The 2016 Max Preps High School Football All-America team included some very familiar names.
Future NFL players dotted the list, particularly on offense, where the wide receivers were Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tee Higgins, the offensive linemen included Walker Little, Wyatt Davis, Trey Smith, and Josh Meyers.
But the real star power was at running back, where the No. 1 recruit in the country, Najee Harris was joined by future Georgia and Lions star D’Andre Swift and some kid out of East High School in Salt Lake City by the name of Jaylen Warren.
While many of the other players on the All-America team were headed to major college programs – including Harris to Alabama – Warren had to take a different path. But that path brought him back to joining Harris in the Steelers backfield in 2022. It just took him a little longer to get there.
Though Warren had rushed for a state record 3,099 yards and 38 touchdowns in his senior year at East to lead the Leopards to a 14-0 record and a state title, the college programs weren’t knocking on his door.
East had five offensive linemen and a tight end who would go on to play Division I football, but the highly productive fullback on that team couldn’t get a sniff of an offer.
College coaches looked at his size – then listed at 5-foot-9, 205 pounds – and what they
