Best NFL Players Born In San Diego

NFL players born in San Diego are Jamal Agnew, Chris Olave, Tony Jefferson, Cameron Thomas, Daniel Brunskill, Damien Williams and many more.

Football players from San Diego are some of the best ever to play the game of football as proven by the fact that no state has more representatives in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Stars include some of the best football players born in San Diego like Marcus Allen and Terrell Davis Don Coryell, as well as one of the best running back in the NFL right now, Damien Williams.

1. Jamal Agnew - Wide Receiver

Jamal Agnew is the second player in NFL history after Timmy Brown to return a field goal for a TD, return a kickoff for a TD, catch a TD, and run for a TD in the same season.

San Diego football players Jamal and RB Maurice Jones-Drew are the only players in NFL franchise history with a rushing TD, receiving TD, and a kickoff return for a TD in the same season. 

Moreover, he attended the 2022 DUUUVAL draft party at Daily's Place as a player panelist and he is one of two players to be drafted from the University of San Diego alongside QB Josh Johnson.

In his freshman season, he started 10 of the 11 games in which he appeared and was All-Pioneer football league honorable mention and named San Diego's most outstanding first-year player.

In 2017, Agnew played in six games and averaged 27 yards on eight kickoff returns. Furthermore, He was the only player in the NFL list to have a kickoff return touchdown and a punt return touchdown in 2019. 

In 2018, he topped 1,000 all-purpose yards in 2020 for the first time in his NFL career. Jamal is the youngest of five children (two brothers and two sisters). He was born on 3 April 1995 in San Diego, California. 

2. Chris Olave - Wide Receiver

Chris Olave is a very talented wide receiver from Southern California and he was born on 27 June 2000 in San Diego, California. 

He made an immediate impact as a rookie in 2022 and he joined Michael Thomas (2016) and Marques Colston (2006) as only the third Saint to cross the 1,000-yard threshold in their rookie seasons.

Furthermore, New Orleans Saints WR Olave also joined wide receiver Danny Abramowicz as only the second Saint to lead the team in receptions, receiving yards, and yards per catch in his rookie campaign.

He will look to build on his early success and continue developing as one of the NFL's top young receivers.

In his college football career, he was one of the most prolific receivers in Buckeyes' history. Olave played in 47 games and caught 176 passes for 2,711 yards with 35 touchdowns

He attended Mission Hills high school, where he enjoyed a monster senior campaign, catching 93 passes for 1,764 yards and 26 Touchdowns. 

3. Tony Jefferson - Strong Safety

Tony Jefferson Jr. is a former American football strong safety.

He played college football at Oklahoma and signed with the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in the year 2013. He played in the NFL games for multiple teams like the Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, San Francisco 49ers, and New York Giants.

Tony attended Eastlake High School in California where he made 88 tackles,12 tackles for loss, four sacks, two fumbles caused, two and fumbles recovered. Jefferson's brilliant performance led Eastlake School to a San Diego Division 1 CIF championship during his senior year.

He announced that he was retiring from his professional American football career on 25 May 2023.

4. Cameron Thomas - Outside Linebacker

Cameron Thomas was selected by Arizona with their first pick of the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft out of San Diego State.

Thomas became the first Aztec player drafted in the first three rounds by the Cardinals since the team selected TE Rob Awalt in the third round (62nd overall) in 1987.

San Diego NFL players Cameron and his brother named Zachary, both starred at San Diego State and were both selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. Zachary was taken by Chicago in the sixth round (186th overall).

In three seasons (2019-21), he was a three-time first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and All-American honoree who played 36 games (34) starts and totaled 155 tackles.

Furthermore, he attended Carlsbad High School where he recorded 88 tackles in his final two seasons to go along with five tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, a pass defense, and a fumble recovery. 

Thomas is just 23 years old and he was born on 1 July 2000 in San Diego, California. 

5. Daniel Brunskill - Offensive Lineman

Daniel Brunskill was walked on at San Diego State where he began his career as a tight end. 

