High school football: What are the best position groups in Florida?

The state of Florida is tremendously talented, but some of that talent tends to group into certain spots.

Which got us thinking, what schools have the best position groups in the state?

Think Chaminade-Madonna’s wide receivers, St. Thomas Aquinas’ safeties or Kissimmee-Osceola’s defensive line.

Obviously, it’s a subjective question to begin with. It’s like asking what the question because people will use different criteria to come up with an answer.

Do you base it on the talent of the starters? An overwhelming amount of depth in the group? Previous success of the players? The ability of the program or coaching staff to churn out elite talent at the position? Some combination of all the above?

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USA Today Florida Network’s sports reporters and contributors picked the top position group in each area.

Big Bend

Florida High's running backs 

It's almost every season that the Seminoles are bringing a deep and experienced team to the gridiron. Last season we saw Rhyder Poppell and Michai Danzy take the varsity gridiron with the Seminoles for the first time, and dominated. Both broke over 700 rushing yards each and combined for 23 touchdowns. Poppell has brought an element of strength and speed, while Danzy has been ranked as one of the top track athletes in the state. Add Jalon Carter to that mix, who is back from injury, and you have a rushing unit that hard to catch. — Jack Williams, Tallahassee Democrat

Bradenton-Sarasota

Venice High defensive line

Led be defensive end Damon Wilson, one of the top recruits in the state and among the top 50 seniors on the ESPN 300, the Venice High defensive line will be tough to crack as Venice bids to win its second straight state title and third in the past six years. Wilson is joined by returning defensive tackles Trenton Kintigh and Colin Adkins and newcomer junior defensive end Mathew Galloway. — Dennis Maffezzoli, Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Daytona Beach

Spruce Creek's offensive line

Quick honorable mentions are due to Mainland's wide receivers and Flagler Palm Coast's linebackers, but dynamic duos might fit the description better — James Randle and Ajai Harrell for Mainland, and Rodney Hill and Ashton Bracewell for FPC. However, the Hawks' O-line is, in a word, massive. Left tackle Elijah Walker, listed at 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, has a handful of Power Five offers to play along the interior. Center Aron Hernandez is one of the state's best weightlifters, and guards Truth Moody and Jayson Edwards can comfortably push around local competition. Junior Colin Wilson, a first-year varsity starter, is expected to round out the unit. — Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal

Fort Lauderdale

Chaminade-Madonna's wide receivers

The Lions had one of the nation's best defensive lines last fall. This season, the crown goes to the wide receivers. Chaminade-Madonna already returned a loaded group with junior Jeremiah Smith and seniors Edwin Joseph and Duane Thomas Jr. The trio combined for 1,862 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2021. They got a major addition during the summer with junior Joshisa Trader, one of the top players in the class of 2024. Good luck trying to stop these four. — Jon Santucci, USA Today Network 

Fort Myers

Dunbar's wide receivers

The Dunbar receiving corps stands out after an electrifying season that saw the Tigers go undefeated in the regular season. Quarterback Landon Winterbottom's favorite targets — Anthony Benjamin and Tawaski "TJ" Abrams — played a big part in that. The shifty Benjamin was one of the area leaders with 758 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Abrams, heading into his junior season, caught 25 passes for 414 yards and six touchdowns. Abrams has seen his recruiting pick up this year with offers from Georgia, Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan State, Texas A&M and Penn State, among others. His 200-meter times during the track season in the spring were among the best in the state. — Dustin Levy, Fort Myers News-Press

Gainesville

Buchholz's defensive line

If you saw the Bobcats play last season, this shouldn't come as a surprise for you. While Buchholz boasts a sound defensive unit as a whole, the push starts from the big guys up front. Returning to the defensive line this fall is senior Gavin Hill and junior Kendall Jackson — two prospects that have fielded offers from a healthy handful of Power 5 programs. Hill, who committed to Florida in the offseason, recorded 18 tackles and eight tackles for a loss last season. Jackson finished his sophomore season with 29 total tackles, of which 11 were behind the line of scrimmage. The dangerous tandem are just pieces of Buchholz's deep and talented rotation on the defensive front. — Ainslie Lee, The Gainesville Sun

