California high school football programs with the most active NFL Players

California HS programs with most NFL players afi

The state of California has long been a hotbed of high school football talent, dating all the way back to the 1950s and 1960s when schools like Long Beach Poly were pumping out future pros left and right.

In recent years, other states have caught up in terms of per capita NFL Draft picks and roster selections, but in terms of sheer numbers, the Golden State is No. 3 when it comes to active NFL players on current rosters, according to SportsReference.com.

That isn’t all that shocking given the state’s population, but you might be surprised to see which schools in particular have the most alums playing on Sundays right now:

Oaks Christian – 6

WR Alex Bachman (Las Vegas Raiders)
RB Zach Charbonnet (Seattle Seahawks)
TE Colby Parkinson (Seattle Seahawks)
WR Michael Pittman Jr. (Indianapolis Colts)
LB Carson Schwesinger (Cleveland Browns)
DE Kayvon Thibodeaux (New York Giants)

The Westlake Village powerhouse might not get some of the shine that schools like Mater Dei and St. John Bosco do playing in the Trinity League, but the Lions have been a talent production machine over the past decade or so. Thibodeaux was a former top-5 overall pick after starring at Oregon, while Pittman has been one of the Colts’ top receivers since entering the league in 2020.

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Mater Dei (Santa Ana) – 5

QB Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers)
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (Detroit Lions)
LB Curtis Robinson (San Francisco 49ers)
WR Nikko Remigio (Kansas City Chiefs)
DB Quentin Lake (Los Angeles Rams)

Mater Dei is and has been the premier program in the state for some time now, regularly filling their rosters dozens of Division I players every season. That hasn’t quite translated to the number of rostered NFL players you’d expect from that kind of a talent pool, but they still sit near the top statewide. That includes Young, a former Heisman winner at Alabama and No. 1 overall pick, as well as St. Brown, a fourth-round pick of the Lions that has blossomed into one of the league’s best wideouts.

St. John Bosco – 4

WR Beaux Collins (New York Giants)
DB Elijah Hicks (Chicago Bears)
RB George Holani (Seattle Seahawks)
DB Trent McDuffie (Kansas City Chiefs)

The Monarchs’ bitter rivals are nipping at their heels on this list with four current NFL players of their own. They too have produced some of the most loaded high school rosters in the country year over year, and are regularly in contention for national championships. Of their four current active players, each were selected within the past four NFL Draft years with Collins — a former Notre Dame standout — the latest to make the league.