Prior to his senior season, made the switch to his high school position of offensive lineman for the Aztecs and went on to start all 14 games at right tackle.

As a member of the Alliance of American Football San Diego Fleet in 2019, he was coached by former NFL head coach, Mike Martz. In 2013, he played in his first collegiate game in the opener vs. Eastern Illinois. 

NFL players from san diego Brunskill was also chosen as an honorable-mention all-Mountain West selection by the league's media and head coaches. Daniel started all 14 games at tight end, recording 10 catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Moreover, Daniel was named the team's offensive lineman of the year and he was one of two to win the team's President award (highest standard of athletic and academic excellence).

Daniel Brunskill was born on 27 January 1994 in San Diego. He is the son of Michael and Susan Brunskill. Not only that but he graduated from Valley Center High with a 3.83 grade point average. 

6. Damien Williams - Running Back

Damien Williams is an NFL running back for the Atlanta Falcons. He was initially signed by the Miami Dolphins in the 2022 NFL draft.

Williams signed a 4-year contract with the NFL team Atlanta Falcons valued at 1.6 million dollars, including a signing bonus of $ 500,000 and an average per year salary of 1.6 million dollars.

He attended Mira Mesa High School where his football career started in his early career. He was productive and efficient on the field making him one of the top-performing American football players in his class.

Furthermore, his dream came true when he was signed by the NFL team Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent after the 2014 NFL draft.

Wrapping up his NFL career to date he has played a total of 8 seasons for 4 teams, including the Dolphins and Chiefs. He had 336 carries for 1,397 yards, 154 catches for 1,209 yards, and scored 25 touchdowns.

7. Casey Toohill - Defensive End

Casey Toohill is a Defensive End for the NFL team Washington Football in the American Football League.

He is 26 years old and was born on 21 August 1996 in San Diego, California. Moreover, he started all 12 games as a fifth-year senior at Stanford University.

Toohill earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors after recording 11.5 tackles for loss, 60 tackles, and eight sacks. In his professional football career, he had 124 tackles, 14 sacks, and an interception. At the 2020 NFL Combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.62 seconds.

American Football San Diego star Toohill was selected by the NFL team Philadelphia Eagles in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was waived by the NFL team Philadelphia Eagles on October 13, 2020, and was claimed off waivers by the Washington Football Team. 

8. Zachary Thomas - Offensive Tackle

Zachary Thomas is the best NFL players from san diego state who played as an offensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League. 

He played college football at San Diego State and was drafted in the 6th round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the NFL team Chicago Bears.

Thomas was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was waived on 31 August 2022 and re-signed to the practice squad. 

He signed with the Los Angeles Rams from the practice squad of the Chicago Bears on 18 November 2022. Moreover, Zachary is 25 years old and was born on 26 May 1998 in San Diego, California. 

9. Marcus Allen - Running Back

Marcus Allen is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League for 16 seasons, primarily with the NFL team Los Angeles Raiders.

Allen played American football at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Diego, California where he played in the positions of quarterback and safety.

He was selected by the NFL team Las Vegas Raiders in the 1982 NFL Draft, following his successful college football career at USC Trojans football. Not only that but he was a member of the Las Vegas Raiders for 11 seasons and spent his last 5 NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. 

10. Dave Grayson - Defensive Back

Dave Grayson joined the Raiders after 4 seasons with the NFL teams Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. He played in 84 games with 42 starts and grabbed 29 interceptions for 624 yards and 4 touchdowns. 

Furthermore, he forced two fumbles and recovered two. Grayson also returned 7 punts for 39 yards and 26 kickoffs for 567 yards. He was named 1965, 1968, and 1969 first team All AFL.

He attended San Diego High School where he played as a running back and defensive back. As a sophomore, he helped his school football team achieve an 11-0-1 record while outscoring opponents 382-65.

He was awarded the mythical National championship by the National Sports News Service. After the season he transferred to Lincoln High School. 

In 1961, he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the NFL team Dallas Cowboys but head coach Tom Landry felt he lacked size for the physical play that was needed in NFL at that time. 

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