High school football fans from San Francisco down to the Salinas Valley will see no shortage of familiar names when they turn on their televisions and sit down for a full Sunday of NFL action.
Several former Central Coast Section gridiron stars have made their way to the professional ranks, with some carving out lengthy careers for themselves at the highest level of the sport. From veterans like Davante Adams and Vita Vea to newer faces like Mekhi Blackmon, Prep2Prep checks in with CCS alumni making their presences felt in the NFL.
Davante Adams, Los Angeles Rams WR
High school: Palo Alto (class of 2011)
College: Fresno State
Adams, a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection, is still going strong in his 12th NFL season. It has been 15 years since Adams led Palo Alto to a perfect season as a senior, capped with a state championship win over Centennial-Corona. He played both wide receiver and cornerback for the Vikings, catching 64 passes for 1,094 yards and 12 touchdowns in his senior season. Adams was a basketball star as well, but football was his ticket to college, and he had two outstanding seasons at Fresno State before the Green Bay Packers selected him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft.
In Green Bay, Adams grew into quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ favorite target and spent eight seasons there, then was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022 before reuniting with Rodgers in 2024 on the New York Jets. The 32-year-old Adams signed a two-year, $44 million contract with the Los Angeles Rams in March and has started each of the first two games, with 10 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown.
Mekhi Blackmon, Indianapolis Colts CB
High school: Menlo-Atherton (class of 2017)
Colleges: College of San Mateo, Colorado, USC
Blackmon played a big part in Menlo-Atherton’s mid-2010s resurgence under coach Adhir Ravipati (now at Archbishop Riordan). He helped lead the Bears to the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title and the CCS Open Division championship as a senior in 2016, as well as a NorCal title and state championship game appearance. Blackmon had 23 catches that year for 620 yards and nine touchdowns, and also had 54 tackles, six interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Following his freshman year at College of San Mateo, Blackmon transferred to Colorado, where he strictly played defense and had 87 tackles, 13 pass breakups and two interceptions in four years with the Buffaloes. He then broke out as a graduate transfer at USC in 2022, leading the Pac-12 with 12 pass breakups to go along with 67 tackles and three picks. That led to a third-round NFL Draft selection in 2023 by the Minnesota Vikings.
Blackmon appeared in 15 games as a rookie and had 41 tackles, a fumble recovery, an interception and eight pass breakups, but he missed all of 2024 with a torn ACL. He was traded to the Indianapolis Colts just before the start of the 2025 season and has eight tackles through two games.
Vita Vea, Tampa Bay Buccaneers DT
High school: Milpitas (class of 2013)
College: Washington
Vea was a two-way superstar at Milpitas as a running back and defensive lineman. He rushed for 578 yards, averaging 12.3 yards per carry, as a senior in 2012 with 11 touchdowns. Across his four-year varsity career, Vea made 296 tackles and had 19 sacks, tacking on an interception and two recovered fumbles in his senior year. Focusing just on defense at Washington, he was the 2017 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, a season after he helped lead the Huskies to the conference title and a College Football Playoff appearance.
In three years at Washington, Vea had 99 tackles, 9.5 sacks, five pass breakups and two recovered fumbles. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him 12th overall in 2018 and he became a starter almost immediately, making two pro bowls and winning Super Bowl LV. Vea had a career-high seven sacks and 13 quarterback hits last season, and has been a big part of the Buccaneers’ rise into a perennial playoff contender.
Jake Tonges, San Francisco 49ers TE
High school: Los Gatos (class of 2017)
College: California
Tonges also stood out on both sides of the ball as a senior at Los Gatos in 2016, finishing with 43 receptions for 772 yards and seven touchdowns as a tight end. As a defensive end, he was a menace with 16 tackles for loss, nine sacks, 47 quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles. After redshirting his freshman year at Cal and not registering any statistics as a redshirt freshman, Tonges had 13 catches for 262 yards in 2019, then shattered his career high with 22 receptions in 2021 for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
He struggled to catch on at the next level, though. The Chicago Bears signed Tonges as an undrafted free agent in 2022, but he was targeted just once that year and did not have a catch. He played in 16 games for the San Francisco 49ers in 2024 without a target before getting his break in Week 1 this year. Filling in for the injured George Kittle, Tonges caught the eventual game-winning touchdown pass against the Seahawks in Seattle, then had four catches for 31 yards in another win in Week 2.
Chidobe Awuzie, Baltimore Ravens CB
High school: Oak Grove (class of 2013)
College: Colorado
Awuzie starred at both running back and defensive back at Oak Grove. As a senior in 2012, he rushed for 1,247 yards and 14 touchdowns, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry. He also tallied 69 tackles, two forced fumbles and four interceptions, which he returned for an average of 34 yards. At Colorado, he was part of an important recruiting class under Mike MacIntyre that led the Buffaloes to a 10-win season and Pac-12 Championship Game appearance in 2016. Awuzie had 265 tackles in four years with Colorado and had 13 pass breakups as a senior, then was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.
He quickly cracked the starting lineup in Dallas and had 14 pass breakups in 2019, then matched that number in 2021 with the Cincinnati Bengals, helping them reach Super Bowl LVI. A torn ACL cost him much of the 2022 season, but he returned in 2023, then played for the Tennessee Titans last year before signing with the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year contract in March 2025. Awuzie has 11 tackles through two games with the Ravens, both of which he started.
Drew Dalman, Chicago Bears OL
High school: Palma (class of 2018)
College: Stanford
A three-star recruit out of Palma, Dalman played at his father’s alma mater, Stanford, where he started at center. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Dalman did not allow a single pressure, and the Cardinal offensive line did not give up a sack all year. The Atlanta Falcons took him in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, and Dalman became a starter in 2022. He signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Chicago Bears this past spring and has remained a starter there.
Ashtyn Davis, Miami Dolphins S
High school: Santa Cruz (class of 2015)
College: California
Davis did a little of everything at Santa Cruz. He had 101 carries for 759 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior in 2014, adding 152 receiving yards on 13 catches. Between his junior and senior years, Davis had 124 total tackles, four forced fumbles, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. He was initially a member of the track and field team at Cal, joining the football team after a tryout in the spring of his freshman year. Davis worked his way up the Golden Bears’ depth chart, scoring a touchdown on both defense and special teams in 2018 and finishing his college career with 171 tackles, 19 pass breakups and seven interceptions.
A third-round pick in 2020 by the New York Jets, Davis has been a regular in the NFL ever since turning pro, making a career-best 62 tackles in 2021. He broke up eight passes and had three fumble recoveries in 2023, then signed with the Miami Dolphins as a free agent in 2025.
