Zephyrhills’ Pickett breaks Pasco County receiving record

Senior finished with 2,577 career yards to set new mark

Zephyrhills' DJ Pickett concluded his high school career with 2,577 receiving yards, surpass the previous Pasco County career record of 2,529 receiving yards, set just last year by Hudson’s A.J. McFarlane. / DJ Pickett/X

Defenses tried to make life more difficult for Zephyrhills High wide receiver D.J. Pickett. Ultimately, they couldn’t keep him out of the Pasco County record book.

The senior finished his prep career last Friday in a loss to Jones in a Region 4A-2 semifinal, recording five receptions for 86 yards with one touchdown catch.

That performance gave him 2,577 yards for his three-year varsity career, allowing him to surpass the 2,529 that Hudson’s A.J. McFarlane accumulated over the previous three seasons that was the short-lived county record.

“It’s something we had as a goal that we wanted to accomplish,” Zephyrhills head coach Nick Carroll said. “This year was kind of a different story because they doubled and tripled him. He didn’t get the ball as much. When we did get the ball to him it was for long catches but it was somewhat a little bit difficult because they doubled and tripled him sometimes.

“It was good that he got it the last game of the season against Jones. I’m really excited for him and for us to have another Bulldog in the record books in Pasco County for a long time, that’s something very special for us in our program.”

In 36 career games, the 6-4, 175-pound Pickett recorded 130 receptions, averaging 19.8 yards per catch. He finished with 35 career receiving touchdowns.

Consistent with what Carroll said, Pickett had the lowest outputs of his career as a senior with 35 receptions for 658 yards and eight touchdowns. As a junior he caught 52 passes for 1,033 yards with 15 touchdown catches to follow up 43 receptions for 886 yards with 12 touchdowns as a sophomore.

“He’s a really explosive player that creates spacing and he’s very dynamic, so teams had to choose how to play him,” Carroll said “We did our best to try to take advantage of that.”

Pickett is a 5-star recruit and the top-ranked defensive back in the country, with a verbal commitment to LSU. He had career highs of five interceptions and four pass breakups this season, and finished with 10 interceptions and seven pass breakups for his career.

Overall he totaled 39 career touchdowns, including two on interception returns, one on a punt return and one on a fumble recovery.

With the Early Signing Period beginning Dec. 4, the race to secure Pickett has heated up. He recently visited Georgia, while Miami, Oregon and Michigan are also in the mix attempting to steal him from LSU.

Last weekend Pickett told Rivals.com he remained committed to the Tigers and plans to visit Baton Rouge when LSU hosts Oklahoma on Saturday.

“There's bumps and bruises right now, but we're staying strong,” Pickett told Rivals of sticking with LSU.

He also spoke about his recent accomplishment as a receiver and his desire to play some on offense at the college level.

“I'm the leading all-time receiver for our county (Pasco), so I'm proud of that,” Pickett told Rivals. “I want people to remember what I do off the field. But on the field, how I took pride at playing at my school.

“… I play both sides, I make plays on defense and make plays on offense. I'm definitely playing corner, but LSU might use me a little bit on offense.”

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