The sun was shining on former Florida high school football players during the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft in Chicago with seven players from the Sunshine State hearing their names called by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Georgia fell-in behind Florida with four former high school players being taken. California and North Carolina had three players each.
The biggest kudos of the night go to Wisconsin’s Bradford High School that had two teammates taken in Round 1 — defensive end Trae Waynes went to the Minnesota Vikings with their 11th pick and the San Diego Chargers took running back Melvin Gordon with the 15th overall draft pick.
According to various media reports, Waynes and Gordon are only the fifth set of players from the same high school to be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. The last time two players from the same school were drafted in the first round was 2010 when former Piscataway High School (New Jersey) stars Kyle Wilson (11th pick) and Anthony Davis (29th pick) were picked by the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets respectively. Wilson and Davis graduated two years apart.
The last time two teammates from the same graduating class went in the first round was 1997 when El Camino High School (California) standouts Michael Booker (Atlanta Falcons) and Bryant Westbrook (Detroit Lions) were taken 11th and 5th respectively.
For those of you wondering, Gordon and Waynes didn’t win a state championship at Bradford. The school did win a state title a year after they graduated.
2015 NFL Draft 1st Round Picks
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – QB, Jameis Winston, Hueytown HS (Alabama)
2. Tennessee Titans – QB, Marcus Mariota, St. Louis HS (Hawaii)
3. Jacksonville Jaguars – DE, Dante Fowler Jr., Lakewood HS (Florida)
4. Oakland Raiders – WR, Amari Cooper, Miami Northwestern HS (Florida)
5. Washington Redskins – OT, Brandon Scherff, Denison HS (Iowa)
6. New York Jets – DE, Leonard Williams, Mainland HS (Florida)
7. Chicago Bears – WR, Kevin White, Emmaus HS (Pennsylvania)
8. Atlanta Falcons – OLB, Vic Beasley, Adairsville HS (Georgia)
9. New York Giants – OT, Ereck Flowers, Norland HS (Florida)
10. St. Louis Rams – RB, Todd Gurley, Tarboro HS (North Carolina)
11. Minnesota Vikings – DE, Trae Waynes, Bradford HS (Wisconsin)
12. Cleveland Browns – DT, Danny Shelton, Auburn HS (Washington)
13. New Orleans Saints – OT, Andrus Peat, Corona del Sol (Arizona)
14. Miami Dolphins – WR, DaVante Parker, Ballard HS (Kentucky)
15. San Diego Chargers – RB, Melvin Gordon, Bradford HS (Wisconsin)
16. Houston Texans – CB, Kevin Johnson, River Hill HS (Maryland)
17. San Francisco 49ers – DE, Arik Armstead, Pleasant Grove HS (California)
18. Kansas City Chiefs – CB, Marcus Peters, McClymonds HS (California)
19. Cleveland Browns – C, Cameron Erving, Colquitt County HS (Georgia)
20. Philadelphia Eagles – WR, Nelson Agholor, Berkeley Prep (Florida)
21. Cincinnati Bengals – OL, Cedric Ogbuehi, Allen HS (Texas)
22. Pittsburgh Steelers – OLB, Bud Dupress, Wilkinson County HS (Georgia)
23. Denver Broncos – DE, Shane Ray, Bishop Miege HS (Kansas)
24. Arizona Cardinals – OT, D.J. Humphries, Mallard Creek HS (North Carolina)
25. Carolina Panthers – OLB, Shaq Thompson, Grant Union HS (California)
26. Baltimore Ravens – WR, Breshad Perriman, Arabia Mountain HS (Georgia)
27. Dallas Cowboys – CB, Byron Jones, St. Paul Catholic HS (Connecticut)
28. Detroit Lions – G, Laken Tomlinson, Lane Tech HS (Illinois)
29. Indianapolis Colts – WR, Phillip Dorsett, St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida)
30. Green Bay Packers – S, Damarious Randall, Pensacola HS (Florida)
31. New Orleans Saints – ILB, Stephone Anthony, Anson HS (North Carolina)
32. New England Patriots – DT, Malcolm Brown, Brenham HS (Texas)
