25 former Georgia high school players among invitees at NFL Scouting Combine
Twenty-five former Georgia high school players are among the 321 invitees to the NFL Scouting Combine, which begins Monday and runs through March 4 in Indianapolis.
The 25 Georgians include only one former five-star recruit, Bleckley County’s Amarius Mims, but all 25 were outstanding high school players. In fact, only two did not make at least one first-team all-state team.
One was Kimani Vidal, a 1,000-yard rusher and honorable-mention all-state player on Marietta’s 2019 Class 7A championship team. As a high schooler, Vidal was overshadowed by all-class player of the year Arik Gilbert, a tight end no longer playing football, and quarterback Bailey Harrison along with current NFL player B.J. Ojulari, a defensive end on that team.
The only other Georgia combine player who wasn’t all-state is Bub Means, who played only one season at Lovejoy after moving from out of state.
Four of the 25 won state titles in their best seasons.
Besides Vidal, they are former Blessed Trinity teammates J.D. Bertrand and Steele Chambers, who won three each (2016-18), and Jaylin Simpson, who starred for a current GIAA school, Frederica Academy.
Here’s a look at the 25, with a little about their time in high school, their recruiting ratings and their college careers.
WR Javon Baker, McEachern (Central Florida). Baker was a top-250 national recruit, first-team GACA all-state and AJC honorable mention pick. He signed with Alabama but finished at Central Florida and led the Big 12 in receiving yards last season (1,139).
LB Michael Barrett, Lowndes (Michigan): Barrett was a high school quarterback and was the AJC’s 2017 Class 7A offensive player of the year. He passed for 4,640 yards and rushed for 2,647 in his Lowndes career but was only a three-star prospect with his college position uncertain. He was national champion Michigan’s second-leading tackler last season. He set Michigan career records for games played (64) and wins (52). He got some All-Big Ten recognition last season.
TE Jaheim Bell, Valdosta (Florida State): Bell was a unanimous first-team all-state tight end for Valdosta in 2018 and was a four-star recruit and a top-400 national prospect. He played three seasons at South Carolina, then had 39 receptions for 503 yards last season at FSU.
LB J.D. Bertrand, Blessed Trinity (Notre Dame): Bertrand was a four-year starter at Blessed Trinity, which went 53-5 with three state titles in Bertrand’s career. Bertrand got his first all-state recognition as a freshman (second team Associated Press). As a senior, he was the GACA’s North Georgia player of the year in Class 4A. A four-star recruit in the nation’s top 400, Bertrand was a three-year starter at Notre Dame and was the Irish’s leading tackler last season.
DB Cole Bishop, Starr’s Mill (Utah): Bishop was a two-time first-team all-state player (2019, 2020). He was a three-star prospect ranked among the top 750 players nationally. He was a three-year starter and three-time All-Pac 12 honoree at Utah as a safety.
DB Javon Bullard, Baldwin (Georgia): Bullard made first-team all-state in 2020 and was the GACA’s South Georgia defensive player of the year for 2020. He was a three-star prospect and the University of Georgia’s lowest-rated recruit in the 2021 class but easily one of the Bulldogs’ most productive players for three years. He was a two-year starter and second-team All-SEC pick in 2023.
LB Aaron Casey, Alexander (Indiana): Casey was a first-team Class 6A all-state player in 2017. He was a three-star recruit rated the consensus No. 104 player in Georgia. Casey was a two-year starter and a first-team All-Big Ten player last season.
LB Steele Chambers, Blessed Trinity (Ohio State): Chambers was a two-time first-team all-state player and the GSWA’s Class 4A offensive player of the year. His Blessed Trinity teams won state titles in 2016, 2017 and 2018 with Chambers rushing for more than 4,000 yards on those teams while also starting at linebacker. Rated as an athlete, Chambers was a top-250 national recruit. Chambers was a three-year starting linebacker for Ohio State after playing running back his first two seasons.
LB Kalen DeLoach, Islands (Florida State): DeLoach was a two-time first-team all-state player and the first all-state player in his school’s young history. DeLoach was a top-250 national prospect. He was a three-year starter at Florida State.
LB Khalid Duke, Riverside Military (Kansas State): Duke was a Class A first-team all-state player in 2018 as a two-way starter and also a state champion in the long jump. He was a three-star recruit and the consensus No. 125 Georgia prospect. Duke was a three-year starter at Kansas State and second-team All-Big 12 player in 2023.
DL Justin Eboigbe, Forest Park (Alabama): Eboigbe was a unanimous Class 6A all-state player in 2018 and remains Forest Park’s lone AJC all-state player this century. He was a top-100 national recruit. He overcame a season-ending neck injury in 2022 and was first-team All-SEC at Alabama last season.
