Editor’s Note: JC Latham who played his senior year at IMG Academy was inadvertently left off the list. We have since updated this article to reflect the accurate count.
No matter how you stack it, talent from the Sunshine State has ruled over the last decade and even more over the years in the NFL Draft.
In the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, Florida was well represented with six first round picks selected to kick off the 2024 NFL Draft which is being held in Detroit this year. You can follow all weekend long with our
Latham spent one year at IMG Academy before signing with Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide. He spent two seasons as the starting right tackle for the Crimson Tide which would earn him first-team All-SEC honors as a junior before he decided to declare for this year’s draft.
QB Michael Penix Jr.
Tampa Bay Tech
The Tampa Bay Tech alum was the first athlete from the Sunshine State to be taken in the 2024 NFL Draft when the Minnesota Vikings came calling at with the No. 8 pick in the first round. Penix hails a two-time All-State athlete by FloridaHSFootball.com as a second team Class 7A selection in 2016 and a While not ultimately from Florida, McCarthy finished his high school career at IMG Academy earning him a spot in the Florida list when the Minnesota Vikings selected McCarthy with the No. 10 pick overall. McCarthy’s rise as a quarterback was capped off with winning the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship for the 2023 season while earning Big Ten Quarterback of the Year as well first-team selection to the All-Big Ten team for the season as well. DE Dallas Turner St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) FloridaHSFootball.com’s 2020 Class 7A Defensive Player of the Year and a first-team Class 7A All-State selection saw his number called when the Minnesota Vikings took him with the No. 17 pick overall. Turner capped off his high school career with a state championship winning season during the COVID-19 pandemic year after starting his high school career at American Heritage (Plantation) where he was a Not even considered one of the top prospects in the nation or even in Florida when he came out of high school, and eventually grey shirting with Toledo, Mitchell got the call in the first round at pick No. 22 by the Philadelphia Eagles. While Mitchell did not have a ton of accolades while he was in high school, he was a first team All-State selection in Class 1A by FloridaHSFootball.com after the 2017 season. Mitchell, while at Toledo, earned first-team selections for the All-Mac teams for 2022 and 2023. CB Terrion Arnold St. John Paul II (Tallahassee)
