The 10 Greatest TXHSFB Offensive Linemen in TXHSFB History

A disclaimer before we begin: This is an extremely fun but totally impossible task. There are about 30 guys who don’t just have a case to be in the top 10, but you have every right to be actively mad that they weren’t included in the top 10. And if you are, be sure to take all complaints to the Dave Campbell’s social media pages. Tell them Carter Yates’s absurd, borderline-irresponsible list sent you.

Check out our list of the Top 10 TXHSFB Quarterbacks.
Check out our list of the Top 10 TXHSFB Running Backs
Check out our list of the Top 10 TXHSFB Wide Receivers

Note: These rankings are based on high school career alone.

Honorable Mentions:

Blake Brockermeyer (Fort Worth Arlington Heights, 1988-91): A high school All-American who went on to become a two-time All-Southwest Conference selection at Texas. Played nine NFL seasons.

EJ Holub (Lubbock High, 1957-59): Inducted into the TXHSFB Hall of Fame in 1987 and had his No.55 jersey retired at Texas Tech. Kept off this list becuase he was injured his entire senior year.

The Matthews Family: The patriarch, Bruce, didn't play Texas high school football, but he was a seven-time First Team All-Pro for the Houston Oilers. His four sons, Kevin, Jake, Mike, and Luke, were all standout TXHSFB players who suited up for Texas A&M.

Richmond Webb (Dallas Roosevelt, 1982-85): A salutatorian and star athlete at 6-foot-6, 245 pounds, Webb was a First Team All-Southwest Conference selection at Texas A&M before earning seven Pro Bowl nods in the NFL. He is narrowly kept off this list because he started his Texas A&M career at defensive line.

Gene Upshaw (Robstown, 1962): A seven-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders who later was a trailblazer for players' rights as the President of the NFL Players Association, Upshaw only played one season of high school football. 

10. Dan Neil (Cy Creek, 1988-91)

As a junior at Cypress Creek High School, Neil was forged by fire. He went up against future Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Shane Rink and Texas A&M’s Sam Adams in practice every day. Neil vastly improved as the season went along, then exploded as a senior, earning All-State honors. Neil was named as one of the 100 Best UIL Football Players of All-Time in 2020.

Post TXHSFB Career:

Neil, a born and raised Texas Longhorns fan, achieved his lifelong dream by starting 49 consecutive games in burnt orange, the second-longest streak in school history. He was a two-time All-American selection and a team captain as a senior, leading the Longhorns to the final Southwest Conference Championship in 1995 and the first Big 12 Conference Championship in 1996. He was inducted into the Texas Hall of Honor in 2008.

Neil was a similar iron man starter in the NFL after being selected in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He was a pivotal part of Denver’s back-to-back Super Bowl Championships in 1998 and 1999, and started 104 of 108 games in his career.

9. Trent Williams (Longview, 2002-05)

Before he was a 12-time NFL Pro Bowler, Trent Williams was a beast at Longview. As a senior in 2005, he was a unanimous First Team All-District selection, All-East Texas Pick, and Second Team All-State honoree for Longview’s 10-0 district championship football team. The city officially renamed May 12, 2010, ‘Trent Williams Day,’ and in 2017, his number 71 jersey became the second in program history to be officially retired. 

But for as dominant as Williams was between the white lines, he’s had a far bigger impact on the program since his graduation. In 2011, Williams donated for significant improvements to the varsity football locker room. Two years later, he launched the annual Silverback Free Football Camp at Lobo Stadium. In 2015, he partnered with CHRISTUS Good Shepherd to launch EKG screenings for Longview student-athletes. Then, in 2016, he partnered with Nike to give 1,000 shoes to elementary schoolers. In 2022, he launched the Silverback Dual Credit Scholarship. And these are just the contributions we know about. Coaches say he has privately helped the program numerous times.

This June, the district announced they’re considering naming the district’s new Multipurpose Indoor Facility as the “Trent Williams Multipurpose Indoor Facility.” That honor is as much for his contributions to the team as a lineman and program steward. 

Post TXHSFB Career:

Based on the historic success of his college and NFL career, it’s easy to forget that Williams was widely considered the lowest-ranked offensive line recruit in Oklahoma’s class. Rivals had him pegged as the 28th best offensive guard in the country. By his sophomore year, Williams was a First Team All-Big 12 right guard. Then, he switched to left tackle as a senior and became a unanimous First Team All-American. He was selected fourth overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, part of Oklahoma’s historic class that saw three players selected in the first four picks. 

Over a 15-year NFL career with the Washington Commanders and San Francisco 49ers, Williams has established himself as a Hall of Fame lock – if not the best left tackle of all-time – with 12 Pro Bowl selections.

8. Mike Baab (Euless Trinity, 1974-77)

Mike Baab was the first star football player at Euless Trinity. The Trojans are a blue-blood program today, but they had next to no history when Baab played in the mid-1970s. In fact, Euless Trinity went 4-5-1 in Baab’s senior year in 1977, but the big and twitchy interior offensive lineman still earned All-American and First Team All-State accolades. 