RB Daijun Edwards, Colquitt County (Georgia): Edwards was a first-team all-state player in 2018 and 2019 and one of his school’s best players in history as Colquitt County has been a state power in the highest class for years. Edwards was a four-star recruit. He led Georgia in rushing last season for the first time and finished with 2,082 rushing yards in his career.
OL Tylan Grable, Wilkinson County (Central Florida): Grable was a first-team all-state player in 2020 from this Class A school and signed with Florida A&M. He finished at Central Florida and made honorable mention All-Big 12 last season.
LB Ty’Ron Hopper, Roswell (Missouri): Hopper was Class 7A first-team all-state pick in 2018. Hopper was a top-100 national prospect. He played three seasons at Florida and his final two at Missouri, where he made second-team All-SEC in 2023 and was a finalist for the Butkus Award. Hopper is a cousin of Tyrone Hopper, who also played at Roswell and Missouri.
OL Trente Jones, Grayson (Michigan): Jones was first-team GACA all-state in 2018 and honorable mention AJC playing in the highest class. Teammates Wanya Morris and Jakai Clark were unanimous first-team all-state offensive linemen that year. Morris is in the NFL. Clark finished at SMU last season. Jones was a top-125 national recruit. He was a rotating lineman the past three seasons on stacked Michigan lines, getting 12 starts.
OL Dylan McMahon, Savannah Christian (N.C. State): McMahon was a two-time first-team all-state player (2017, 2018). He was a three-star recruit. As a center, McMahon was a four-year starter at N.C. State.
WR Ladd McConkey, North Murray (Georgia): McConkey was a unanimous first-team all-state pick in 2019 but as a quarterback or athlete. He was a three-star recruit who far outpaced expectations at Georgia, where he finished with 119 catches for 1,687 yards and scored 18 touchdowns and started on two national championship teams.
WR Bub Means, Lovejoy (Pittsburgh): Means moved to Georgia from Las Vegas and was an all-region player at Lovejoy with 11 TD receptions as a senior, but he made no all-state teams and was a two-star recruit. He played at Virginia Tech and Tennessee before landing at Pitt, where he had 41 catches for 721 yards last season.
OL Amarius Mims, Bleckley County (Georgia): Mims was a two-time first-team all-state player at Bleckley County, the state’s consensus No. 1 prospect and the No. 8 player overall nationally. Injuries limited him to seven games last season. He was Georgia’s right tackle when healthy.
OL Hunter Nourzad, Walker (Penn State): Nourzad was a unanimous first-team Class A all-state player in 2017 but hardly registered as a recruit. He went to Cornell, got an Ivy League engineering degree and transferred to Penn State, where he started 13 games last season.
DB Jaylin Simpson, Frederica Academy (Auburn): Simpson was part of a GISA championship team and made all-state in 2018. He played five seasons at Auburn and became a full-time starter as a senior and was a Jim Thorpe Award finalist. He also stood out at the Senior Bowl.
WR Jamari Thrash, Troup (Louisville): Thrash was a first-team all-state player in 2017 but was not a top-100 prospect even in Georgia. He signed with Georgia State and ranks fifth in school history in receiving yards (1,752). For Louisville last season, he had 63 catches for 858 yards and six touchdowns.
WR Malik Washington, Parkview (Virginia): Washington was a first-team all-state player in the highest class in 2018 as a two-way starter at receiver and defensive back. He was a three-star recruit rated the No. 86 player in Georgia. Leaving Northwestern after four seasons, Washington had a monster senior season as a graduate transfer at Virginia, where he had 110 receptions for 1,426 yards and nine touchdowns.
RB Kimani Vidal, Marietta (Troy): Though a big weapon for Marietta, he was just honorable-mention all-state and the consensus No. 103 prospect in the state. At Troy, Vidal rushed for 1,661 yards last season (4,010 for his career) and was the 2023 Sun Belt Conference offensive player of the year.
LB Trevin Wallace, Wayne County (Kentucky): Wallace was a first-team GACA all-state player in 2020 but got no AJC recognition, perhaps because he was spread over so many positions (quarterback, receiver, running back and linebacker). He was a top-150 national prospect. At Kentucky, Wallace played in 36 games and made 19 starts and declared for the draft after three seasons.
DB Nate Wiggins, Westlake (Clemson): Wiggins, a cornerback, was a first-team all-state player in Class 6A for 2020 and a top-125 national prospect. He made 18 starts for Clemson and finished as a first-team All-ACC player.