It was a strong year for Nashville-area prospects at the 2024 NFL Draft, headlined by a trio of local high school alums who were selected in the top-70 picks.
With the three-day, seven-round event completed, let's take a look at which Middle Tennessee high school and college alums found landing spots on NFL rosters.
Local High Schools
A Nashville-area high school alum was taken in each of the first three rounds of the draft, with two being former teammates at Ravenwood. Graham Barton was selected in the first round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at pick 26. A second-team All-American this past season at Duke, Barton will most likely be Tampa's starting center as a rookie.
Fresh off of a national championship at Michigan, 2023 Lott IMPACT Trophy winner and former Ravenwood linebacker Junior Colson was selected in the third round at pick 69 by the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers are now coached by Jim Harbaugh, Colson's coach at Michigan, who left for the NFL in the offseason. Colson was one of a draft-high 13 Wolverines who were selected.
Sandwiched in between the two former Raptors was Cane Ridge alum Adonai Mitchell, who was taken in the second round at pick 52 by the Indianapolis Colts. Mitchell won back-to-back national championships at Georgia in 2021 and 2022 before finishing his career last season at Texas, which also made the four-team College Football Playoff.
In addition, Mitchell's former teammate at Georgia, Lebanon alum Zion Logue, was drafted in the sixth round at pick 197 by the Atlanta Falcons.
Other local high school alums to land UDFA deals so far are as follows:
Jackson Sirmon, LB/LS, Brentwood Academy (Cal) - New York Jets
Cam Johnson, WR, Brentwood Academy (Vanderbilt/Northwestern) - Dallas Cowboys
Trey Knox, TE, Blackman (South Carolina) - Minnesota Vikings
Area Colleges
It was a light NFL Draft for the college football programs at local universities. After having five players selected in the top 77 picks in 2023, just three Tennessee Vols were selected this year, with all coming on day three.
Running back Jaylen Wright was the first off the board, landing with the Miami Dolphins at pick 120 in the fourth round.
Cannon-armed quarterback Joe Milton was one of two Vols taken in the sixth round, going to the New England Patriots at pick 193. Cornerback Kamal Hadden was then selected at pick 211 by the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
In addition, several Tennessee Vols signed undrafted free agent (UDFA) contracts:
McCallan Castles, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
Ramel Keyon, WR, Las Vegas Raiders
Jacob Warren, TE, New England Patriots
Dee Williams, CB, Seattle Seahawks
Jaylen McCollough, DB, Los Angeles Rams
Jeremiah Crawford, OT, Carolina Panthers
Gabe Jeudy-Lally, DB, Tennessee Titans (also a Vanderbilt alum)
Aaron Beasley, LB, Seattle Seahwaks
No Vanderbilt Commodores were selected for the third year in a row, but star punter Matthew Hayball did sign an undrafted free agent contract. The All-American and Ray Guy award finalist is joining the New Orleans Saints.
Former Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis, who spent his final season at Kentucky, was scooped up by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round at pick 128.
No players from Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State or Austin Peay have landed UDFA deals as of now, but several are in the mix for training camp invites.
Similarly, former Memphis Tiger running back Blake Watson went undrafted after some media sources speculated he could be a late-round selection. Watson signed a UDFA contract with the Denver Broncos.