But during his Texas High School Football Hall of Fame induction speech in 2016, Baab said those honors were a credit to his offensive line coach, Ray Verkerk. A Russian immigrant whom Baab claimed had jumped off the boat in New York and swam to America, Verkerk took Baab’s preseason All-State nominations as a personal challenge, making Baab stay for 30 minutes after practice every day to prove it. Thirty years later, Baab was named to the UIL All-Century Team. 

No one – including Baab – would’ve believed that was possible after he got cut from the football team in seventh grade. Baab said the only reason he got to play that year was that a kid named David Ebert broke his ankle. The coaches had to call Baab’s parents and ask if he could snap the ball and get in the way. In the summer of 1976, Baab ran up and down the hill at the base of his house dragging a 40-pound truck tire. That fall, an assistant coach walked up to Baab’s mom, bewildered.

“Mrs. Baab, do you know your son might be good?” 

Post TXHSFB Career:

Baab was a four-year letterwinner at the University of Texas. By his senior year in 1981, he earned All-Southwest Conference honors as a center and team captain on Texas’s 10-1-1 football team that beat Alabama in the Cotton Bowl Classic. He was inducted into the Texas Hall of Honor in 2008.

Baab went on to play 11 NFL seasons, most notably with the Cleveland Browns, where he earned the nickname “The Baabarian.”

After his playing career, Baab continued competing in Scotland’s Highland Games. He’s won three total Master’s World Championships. He currently lives in Austin.

7. Ernie Ladd (Wallace High School in Orange, 1953-56)

Ladd technically played tight end, but at 6-foot-9, 218 pounds, Ladd was a pancake machine at Wallace High School. Pancake machine actually has a double meaning here. Yes, he flattened opposing defenders. But there’s also a legendary story of him eating 124 pancakes with six containers of syrup at a charity pancake-eating contest in 1965. Coached by the legendary William Ray Smith Sr., Ladd won a PVIL State Championship in 1954. Ladd is a member of the PVIL Hall of Fame. 

Post TXHSFB Career

Ladd was a two-sport star at Wallace High School and originally attended Grambling State on a basketball scholarship. He also excelled on the football field as a defensive tackle, earning First Team All-Conference honors in 1960. By college graduation, his future had shifted to football.

Ladd was drafted 15th overall by the San Diego Chargers in the American Football League. He played 112 consecutive games and won four AFL Championships before hanging up the cleats for a professional wrestling career. Known as “The Big Cat,” Ladd was one of the top villains in the WWE, matching up against legends like Andre The Giant, Mr. Universe, and Dusty Rhodes. He is the only person ever inducted into both the AFL and WWE Halls of Fame.

6. Tray Allen (South Grand Prairie, 2003-06)

South Oak Cliff head coach Jason Todd, who’s taken the Golden Bears to five straight state championship games, says Tray Allen from South Grand Prairie is the best player he’s ever seen at the high school level. A lot of coaches from the DFW area in the mid-2000s would have the same answer. 

When Allen entered South Grand Prairie as a freshman, assistant principal Robert ‘Radar’ Holt baptized him by fire. Holt, a former NFL wide receiver, took a young Allen into the weight room. He had Allen put 225 pounds on the bar. Then, Holt got on the bench press in his tie, dress shirt, cufflinks, and slacks and repped it 30 times with ease.

“You’re going to be strong like this one day,” Holt said. “But if we have any problems out of you, just know I can do this.”

They didn’t have any problems after that.

In 2006, Allen was named the top lineman on the Parade All-American team and a USA Today All-American. He started on both sides of the ball for three straight years, leading South Grand Prairie to a 10-2 record as a senior. A consensus five-star, Allen was one of the highest-rated recruits to sign with the University of Texas.

Post TXHSFB Career:

Allen played 44 games at Texas, but injuries prevented him from living up to his five-star potential. Nevertheless, his football career is still a massive success story. Allen graduated with a degree in physical culture and sport. He is now a high school offensive line coach, winning two Class 6A state championships at Duncanville before working under Stephen Jackson to rebuild West Mesquite’s program. He is currently at Lancaster under Jackson who enters his first season as head coach this fall.

5. Dave Richards (Highland Park, 1980-83)

Few high school linemen have ever reached the fame Dave Richards achieved. At 6-foot-5, 300 pounds, he was the size of the present-day prototypical college left tackle 40 years ago. As a senior in 1983, he was the first lineman to win Parade Magazine’s National Offensive Player of the Year. But Richards learned early in his career to never get too high on his own supply of recognition. At a 2010 luncheon honoring former Highland Park football coach Frank Bevers, Richards said Bevers called him into his office one morning to talk about a Dallas Morning News writeup. 

“Dave, this story says that you have a lot of potential,” Richards said. “Do you know what potential means? It means you ain’t worth a bleep today.”

Needless to say, Richards lived up to that potential – and then some.

