Dak Prescott headlines 38 football players with Mississippi ties in 2022 NFL playoffs

With the NFL playoffs beginning on Saturday, 12 of the 14 teams still in the hunt to win Super Bowl LVI have a player on the roster who played high school or college football in Mississippi.

The group includes eight former Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen honorees, some in-state and out-of-state standouts who thrived at Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Miss and a handful of Mississippi high school players who left the state for college.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is the most notable of the bunch that also includes two Pro Bowl honorees: Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay.

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Here is a list of all the players on NFL playoffs rosters who finished high school or college in Mississippi, sorted by team.

NFC No. 1 seed: Green Bay Packers

• RB Kylin Hill (Columbus High School, Mississippi State; on injured reserve)

• OL Elgton Jenkins (Clarksdale High School, Mississippi State; on injured reserve)

• OT Royce Newman (Ole Miss)

• DE Chauncey Rivers (Mississippi State; on injured reserve)

• LB Preston Smith (Mississippi State)

NFC No. 2 seed: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches (Southern Miss)

NFC No. 3 seed: Dallas Cowboys

• QB Dak Prescott (Mississippi State)

• RB Ito Smith (Southern Miss)

NFC No. 4 seed: Los Angeles Rams

• RB Cam Akers (Clinton High School)

• RB Darrell Henderson (South Panola High School)

NFC No. 6 seed: San Francisco 49ers

• DL D.J. Jones (Ole Miss)

• DB Tarvarius Moore (Quitman High School, Southern Miss; on PUP list)

NFC No. 7 seed: Philadelphia Eagles

• DE Genard Avery (Grenada High School)

• DL Fletcher Cox (Yazoo City High School, Mississippi State)

• RB Kenneth Gainwell (Yazoo County High School)

• QB Gardner Minshew (Brandon High School)

• DB Darius Slay (Mississippi State)

• LB Davion Taylor (South Pike High School)

• WR Quez Watkins (Southern Miss)

AFC No. 1 seed: Tennessee Titans

• DL Denico Autry (Mississippi State)

• WR A.J. Brown (Starkville High School, Ole Miss)

• DL Jeffery Simmons (Noxubee County High School, Mississippi State)

• RB Jordan Wilkins (Ole Miss)

AFC No. 2 seed: Kansas City Chiefs

• LB Willie Gay (Starkville High School, Mississippi State)

• LB Darius Harris (Horn Lake High School)

• DL Chris Jones (Houston High School, Mississippi State)

• DB Charvarius Ward (McComb High School)

• OL Darryl Williams (Mississippi State)

AFC No. 3 seed: Buffalo Bills

• DL Vernon Butler (North Pike)

• TE Dawson Knox (Ole Miss)

AFC No. 4 seed: Cincinnati Bengals

• DB Mike Hilton (Ole Miss)

• WR Mike Thomas (Southern Miss)

AFC No. 5 seed: Las Vegas Raiders

• DB Johnathan Abram (East Marion High School, Mississippi State; on injured reserve)

• DL Gerri Green (Greenville High School, Mississippi State)

• RB Jalen Richard (Southern Miss)

• LB K.J. Wright (Olive Branch High School, Mississippi State)

AFC No. 6 seed: New England Patriots

• RB Brandon Bolden (Ole Miss)

• LB Jamie Collins (Franklin County High School; Southern Miss)

Contact Nick Suss at 601-408-2674 or nsuss@gannett.com. Follow @nicksuss on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Dak Prescott headlines 38 Mississippi players in 2022 NFL playoffs