Everything is bigger in Texas, including its total of players chosen in the NFL draft.
The Lone Star State's high schools produced 32 picks in the 2016 NFL Draft, more than any other state, according to NFL Communications. That number eclipsed Florida (30), which had produced the highest number of picks last year with 39, and the previous year as well (44).
Here's a state-by-state breakdown of 2016 draft picks:
» 32 - Texas
» 30 - Florida
» 26 - California
» 15 - Georgia
» 14 - Ohio
» 10 - Illinois
» 9 - Pennsylvania
» 8 - North Carolina
» 7 - Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and South Carolina
» 6 - Alabama, Arizona and Indiana
» 5 - Louisiana and Tennessee
» 4 - Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington
» 3 - Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Wisconsin
» 2 - Connecticut, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah
» 1 - Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota and Nebraska
Combined, the top five states delivered about half of all 2016 draft choices (127 of 253). Washington D.C. produced three draft choices, while four 2016 selections were from foreign countries (Australia, Germany and Nigeria).
Texas' draft class included two pairs of picks from the same high school, among just six such pairs across the draft: Washington Redskins first-round pick Josh Doctson and Seattle Seahawks third-rounder Rees Odhiambo both attended Mansfield Legacy High in Texas, while Houston's Wheatley High produced both Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick William Jackson III and Miami Dolphins second-rounder Xavien Howard, both cornerbacks.
Doctson and Jackson were two of four first-round picks from the state, along with the Seahawks' Germain Ifedi and the Cleveland Browns' Corey Coleman. All four attended college in Texas, as well. That treads on a sore subject for fans of the Texas Longhorns, traditionally the state's flagship football program, which had only one player selected (Hassan Ridgeway) in the fourth round.
While Texas had the most players drafted overall, Florida still commanded the most first-round picks with seven (Joey Bosa, Artie Burns, Vernon Hargreaves, Karl Joseph, Paxton Lynch, Keanu Neal, Laremy Tunsil).
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