This Georgia school is state’s top producer of NFL draft picks this century

Former Westlake football coach Dallas Allen remembers his first NFL draft party. He was at the home of Keith Adams, his former Westlake player. Only 15 picks remained.

“Keith was projected to go a little higher than the seventh round,” Allen said. “As each round went, the disappointment started to seep in. But when they called his name, it was an explosion in that household.”

In 2001, Adams became the first of 11 Westlake players to be drafted this century.

The latest — Avieon Terrell to the Falcons and Zion Young to the Ravens — went in last week’s draft. That put Westlake in first place in Georgia with the most NFL draft picks since 2000, ahead of Stephenson, which has 10, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution research.

Westlake is tied for second behind Griffin (12), and tied with LaGrange and Valdosta all-time. Most of those schools’ draft picks came before 2000.

Westlake has produced five first-round picks, the most of any Georgia school. Only one other school, Hillgrove, has as many as three first-round choices.

Allen coached six of Westlake’s 11 and three of the five first-rounders in his tenure from 1992 to 2007. The most famous was Cam Newton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft and the 2015 NFL MVP.

Now a teacher at Atlanta’s Mays High, Allen can remember the round that each was taken and that Adams, his seventh rounder out of Clemson, played seven NFL seasons.

“I was just blessed with athletes,” Allen said. “There’s no explanation besides that and just hard work and perseverance. We fortunately had players with the right attitude. And we put together a strong staff. The parks and rec programs in that area are pretty strong at Sandtown, Welcome All and Burdett. A lot of those guys came from those parks.”

Westlake is sitting in the good place, for sure. Other state football powers within about 10 miles are Hughes, Creekside, Woodward Academy and Douglas County.

Westlake has never won a state title, but it has nine region championships and two state semifinal finishes since 2000. The school hired Kevin Whitley this offseason as coach to correct a recent downturn.

Bobby May, now at Kell in Marietta, coached Terrell and Young while he was Westlake’s coach from 2019 to 2021. Terrell and Young made varsity as ninth graders and played on two region championship teams. Terrell started for all four years, Young for three.

“Avieon was actually pretty small and didn’t have great speed as a freshman, but he had great technique and was always in the right place and making plays,” May said. “He got taller and then he got faster by working in track. Zion was always physically gifted in stature and just had guys playing ahead of him that first year.”

May also coached Westlake’s previous two NFL draft picks — Micah Robinson (2025) and Nate Wiggins (2024), both defensive backs. Wiggins was Westlake’s fifth No. 1 draft pick.

“You never say a kid is going to play in the NFL,” May said. “But in hindsight, it does not surprise you.”

Westlake’s NFL draft picks

(First number is round and second is overall pick number)

• 2026
• 2; 45; Zion Young, Baltimore Ravens
• 2; 48; Avieon Terrell. Atlanta Falcons
• 2025
• 7; 237; Micah Robinson, Green Bay Packers
• 2024
• 1; 30; Nate Wiggins. Baltimore Ravens
• 2020
• 1; 16; A.J. Terrell, Atlanta Falcons
• 2013
• 1; 10; Chance Warmack, Tennessee Titans
• 2011
• 1; 1; Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
• 2005
• 1; 6; Adam Jones, Tennessee Titans
• 2004
• 2; 59; Sean Jones, Cleveland Browns
• 3; 93; Keyaron Fox, Kansas City Chiefs
• 2001
• 7; 232; Keith Adams. Tennessee Titans