We've reached the Top 10.
After celebrating 10 standout Carroll football players who helped define the Dragon Pride Era, the Top 20 countdown is entering its most exclusive territory. These are the players who left an indelible mark on Southlake Carroll football — stars whose accomplishments, leadership, and impact helped shape one of the most celebrated programs in Texas high school football.
We're continuing our countdown with Nos. 10 through 6 — five more players whose names deserve a place among the very best of the Dragon Pride Era.
We're bullish on kickers here at Southlake Style, and Drew Brown proved that a great kicker can be a game-changer. One of the best kickers in the state during his prep years, Brown was a key contributor throughout his Carroll career, including as a sophomore on the 2011 team that finished a perfect 16-0 and captured the Class 5A Division I state championship. That season, Brown connected on 17-of-21 field-goal attempts, including a long of 49 yards, and made 63-of-64 extra-point attempts. He continued to produce as a junior, going a perfect 97-for-97 on PATs while making 9-of-10 field goals as the Dragons went 12-2 and advanced to the state quarterfinals.
As a senior, Brown was named the first-team kicker on the DFW all-area team and earned honorable-mention Class 5A all-state honors. He made 9-of-11 field goals, including a career-long 51-yarder, and converted 89-of-90 extra-point attempts, helping Carroll post an 11-2 record and reach the third round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs. By then, Brown had established himself as one of the state's top kickers and was ranked among the top dozen kickers in the nation.
His success continued at Nebraska, where Brown started all 51 games of his career and became just the fourth player in school history to make at least 50 career starts. He finished his Husker career with 59 field goals — second-most in program history — and 355 points, good for fourth in school history. Perhaps most impressively, Brown missed just two extra points in 180 career attempts, including a perfect 75-for-75 over his final two seasons.
R.J. Mickens was the kind of player who seemed to be everywhere on the football field — and he was just as impactful with the ball in his hands as he was without it.
Mickens finished his high school career with 211 tackles, eight interceptions, and 40 passes defensed. He also contributed 61 receptions for 1,092 yards and 14 touchdowns on offense while becoming a dangerous punt returner, averaging 19.8 yards on 29 career returns. His best season came as a sophomore in 2017, when he recorded a career-high 99 tackles, three tackles for loss, two interceptions, and 15 passes defensed.
By the time Mickens graduated, he was considered one of the top defensive backs in the country. He was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and was ranked as high as the No. 33 overall player in the nation by PrepStar. He ultimately chose Clemson, where he would develop into one of the Tigers' most reliable defensive players, playing in 60 games over his prep career..
After five seasons in the Clemson program, Mickens' football journey continued at the highest level. The Los Angeles Chargers selected him in the 2025 NFL Draft, giving the former Dragon another opportunity to prove himself on football's biggest stage.
Great football teams are built in the trenches, and Evan Brown was one of the best offensive linemen to ever come through Carroll.
A dominant force up front for the Dragons, Brown earned first-team All-State honors and was named first-team All-Texas by Dave Campbell's Texas Football. As a senior in 2013, he helped lead Carroll to an 11-2 record while putting together a remarkable individual season, recording 91 pancake blocks and 93 knockdowns. Brown was what football scientists would build in a lab for offensive linemen: smart, tough, nasty at times, and completely reliable.
Brown's success at the high school level earned him the opportunity to continue his football career at SMU, where he developed into a reliable, versatile offensive lineman.
Brown has carved out a lengthy NFL career that includes stops with the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks. He currently suits up for the Houston Texans, continuing a professional football journey that began in the trenches in Southlake.
Brayden Burnett anchored the Carroll defensive line during the late 2000s as a relentlessly powerful 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end who could dictate the game from the edge.
Known for his upper-body strength, textbook leverage, and relentless motor, Burnett was a nightmare for opposing offensive linemen. He consistently collapsed the pocket, disrupted running lanes, and made life difficult for quarterbacks and ball carriers alike. During the Dragons' highly competitive 2008 season, his dominant play on the edge commanded constant attention — often requiring opposing offenses to send double-teams his way.
Burnett was highly regarded beyond the field, collecting numerous scholarship offers before ultimately signing to play SEC football at Missouri.
Burnett's legacy at Carroll is built on more than impressive physical tools. He was the type of defensive lineman who could take over a game, win one-on-one battles, and create opportunities for the teammates around him. For opposing offenses, there was rarely an easy answer when Burnett lined up across the line of scrimmage.
In a program that has produced its share of elite defensive talent, Carroll fans would be hard-pressed to name many more dominant — or technically sound — defensive linemen than Burnett.
It will be a long time before another wide receiver puts up the kind of numbers Brock Boyd did during his Carroll career.
A physical, explosive playmaker with elite ball skills, Boyd rewrote the Dragons' receiving record book and became the program's all-time leader in career receiving yards midway through his senior season. By the time he graduated, he had amassed more than 250 receptions for over 3,000 yards.
Considering the long list of elite offensive talent to come through Carroll, breaking any school record is newsworthy. The Dragons have produced college- and NFL-bound quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers throughout the Dragon Pride Era, yet it was Boyd who climbed to the top of the record books. He emerged as one of the nation's top recruits during his junior season and, as a senior, committed to Ohio State, a college football powerhouse known for producing NFL-caliber wide receivers.
Boyd's mere presence on the field also created opportunities for those around him. With defenses routinely forced to account for Boyd, No. 2 receiver Blake Gunter took advantage of the attention and put together an incredible junior season in 2025, hauling in 18 touchdown catches. Boyd's ability to draw coverage and open up the field was a major reason Carroll's passing attack was so difficult to defend.
By the end of his prep career, Boyd had firmly established himself as one of the premier receivers in the country and one of the most accomplished players in Carroll history.
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