Jacksonville

Bolles' offensive line

The possibilities are many in Duval County, but it's tough to top a Bolles offensive front that includes no fewer than four seniors (John Antolik, Brendan Black, Cooper Fordham and James Zebroski) with college offers. All four tip the scales at 280-plus, and combined with South Carolina-committed tight end Connor Cox at 6-6, they mean big trouble for would-be pass rushers and run stuffers alike. The top-rated prospect of the group is senior tackle Black, on course for Iowa State. There's no doubting Bolles' track record: Last year, the O-line cleared the way for an average of 205 rushing yards per game. --Clayton Freeman, Florida Times-Union

Lakeland

Lakeland's defensive backs

Defensive back has been strong in Polk County in recent years but never as deep as this year. Eight players on The Ledger's Super 16 list of the top senior prospects are defensive backs, including four at Lakeland. The top prospect is Cormani McClain, a Lake Gibson transfer who is the No. 1 prospect in the state. He is joined by Dontay Joyner, Kathleen-transfer Shadarian Harrison and Auburndale-transfer Jerrod "Tank" Johnson. Also on the list are Kentucky-commit Jaremiah Anglin Jr. from Lake Wales, Winter Haven's Terrel Redding, Victory Christian's Marlon McClendon and Lakeland Christian's T.C. Bell. — Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger

Miami

Miami Central's wide receivers

Even after losing Joshisa Trader to Chaminade-Madonna during the offseason, the Rockets receiver corps remain a major strength. Senior Lamar Seymore has been a household name since his freshman year. The University of Pittsburgh commit arguably has the best hands in South Florida. Avant Garde transfer Lawayne McCoy is smooth route runner with excellent body control. Seniors Cataurus "Blue" Hicks and Corey Washington are fast and explosive. Washington is one of the best kick returners in South Florida history. He had six return touchdowns last season. — Quinten Lambert, Special to the USA Today Network  

Naples

Naples secondary

Despite the departure of Devin Moore to Florida, this group is deep once again and should be a united that flirts with 15 interceptions this season. On one side, Cincinnati commit Jonas Duclona is expected to lockdown the field, while Ben Bouzi is a rising junior who's primed to get Power Five looks soon. In the slot is Minnesota commit Kerry Brown, and at the safety spots are 4-star Kensley Faustin and Thompson Defhommes. The Naples secondary will be tested on multiple occasions this year, which should be worth watching. – Alex Martin, Naples Daily News

Northeast Florida

Columbia secondary

A unit with (at least) three potential Division I players? That's a reality this fall at Columbia, as talent-packed as any other squad in the northern half of the Sunshine State. Already high on most recruiting lists is three-star senior safety Amare Ferrell, a Gainesville Sun Super 11 selection committed to Indiana. Then add the junior pair of Jerome Carter III and Kani Fulton, on recruiters' radar with a year to spare. So strong is Columbia's lineup that the defensive backfield isn't even the undisputed king of the Tigers' position groups; the receivers, including Tray Tolliver and newcomer Camdon Frier, should produce plenty of highlights of their own on those Lake City Friday nights. —Clayton Freeman, Florida Times-Union

Northwest Florida

Baker's backfield

The Gators' Wing-T has produced the following rushing totals the last four years: 2,398 yards and 40 TDs; 5,258 yards and 62 TDs; 4,254 yards and 51 TDs; and 4,493 yards and 55 TDs. With Kayleb Wagner, Florida's single-game rushing record holder and ESPN's latest media darling, back for his senior year, don't expect Baker to veer from a tried and true formula that's produced six Final Fours in seven years and a 2020 state title. But what makes this backfield dynamic is Brayshawn Baker, the Robin to Batman if you will. Like Wagner to Joe Brunson in 2020, Brayshawn offers a change of pace to keep defenses from keying in on Wagner, who will be on watch to top 3,000 rushing yards this year behind a stout offensive line featuring Kurt Armstrong and Hunter Allen.— Seth Stringer, NWF Daily News

Orlando

Osceola's defensive line

It was tempting to simply pick Osceola's entire defense, considering the secondary has two premier prospects in Ja'Keem Jackson (Florida commit) and Bo Mascoe (Rutgers commit) as well. But the Kowboys' D-line is uniquely loaded for a Central Florida public school. John Walker (UCF commit) and Derrick LeBlanc (Oklahoma commit) flank nose guard Elijah Palermo, and the trio combined for 39 TFLs and 27 sacks as juniors. "They work their fundamentals every day, and every one of them is going to do what they are coached to do. Consistency is the key with them," Kowboys head coach Eric Pinellas said. — Chris Boyle, Daytona Beach News-Journal

