5 of 22 Georgia players taken in NFL draft are first from their high school

Five players making history for their alma maters were among 22 former Georgia high school football players chosen in the NFL draft in Pittsburgh over the past three days.

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Those included five who represent the first NFL draft picks ever for their schools: Mill Creek, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, Kennesaw Mountain, Putnam County and Providence Christian.

Mill Creek’s history-maker is Caleb Downs, the 2022 AJC all-classification player of the year. Downs, a former Ohio State safety and All-American, went 11th overall to the Cowboys.

Downs’ father, Gary, and brother, Josh, are former NFL players from Georgia and third-round picks but from other Georgia high schools. Gary Downs, drafted in 1994, played for Spencer of Columbus. Josh Downs, drafted in 2023, went to North Gwinnett.

Marlin Klein, a tight end from Germany, played at Rabun Gap, a boarding school in northeast Georgia. Rabun Gap does not complete in the Georgia High School Association and plays a national schedule with many international players. The Texans chose Klein, a former Michigan player, in the second round.

Kennesaw Mountain’s first draft pick is Auburn center Connor Lew, a former AJC Super 11 player. Lew went in the fourth round to the Bengals.

Putnam County’s Jalon Kilgore, a safety from South Carolina, went in the fifth round to the Bills.

Providence Christian’s Jordan van den Berg, a defensive tackle from Georgia Tech, was a sixth-round choice of the Bears.

Also notable were two Westlake players chosen in the second round: Zion Young of Missouri to the Ravens and Avieon Terrell of Clemson to the Falcons. Terrell is the brother ofFalcons cornerback and former first-round pick A.J. Terrell, also from Clemson.

Westlake has 11 NFL draft picks this century, the most of any Georgia school. They include retired NFL stars Cam Newton and Adam “Pacman” Jones.

Six of the Georgia draft picks this year are former AJC Super 11 players. They are Downs, Lew, North Gwinnett’s Kayden McDonald, Lamar County’s CJ Allen, Camden County’s Micah Morris and Tift County’s Tyre West.

Former Georgia Tech offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge, who went No. 26 overall to the Texans, is Franklin County’s first first-round draft pick and second player chosen overall after Gary Walker in 1995.

According to High School Football America, Georgia’s 22 drafted players ranks third behind Texas (34) and Florida (27) and ahead of California (20) among the four states that have dominated the draft in recent years.

Georgia has averaged 23.6 picks this decade compared with 18.6 in 2010-19 and 12.3 in 1990-99.

2026 NFL draft picks from Georgia

With overall pick, position, name, college, high school and NFL team:

First round

• 11. S Caleb Downs, Ohio State, Mill Creek, Cowboys
• 26. G Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech, Franklin County, Texans

Second round

• 36. DT Kayden McDonald, Ohio State, North Gwinnett, Texans
• 37. CB Colton Hood, Tennessee, Eagle’s Landing Christian, Giants
• 42. DT Christen Miller, Georgia, Cedar Grove, Saints
• 45. DE Zion Young, Missouri, Westlake, Ravens
• 48. CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson, Westlake, Falcons
• 53. LB CJ Allen, Georgia, Lamar County, Colts
• 59. TE Marlin Klein, Michigan, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, Texans

Third round

• 70. DE Romello Height, Texas Tech, Dublin, 49ers
• 73. TE Oscar Delp, Georgia, West Forsyth, Saints
• 84. WR Ted Hurst, Georgia State, Johnson-Savannah, Buccaneers