A 53-man NFL roster of current Oregon high school football players

We put together an entire 'NFL roster' — plus a 16-man practice squad — from the pool of current Oregon high school football players

Mountain View junior Angel Valenzuela is one of several standout running backs on our NFL roster. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

SBLive Oregon recently announced our preseason all-classification all-state football team, and when it was time to develop our annual 53-man roster matching the size of NFL rosters, the players on that team neatly transferred over. 

We have several two-way talents on our 53-man squad, but because of the size of our roster, we don’t have to play many of them on both sides of the ball — but we do appreciate the flexibility they provide, as we’ll explain throughout.

There also were 16 spots on our practice squad to fill. Do we use those spots to stockpile veteran talent in case of injury? Or do we emphasize newcomers we would hope to develop for a future squad? 

For our hypothetical, we went with the latter approach, selecting players we believe we’ll see make a future Oregon high school 53-man roster.

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Offense

Quarterbacks (2)

Baird Gilroy, West Linn, senior

Nolan Keeney, Tualatin, senior

The Three Rivers League rivals snag the two spots we need on the roster, with Keeney our projected starter.

Running backs (5)

LaMarcus Bell, Lake Oswego, junior

Jordan Hicks, Mountainside, junior

Ansu Sanoe, Lakeridge, junior

JaMar Thurman, Lowell, senior

Angel Valenzuela, Mountain View, junior

We’re not sure how we’ll get everyone touches with this talented quintet, but one thing is for sure — no one will wear out over the course of the season as we rotate them in the lineup.

Wide receivers (6)

Jack Foley, Mountain View, senior

Landon Kelsey, Central Catholic, senior

Rasean Jones, Baker, junior

Austin Simmons, West Albany, senior

Zhaiel Smith, Tualatin, senior

Danny Wideman, West Linn, senior

Many NFL teams roster seven or eight receivers, but thanks to having several two-way standouts in the secondary, we can roster six receivers and save spots at other positions.

Tight ends (3)

Jackson Doman, Canby, senior

Cash Landau, Franklin, senior

Baron Naone, West Linn, senior

Landau plays receiver for the Lightning, but he projects as a tight end in college, so we’ll give him a chance to get reps at his future position alongside two FBS commits in Doman (BYU) and Naone (Washington).

Offensive linemen (10)

C Walter Dahme, Sherwood, junior

C John McGregor, Central Catholic, senior

G Damon Bossy, South Salem, senior

G Brash Henderson, Silverton, senior

G Ryan Holmes, West Linn, senior

G Trace Spreen, Jesuit, senior

T Jace Eveland, Redmond, senior

T Suliasi Laulaupea’alu, Sherwood, senior

T Jake Normoyle, West Linn, senior

T Zac Stascausky, Central Catholic, senior

We can roster an extra lineman than most NFL teams thanks to our depth of two-way players at the skill positions, meaning our entire preseason first- and second-team O-line made the cut.

Defense

Defensive linemen (8)

DE Isaac Jordan, Lebanon, senior

DE Tau Takau, Roosevelt, senior

DE Noah Tishendorf, Lakeridge, junior

DE Eli Willis, Silverton, senior

DT Luke Bigsby, Banks, senior

DT Tony Cumberland, Willamette, junior

DT Lusiano Lopez, Lake Oswego, senior

DT Dominic Macon, Nelson, senior

Like on the offensive line, we can roster our full preseason team on the D-line.

Linebackers (8)

Jack Brauckmiller, Canby, sophomore

Treyson Eddleman, Lakeridge, senior

Will Ingle, West Linn, senior

Daniel Kuenzi, Silverton, junior

Marco Larsen, Summit, senior

Maddox Maehara, Clackamas, senior

Mana Tuioti, Sheldon, junior

Sam Vyhlidal, Mountainside, junior

Not only are we deep at the linebacker spot, but Tuioti and Vyhlidal provide cover at running back if we need it.

Defensive backs (9)

CB Josiah Hawkins, Cascade, sophomore

CB Josiah Molden, West Linn, sophomore

CB Xavier Harris, West Linn, senior

CB Grant Valley, Jesuit, senior

S Zyon Floyd, Lakeridge, senior

S Quinton Olson, Scappoose, senior

S Tate Snyder, North Medford, senior

S Mark Wiepert, Wilsonville, senior

S Evan Wusstig, West Salem, junior

Good luck throwing on this contingent. In addition, Olson, Wiepert and Wusstig will be in the receiver mix, and Wiepert also serves as our emergency quarterback.

Special teams

Kicker (1)

Rocco Graziano, Sheldon, senior

Graziano’s ability to pull double duty as our punter and placekicker allows us to keep a ninth defensive back.

Long snapper (1)

Nolan Darcy, Lakeridge, senior

We don’t want to skimp on this vital, yet often overlooked, position, so we roster a specialist who likely will make a college roster next season.

Practice squad

Quarterbacks

Andrew Guthrie, Summit, sophomore

Zeke Thomas, Crescent Valley, freshman

With experience on the main roster, we can afford to develop two promising youngsters at the position.

Running backs

Wyatt Andler, Wells, senior

Tyson Davis, Central Catholic, junior

Andler is one of the few veterans to make the practice squad and offers a change of pace from the speedsters if we want to call him up. Davis was one of our toughest cuts from the preseason all-state team, and we want him in reserve here.

Wide receiver

Matthew Newell, Thurston, junior

Newell has good bloodlines — his older brothers Jake (Akron) and Luke (Southern Oregon) are playing college ball — and made a big leap as a sophomore for the Colts.

Tight end

Andreas Nicolaidis, Central Catholic, junior

With three senior tight ends headed to Division I schools, we couldn’t find a spot for Nicolaidis on the main roster, but we’ll be happy to call him up if needed.

Offensive linemen

Peyton Eveland, Redmond, sophomore

Carter Paul, Lakeridge, junior

Joe Weiler, Lakeridge, junior

We have some definite untapped potential in these three offensive linemen who should anchor the state’s next generation.

Defensive linemen

Alex Esuk, Sunset, junior

Brady Holland, Lincoln, junior

Both had breakthrough sophomore seasons, and we want to watch them develop. 

Linebackers

Kawai Chamberlin, Sheldon, sophomore

Calvin Evans, Tualatin, senior

Donnie Vercher, Central Catholic, junior

Two promising youngsters are joined by Evans, who had a breakthrough junior season for the Timberwolves and can be called up to be our kicker or punter if necessary.

Defensive backs

Bryson Walker, Cascade Christian, sophomore

Braxton Singleton, North Salem, junior

Walker had one of the best seasons by any freshman in the state last year, and Singleton is ready to take on a bigger role for the Vikings this season.

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