Palm Beach

Cardinal Newman's defensive line

Despite graduating three inside linebackers from Newman's most recent run to Class 3A region finals, but the Crusaders are in better shape than they were just months ago to navigate their 2022 schedule. Even if they meet Chaminade-Madonna again. Two-time championship-winning coach Jack Daniels' collection of versatile guys have a build that's hard to beat. Under-the-radar edge rusher Kristian Strong, a 6-4, 225 pound transfer from Saint Thomas Aquinas, joins returning lead tackler Maverick Gracio, who stands at 6-5, 215 pounds, and a 6-5, 230-pound Steven Curtis. Down 55 pounds from his 6-3, 355 frame in 2021, tackle and guard Sebastian Scott will also rejoin Newman's trenches following a breakout season injury stunted to five games last fall. — Emilee Smarr, The Palm Beach Post

Pasco

Zephyrhills’ secondary 

When talking about secondaries in Pasco County, you can’t leave out Zephyrhills. The Bulldogs feature the deepest group around. Bolstered by the transfer in of sophomore DJ Pickett from Carrollwood Day School and Fred Adams from Zephyrhills Christian Academy, this group is long, rangy and fast. Both Pickett and Adams starred in the spring game matchup versus Mitchell and had pick-sixes for the Bulldogs. They should be one of the best in the area when it comes to defending on the back end. — Andy Villamarzo, Special to the USA Today Network 

Pensacola

Pine Forest offensive backfield

The Eagles leveraged a pummeling ground attack into a deep push through the postseason, and with their top-three rushers back in the fold for 2022, there's no reason to believe they can't roll through the playoffs again. Senior running back Kobe Johnson (1,102 rushing yards, 12 TDs and junior running back Miequle Brock (966 rushing yards, 16 TDs) are a thunder-and-lightning duo while senior quarterback T.J. Wilson led the group with 1,102 rushing yards and 20 rushing scores. Pine Forest's offensive line is retooled after three starters graduated, but expect the running game to carry the Eagles toward the state's elite.  — Patrick Bernadeau, Pensacola News Journal

St. Augustine

St. Augustine's offensive backfield

Graduation hit St. Johns County hard. Nease's pass catchers, Creekside's offensive line and Bartram Trail's front seven would have been great selections in 2021. If their young blockers adjust quickly, the Yellow Jackets could possess an extremely balanced attack with junior running back Devonte Lyons and sophomore quarterback Locklan Hewlett. Lyons averaged 8.7 yards per carry and scored 13 touchdowns last season. Hewlett takes over as the full-time starter under center, and he proved in the spring that he can certainly spin it. — Chris Boyle, St. Augustine Record

Space Coast

Cocoa's defensive backs

Cocoa has produced two NFL defensive backs in recent years: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson with New Orleans and Tampa’s Jamel Dean, and the position is again strong. The Tigers secondary for 2022 includes Ohio State commit Cedrick Hawkins and Caleb Dobbs, who has committed to Eastern Michigan. Hawkins finished 2021 with four interceptions and 117 tackles last season, while Dobbs recorded three picks and 48 stops. Both broke up 10 passes. -- Brian McCallum, Florida Today 

Tampa-St. Petersburg

Jesuit's linebackers

If you’re a defensive coordinator who has Georgia commit Troy Bowles on your defense and you’re considering moving him elsewhere because of depth at the position and needs elsewhere, that’s a pretty good problem to have. That’s exactly what the Jesuit Tigers are facing heading into the fall, as they have Bowles, Peter Pesansky, Drew Woodaz and Luke Arena returning — plus a surplus of others vying for time at linebacker. Yeah, you can say it’s going to be tough to run up against Jesuit’s front seven on Friday nights. — Andy Villamarzo, Special to the USA Today Network

Treasure Coast

Treasure Coast’s lines of scrimmage

The rise for the Titans over the past few years is directly tied to the performance on both the offensive and defensive lines. Head coach Irvin Jones can get creative rotating in players that play on both sides of the ball if need-be but on the offensive line, SMU commit Alex Woods, Division I recruit Knajee Saffold and junior Bootros Beaubrun are the headliners. On the defensive line, West Virginia commit Corey McIntyre, Jr., Division I recruit Jahari Grant and senior Christian Ware-Terry are a formidable trio. — Bryan Cooney, TCPalm

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida high school football: What are the state's best position groups?