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Dylan Cantrell will be joining his old buddy, Patrick Mahomes, in the AFC West.

Cantrell, a Whitehouse native and Texas Tech standout wide receiver, was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers during Saturday’s NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

Cantrell, son of Shelly and Kenny Cantrell, was teammates with Mahomes, who is now quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, at both Whitehouse High School and Texas Tech University.

The Red Raider was taken in the sixth round as the 191st overall selection. Three other East Texans were taken — Lufkin’s Keke Coutee, a wide receiver from Texas Tech; Greenville’s John Franklin-Meyers, a defensive end from Stephen F. Austin State University; and Longview’s Travin Howard, an outside linebacker from TCU.

Coutee and Franklin were taken in the fourth round, while Howard was selected in the seventh.

The Houston Texans called Coutee as the 103rd overall pick, while the Los Angeles Rams selected Franklin-Meyers as the 135th player. The Rams also claimed Howard as the 231st pick.

Cantrell (6-3, 226) caught the Chargers and a number of teams’ eyes after his standout combine workout in Indianapolis.

The Whitehouse native told Chargers.com: “It was a long day waiting and just seeing what happened, but I couldn’t be happier,” Cantrell said. “… especially to keep it in the Texas Tech family. I know head coach (Anthony Lynn) is a former Red Raider, so that’s awesome. This is a dream come true. I’m just blessed and honored to have this opportunity. I’m excited to get out to L.A. I’ve never even been out there, so I’m excited to get out there, see it for the first time and get to work.”

In high school and college, Cantrell took tosses from Mahomes at Whitehouse and Texas Tech; and Baker Mayfield, Davis Webb, Nic Shimonek and McLane Carter at Tech. Now, he will hook up with Chargers standout QB Philip Rivers.

“No doubt,” Cantrell said of being elated to have Rivers as his quarterback. “ Just seeing the stats they were posting on the screen, and how he was second in the NFL last year in passing yards and leading the NFL in passing yards per game. This is not a bad spot to be for an offensive player, especially a receiver. So again, I’m excited to get out there and get to work.”

Cantrell is bringing his work ethic to the NFL as well as his physical talents that made him successful at Whitehouse and Lubbock.

“I’m big, and I’m faster than people think,” he told Chargers.com. “I’m explosive and I can catch. My dad always told me growing up that it doesn’t matter how big, fast or strong you are; if you can catch everything that they throw to you, then it’s hard for them to say anything (bad). So that’s always been my thing. Just try to catch every ball that comes my way. So I have a good catch radius. But also, special teams is big with me. I take it very seriously, and I know the impact it can have on the game. My motto is ‘the more you can do,’ and anything I can do on that field, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Cantrell said he had not received a lot of communications from the Chargers organization but was elated that he received the call, but it was not on his cell phone.

“It was actually my mom’s phone because they couldn’t get through on my phone for some reason,” Cantrell said to Chargers.com. “So my mom came running outside because I was outside in the yard with some of my family members just hanging out. My mom came running outside and said there was a team on the line for me. She didn’t know who it was, but I got on there and it was the Chargers. So I said I better get ready to get out to the west coast. It’s a dream come true. This is why you play football. It’s a dream as a kid, all around the country kids dream about this. To get this opportunity and see the hard work you put in pay off, it’s awesome. I’m not taking it for granted. I know how big of privilege it is so I’m excited to get to work.”

Cantrell is anxious to become a Bolt.

“I’m going to try to be the best person on and off the field,” Cantrell told Chargers.com. “I was blessed with parents who raised me the right way with how to conduct myself on and off the field. I love reaching out to fans and getting out in the community. Doing everything I can to help. We did that a lot in college so that’s one thing I’m going to take to the league as well. You’re going to get a consistent, hard-working, do-it-all type of guy. I don’t have a big ego at all and I don’t think I’m too big to do anything. I’ll do anything I can do. Special teams, offense, whatever I can do to help the team, I’m down for it.”

The Chargers and Chiefs open the 2018 season against each other on Sept. 9 in Los Angeles. They play again Dec. 13, a Thursday night game, in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Franklin became the fifth SFA player to currently be signed with a professional team, joining tight end Zach Conque (Houston Texans), John Tyler wide receiver Justice Liggins (Indianapolis Colts), defensive end Willie Jefferson (Saskatchewan Roughriders) and offensive lineman Terran Vaughn (Saskatchewan Roughriders).