Three former Iowa high school football standouts made the NFL’s Top 100 Players of 2026, with Cooper DeJean, Tristan Wirfs and Jack Campbell all earning spots on the annual list.
The ranking, which has been compiled for 16 years, includes DeJean of the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 38, Wirfs of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 52 and Campbell of the Detroit Lions at No. 88.
DeJean’s path to the NFL was built on a rare mix of production and versatility at OABCIG High School, where he helped lead the school to back-to-back Iowa High School Athletic Association State Football Championships. As a senior, he threw for 3,447 yards and 35 touchdowns and added more than 1,200 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground. He also made his presence felt on defense and special teams, and starred in basketball, baseball and track for the Falcons.
Now with the Eagles, DeJean was a first-team All-Pro in 2025 and made his first Pro Bowl. He finished the season with 93 total tackles, four tackles for loss, 16 passes defended, two interceptions and a forced fumble. In his rookie year, he also picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown on his birthday as Philadelphia beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Wirfs, meanwhile, remains one of the league’s premier offensive tackles. After being ranked 24 spots higher the previous year, he landed at No. 52 this time around.
He earned his fifth Pro Bowl selection last season, played almost 800 snaps and allowed just 23 pressures and two sacks. He also scored an offensive touchdown for Tampa Bay.
Before becoming a cornerstone up front for the Buccaneers, Wirfs was a standout at Mount Vernon High School, where he played football, wrestling and track. He won multiple Iowa High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships in the discus, was a state wrestler and was named an Army All-American. He later became an All-American at Iowa before Tampa Bay selected him with the 13th overall pick in 2020.
Campbell is the newest member of the group to crack the list, earning the honor for the first time in his career. The former Cedar Falls High School standout came in at No. 88 after a big season for the Lions. He piled up 176 total tackles, added five sacks, nine tackles for loss, forced three fumbles and recovered two while earning first-team All-Pro recognition and a Pro Bowl nod.
At Cedar Falls, Campbell helped the Tigers win back-to-back Iowa High School Athletic Association State Basketball Championships and set a school record with 338 tackles. He went on to Iowa, where he was a second team All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
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