Top 10 NFL receivers from Alabama high schools: two more 1,000-yard players

In 2023, two previous standouts from Alabama’s high school graduated to the NFL with 1,000 receiving yards.

Eight players from Alabama high schools had amassed 26 1,000-yard seasons prior to this season: Jerricho Cotchery, Red Phillips, Darnell Mooney, and Terrell Owens had one each, Harlon Hill and Ozzie Newsome had two, John Stallworth had three, and Julio Jones had seven.

Former Hoover High School standout George Pickens had 63 receptions for 1,140 yards and five touchdowns for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023, while former Clay-Chalkville High School standout Nico Collins had 80 receptions for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns for the Houston Texans. With an average of 18.1 yards per reception this season, Pickens led the NFL.

Pickens accomplished the receiving milestone in his second NFL season, while Collins reached it in his third. They haven’t been around long enough for players from Alabama high schools to be in the top 10 in the NFL for career receiving yards.

Only Julio Jones, who had 11 receptions and three touchdowns for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, added 74 yards to his total. The only active player in the top 10 is Jones.

After nine seasons, Jones has more receiving yards (12,125) than any other player in NFL history at the end of the 2019 campaign. The former standout player from Foley High School would currently have more NFL receiving yards than any other player from an Alabama high school if he had continued at that rate.

However, Jones missed 21 games in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to injuries, and he didn’t sign with the Eagles until October 17 of that year in order to play in 2023. Terrell Owens, a graduate of Benjamin Russell High School, is still atop the Alabama list with 2,231 receiving yards as a result.

In the 2023 NFL season, ten more players from Alabama high schools were successful in catching passes. These players included running back Brian Robinson Jr. of the Washington Commanders (Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa), who had 36 receptions for 368 yards and four touchdowns, and fullback Khari Blasingame of the Chicago Bears (Buckhorn), who had three receptions for two yards. Other wide receivers included Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney of Gadsden City, Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney of the Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert of the McGill-Toolen, South Alabama), running back Ameer Abdullah of the Las Vegas Raiders (Homewood), Eagles wide receiver Quez Watkins of Athens, Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross of Central-Phenix City, Bears wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. of Sararland, and Chiefs running back La’Mical Perine of the Chiefs.