WSN Forum Facebook Twitter

Wisconsin High School Sports | Wisconsin Sports Network | WisSports.net

Current Section

Home

Wisconsin high school players in the NFL for 2021 season

09/02/2021, 8:00am CDT

By Travis Wilson

Bay Port graduate Cole Van Lanen joins a limited list of players to play in-state for high school, college, and the NFL

The state of Wisconsin continues to have a strong presence in the NFL, with 31 players on rosters or practice squads at the beginning of the 2021 season. That includes marquee names such as J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, Derek Watt, Joe Schobert, Ryan Ramczyk, Brandon Brooks, and Melvin Gordon, along with a host of young up-and-coming players.

Players who were on the list last year but are no longer in the NFL include Alex Erickson (Darlington), Ryan Groy (Middleton), Nate Stanley (Menomonie), and Rick Wagner (West Allis Hale).

Newcomers this season include four, first-year players: Chris Garrett (Wisconsin Lutheran HS, Concordia-St. Paul, Los Angeles Rams), Quinn Meinerz (Hartford, UW-Whitewater, Denver), Daviyon Nixon (Kenosha Indian Trail, Iowa, Carolina), and Cole Van Lanen (Bay Port, Wisconsin, Green Bay Packers practice squad).

A full list of former Wisconsin high school players in the NFL is below. To see past seasons, please click here.

WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS IN THE NFL FOR 2021 SEASON

First Name	Last Name	High School	College	NFL Team
Zack	Baun	Brown Deer	Wisconsin	New Orleans Saints
Nick	Bellore	Whitefish Bay	Central Michigan	Seattle Seahawks
Beau	Benzschawel *	Grafton	Wisconsin	Washington Football Team
Tyler	Biadasz	Amherst	Wisconsin	Dallas Cowboys
Vince	Biegel #	Wisconsin Rapids	Wisconsin	Miami Dolphins
Ben	Bredeson	Arrowhead	Michigan	New York Giants
Brandon	Brooks	Milwaukee Riverside	Miami (OH)	Philadelphia Eagles
Derek	Carrier *	Edgerton	Beloit College	Las Vegas Raiders
Daurice	Fountain	Madison Memorial	Northern Iowa	Kansas City Chiefs
Chris	Garrett	Concordia-St. Paul	Wisconsin Lutheran	Los Angeles Rams
Melvin	Gordon III	Kenosha Bradford	Wisconsin	Denver Broncos
Shelby	Harris	Homestead	Illinois State	Denver Broncos
Alec	Ingold	Bay Port	Wisconsin	Las Vegas Raiders
A.J.	Klein	Kimberly	Iowa State	Buffalo Bills
Quinn	Meinerz	Hartford	UW-Whitewater	Denver Broncos
James	Morgan *	Ashwaubenon	Bowling Green/FIU	Carolina Panthers
Eric	Murray	Milwaukee Riverside	Minnesota	Houston Texans
Daviyon	Nixon	Kenosha Indian Trail	Iowa	Carolina Panthers
Dare	Ogunbowale	Marquette	Wisconsin	Jacksonville Jaguars
Ryan	Ramczyk	Stevens Point	Wisconsin	New Orleans Saints
Max	Scharping	Green Bay Southwest	Northern Illinois	Houston Texans
Joe	Schobert	Waukesha West	Wisconsin	Pittsburgh Steelers
Jordan	Steckler *	Two Rivers	Northern Illinois	Cleveland Browns
Cole	Van Lanen *	Bay Port	Wisconsin	Green Bay Packers
J.J.	Watt	Pewaukee	Wisconsin	Arizona Cardinals
Derek	Watt	Pewaukee	Wisconsin	Pittsburgh Steelers
T.J.	Watt	Pewaukee	Wisconsin	Pittsburgh Steelers
Trae	Waynes	Kenosha Bradford	Michigan State	Cincinnatti Bengals
Kristian	Welch	Iola-Scandinavia	Iowa State	Baltimore Ravens
Robert	Windsor #	Fond du Lac	Penn State	Indianapolis Colts
Kevin	Zeitler	Wisconsin Lutheran	Wisconsin	Baltimore Ravens


	* - Practice squad
	# - Injured Reserve
	^ - Released mid-season
	~ - PUP list

About the Author

Travis Wilson serves as the WisSports.net General Manager, Football Editor, and contributing writer for other parts of the site. Wilson was selected as part of the Sports 40 Under 40 list by Coach & AD Magazine and the National High School Athletic Coaches Association for 2019. The Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) named Travis the 2015 recipient of the Dave McClain Distinguished Service Award. He currently serves on the WFCA Executive Board and is a member of the Executive Board of the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. A graduate of Richland Center High School and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Travis was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, baseball, basketball), inducted to the Richland Center High School Hall of Fame in 2023, and currently resides in Reedsburg. You can follow him on Twitter at @travisWSN.

For the latest and most up to date football news and recruiting information, follow Travis on Twitter @travisWSN. Email story ideas, recruiting info, etc. to Travis at travis(at)wissports.net.