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By Mark Brock
DCSD Athletics Specialist
DeKalb County School District(DCSD) ranks second in the state of Georgia school districts in former players listed on active NFL rosters heading into the 2023 season with 14 total.
On list of approximately 150 players from Georgia compiled by Georgia High School Football Daily only Gwinnett County Public Schools had more with 23. The list does not include any players on the practice squads.
Eleven of the current 19 football programs in DeKalb County have at least one player on an NFL roster. Stephenson leads the way with three trailing only Norcross (5), Greater Atlanta Christian (4), Hillgrove (4) and Peachtree Ridge (4) with the greatest number of players in the NFL.
Three of the DeKalb NFL members were first round draft choices including Broderick Jones (14th by Pittsburgh, 2023), Montez Sweat (26th, by Washington, 2019) and Devonte Wyatt (28th by Green Bay, 2022). Jones (Lithonia) and Wyatt (Towers) were part of national championship teams at Georgia while Sweat (Stephenson) came out of Mississippi State.
DeKalb had three more go in the second round that are on the list including Columbia’s Gerald Everett (44th by Los Angelos Rams, 2017) out South Alabama, Stephenson’s Preston Smith (38th by Washington, 2015) and Southwest DeKalb’s Rock Ya-Sin (34th, Indianapolis, 2019). All three are with new teams with Everett now with the Los Angelos Chargers, Smith with the Green Bay Packers and Ya-Sin with Baltimore.
Three more went in the third round including Cedar Grove’s Jelani Woods (73rd by Indianapolis, 2022) and DeAngelo Malone (82nd by Atlanta, 2022) and Martin Luther King’s Kevin Byard (64th by Tennessee, 2016).
Stephenson’s D.J. Wonnum went in the fourth round (117th) to Minnesota in 2020 and McNair’s Christian Holmes was a seventh round (240th) pick by Washington.
DeKalb also has three undrafted free agents who made squads including Jakobi Myers (New England, now Las Vegas) and Tucker’s Jonathan Ledbetter (Miami, now Arizona) in 2019. The newest undrafted player to earn a roster spot was Stone Mountain’s Thomas Incoom with Denver Broncos this year.
DCSD NFL ROSTERED PLAYERS
Name School College NFL POS Draft
Jakobi Meyers Arabia Mountain N.C. State Las Vegas WR Undrafted FA 2019 (New England)
Jelani Woods Cedar Grove Virginia Indianapolis TE 3RD Round (73, Indianapolis) 2022
DeAngelo Malone Cedar Grove Western Kentucky Atlanta LB 3RD Round (82, Atlanta) 2022
Gerald Everett Columbia South Alabama LA Chargers TE 2ND Round (44, Los Angelos Rams) 2017
Broderick Jones Lithonia Georgia Pittsburgh OT 1ST Round (14 , Pittsburgh), 2023
Kevin Byard M.L. King Middle Tennessee Tennessee FS 3RD Round (64, Tennessee) 2016
Christian Holmes McNair Oklahoma State Washington CB 7TH Round (240, Washington) 2022
Preston Smith Stephenson Mississippi State Green Bay LB 2ND Round (38, Washington) 2015
Montez Sweat Stephenson Mississippi State Washington DE 1ST Round (26, Washington) 2019
D.J. Wonnum Stephenson South Carolina Minnesota LB 4TH Round (117, Minnesota) 2020
Thomas Incoom Stone Mountain Central Michigan Denver LB Undrafted FA 2023 (Denver)
Rock Ya-Sin SW DeKalb Temple Baltimore CB 2ND Round (34, Indianapolis) 2019
Devonte Wyatt Towers Georgia Green Bay DT 1ST Round (28, Green Bay) 2022
Jonathan Ledbetter Tucker Georgia Arizona DT Undrafted FA 2019 (Miami)