Best High School Football Player in Every State for 2022

Sports traditions don’t get much better than Friday nights in the fall when communities all across the United States come together to cheer on their respective high school football teams.

State championships can define a community, as can transcendent players. Those roles are reserved for the best players in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It’s a list of names we put together by asking the same question as last year: If we were picking No. 1, in any given state, who would we take? 

These are the best high school football players in every state for the 2022 season.

Note: Only the classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025 were considered.

High school: Thompson High School (Alabaster, Alabama)

Position: Defensive back 

Graduation year: 2023

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 180 pounds

College: Alabama*

Bottom line: Thompson High defensive back Tony Mitchell has the chance to end his career as one of the all-time greats in Alabama high school football history. Through his first three seasons as a starter, he’s helped lead Thompson to a 39-2 record and three consecutive Class 7A state championships. 

Committed to play for the University of Alabama, Mitchell has the perfect size for a cornerback at the next level and has that thing we love in elite cornerbacks — a knack for talking trash. 

*All college commitments are through July 22, 2022.

High school: Soldotna High School (Soldotna, Alaska)

Position: Defensive back/quarterback

Graduation year: 2023

Height: 6-1

Weight: 180

College: Uncommitted

Bottom line: Brayden Taylor was named Alaska Division II Defensive Player of the Year in 2021 after leading powerhouse Soldotna High to a state runner-up finish and was also an all-state selection at quarterback. 

It’s hard for high school football players from Alaska to get a shot at playing college football. No college in the state plays the sport. Taylor has the size, athleticism and pedigree that could get him a shot. 

High school: Chandler High School (Chandler, Arizona)

Position: Quarterback

Graduation year: 2024

Height: 6-3

Weight: 220

College: Ohio State

Bottom line: Chandler High quarterback and Ohio State commit Dylan Raiola is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2024 and a five-star recruit after throwing for 3,341 yards, 32 touchdowns and 5 interceptions as a sophomore in 2021. 

Raiola has the size to be an elite quarterback in college and in the NFL and is the son of former Nebraska All-American and Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola, who played 14 seasons in the NFL.

High school: Little Rock Christian Academy (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Position: Quarterback

Graduation year: 2024

Height: 6-3

Weight: 215

College: Uncommitted

Bottom line: Walker White jumped onto the national recruiting scene in 2021, leading Little Rock Christian Academy to the Class 5A state semifinals as a sophomore. He threw for 2,010 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while rushing for 487 yards and 5 touchdowns. 

White already holds a handful of Power Five offers, but the most important one may be from the University of Arkansas. His great-grandfather, grandfather, uncle and older brother John David all played football for the Razorbacks. His father, John, played golf there, and his older brother, Zac, played baseball. That’s called a legacy, folks.