When the 2022 NFL season kicks off in the next couple of weeks, plenty of talk will, as always, center around the quarterback position. While some of the game’s current greats certainly made a name for themselves at the professional and collegiate levels, many were already household names in high school. Here are eight NFL quarterbacks who excelled long before they reached the game’s highest level.
Tom Brady
Why not start with arguably the greatest quarterback to ever play the game? Brady, a California native, attended Junipero Serra High School, where he played multiple sports and, after graduating in 1995, went on to play collegiately at Michigan before entering the NFL.
Aaron Rodgers
The back-to-back NFL MVP also played high school football in California, attending Pleasant Valley and graduating in 2002. Rodgers went on to play collegiately at Butte College and California before suiting up for the Green Bay Packers.
Patrick Mahomes
Mahomes was rated as a three-star prospect in the 2014 class while attending Whitehouse High School in Texas. Prior to being drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, Mahomes was one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12, playing collegiately at Texas Tech.
Josh Allen
Allen began his football career at California’s Firebaugh High School and graduated in 2014. He spent time collegiately at Reedley College and the University of Wyoming before entering the NFL in 2017 and eventually becoming the Buffalo Bills’ starter.
Justin Herbert
A three-star prospect in the 2016 class, Herbert attended Sheldon High School, where he was one of the top players in Oregon in that class. Herbert went on to start at quarterback for the in-state Ducks before being selected in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Matthew Stafford
The starting quarterback for the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, Stafford was one of the nation’s top players in the 2006 class out of Highland Park High School in Texas. The five-star prospect became one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks with the Georgia Bulldogs before playing in the NFL.
Lamar Jackson
Jackson was a three-star prospect in the 2015 class out of Boynton Beach in Florida. He was one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks out of high school and went on to play collegiately at Louisville before being taken in the NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
Joe Burrow
Burrow was another notable name from the 2015 class; he was rated as a four-star prospect out of Athens High School in Ohio. Burrow began his collegiate career at Ohio State and went on to win the Heisman Trophy at LSU while having one of the greatest-ever seasons by a college quarterback. He was taken No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
