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

Five players making history for their alma maters were among

Twenty-two former Georgia high school football players were chosen in the NFL draft in Pittsburgh over the past three days. Those included five who represent the first NFL draft picks ever for their schools.

The five schools are Mill Creek, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee, Kennesdaw 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. They were Zion Young of Missouri to the Ravens and Avieon Terrell of Clemson to the Falcons. Terrell is the brother of Flacons 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.