine State finished fast, with six picks among the final 16 selections in the first round, before finishing things up with eight selections in the seventh and final round.
That gave Florida a whopping 36 players drafted into the NFL to finish first among all high schools.
Three players from
Booker T. Washington (Miami) were selected, including two to the Cleveland Browns, defensive end
Chad Thomas (third round, No. 67 overall) and wide receiver
Antonio Callaway (fourth, 105). Another fourth-round pick, running back
Mark Walton, went to the Bengals.
Three more Florida players were from the same
Lakewood (St. Petersburg) team: linebacker
Shaquem Griffin, guard
Isaiah Wynn and wide receiver
Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Florida had seven third-round picks and six fifth-round selections.
It gave the state bragging rights over Texas (28), California (27), Virginia (15), and Pennsylvania and North Carolina, each with 13 picks overall.
Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana were the only other states in double figures, with 11 selections each. That gave the South region, five of the top eight states.
Only nine states did not have a single player chosen.
California tied Florida with six first-round picks led by the quarterback trio of
Sam Darnold,
Josh Allen and
Josh Rosen, all among the first 10 overall selections.
Another quarterback, this one from Texas,
Baker Mayfield of
Lake Travis (Austin), led the Lone Star State. He was the No. 1 pick overall.
Interestingly, almost half of the Rams' 11 picks (five) are Texas natives.
Bengals' fourth-round pick Mark Walton (2) starred at Booker T. Washington in Miami.
File photo by Ivan Sebborn