Post TXHSFB Career:

Richards attended nearby SMU during the heyday of the Pony Express, coming off the 1982 and 1983 national championship runs. He started for three seasons and earned two All-Southwest Conference nominations, but was forced to transfer to UCLA in 1986 after the NCAA imposed the Death Penalty on SMU’s athletic program. It proved an excellent decision, as Richards earned All-American honors as a senior. 

Richards was drafted in the fourth round of the 1988 NFL Draft and immediately earned an All-Rookie designation for the San Diego Chargers. He went on to play eight more seasons between the Chargers, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, and New England Patriots.

4. Kelvin Banks (Humble Summer Creek, 2018-21)

Kelvin Banks may have graduated from Humble Summer Creek in 2022, but he is still the first player an incoming freshman sees. Coach Kenny Harrison shows all the newbies game film of Banks pulling and destroying a Katy Cinco Ranch linebacker in the fourth round of the playoffs. Harrison knows Banks was a once-in-a-generation player, but he wants every kid to play football with that kind of physicality. 

Banks was the rare four-time All-District honoree in high school, winning First Team honors from his sophomore year on and also taking home District Offensive Player of the Year awards as a senior. Behind Banks in 2021, Summer Creek’s offense averaged 310 rushing yards per game. He was named to the Whataburger SuperTeam and the 2022 Under Armour All-American Bowl. 

Post TXHSFB Career:

Banks started 42 straight games at the University of Texas and will surely be a Texas Hall of Honor inductee in due time. In his final season in 2024, Banks was a consensus All-American who won both the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award as the nation’s top college offensive lineman. He was the cornerstone of the Longhorns’ only two College Football Playoff teams in program history. 

Banks was drafted ninth overall by the New Orleans Saints in the 2025 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Banks was just the third Saints left tackle since 1978 to start every game, earning All-Rookie accolades.

3. Willie Everett (Daingerfield, 1982-85)

Willie Everett was one of, if not the best, players on Daingerfield’s legendary run in the mid-1980s. As a sophomore in 1983, he was part of the best defense of all time, allowing eight total points in 16 games (two of those points were a safety the offense took). That defense even scored 76 points as a unit. 

But Everett is part of the TXHSFB Hall of Fame and a member of the UIL’s 100 Greatest Players of All-Time for his contributions on the offensive line. He was a two-time All-State selection and District MVP as a senior. Daingerfield made the state championship game in 1984 and 1985, earning Everett’s second ring in the ‘85 season.

Post TXHSFB Career:

After graduation, Everett played college football at Tyler Junior College and Baylor.

2. Greg Little (Allen, 2012-15)

When Greg Little was born on November 4, 1997, nurses looked at the 11-pound, 2-ounce baby that was 23 inches long and said, ‘There’s the next Dallas Cowboy.’ Little might have never worn the star on his helmet, but the meaning behind the nurses’ statement was spot on.

Little wanted to play tight end at Allen because of his basketball background. But ahead of his sophomore season, the coaches moved him to left tackle to fill a team need. Little responded by becoming a cornerstone on one of the best high school football dynasty runs in state history. Allen went 46-1 during Little’s three years as a starter. The 6-foot-6, 305-pound lineman earned First Team All-District as a sophomore before exploding into a national recruit as an upperclassman. Little was a back-to-back USA Today and Associated Press First Team All-State selection. As a senior, he was named an Under Armour All-American, First Team USA Today honoree, and a MaxPreps All-American. By the time of his graduation, he was a consensus top five national prospect and the No.1-rated offensive lineman in the country. 

Post TXHSFB Career:

Little was a Day One starter at Ole Miss, earning Freshman All-American honors. He went on to one of the most productive three-year careers in school history. Little was named Second Team All-SEC as a sophomore and a Second Team All-American his junior year. In 2018, he became the first offensive lineman to ever be named a finalist for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award given to the best college football player with a Texas tie. 

Little was selected with the 37th overall pick in the Second Round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He has started 13 games over his NFL career for the Panthers, Miami Dolphins, and Houston Texans. He last played in 2023.

1. Leonard Davis (Wortham, 1993-96)

Leonard Davis began his high school career on an 0-10 Wortham team with 150 kids in the entire high school. By the time it was all said and done, the only thing larger than his 6-foot-6, 340-pound frame was the impact he left on Texas high school football. 

As a senior in 1996, Davis was a USA Today High School All-American and the Fox Sports Southwest Class 1A Player of the Year. In a display of his alien-esque athleticism, Davis earned Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year while playing linebacker at 340 pounds. Wortham went 11-1 and reached the second round of the playoffs. Davis was just as dominant on the basketball court, leading Wortham to the Class 1A State Championship while averaging a double-double. He was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame in 2023. 

Post TXHSFB Career:

At 6-foot-6, 365 pounds during his college career, Davis is still one of the most physically imposing offensive linemen in Texas Longhorns history. Davis was a consensus All-American and Outland Trophy finalist in 2000, playing 45 games over his tenure and serving as a lead blocker for Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams.

Davis was drafted second overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2001 NFL Draft. He went on to play 12 NFL seasons, earning three consecutive Pro Bowl nods with the Dallas Cowboys from 2007-09.