A quick look at this year's NFL Pro Bowl roster is telling. Lott had recruited Williams out of prep school when he was on staff at Johnson C. Smith University, but didn't get the chance to start coaching him until he was hired at Fayetteville late last spring. 37 NFL Pro Bowl Players Were 3-Star Recruits (or Worse) Tracking fifth-year options for 2020 first-rounders: Which were picked up, and which were declined? Top current NFL players from small schools (FCS or below) Toney ended his recruitment before his senior season by choosing Florida before even stepping foot on campus. The story of how Tom Brady fell to the New England Patriots and the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft has been told and retold on television shows and in articles. He is currently projected as high as a fourth-round pick. I believe we will hear this name in the near future as the newest NFL success. He is one of the best receivers in the league today. In other words, the lure of the transfer portal was never really a lure in his eyes. He would rather play football for LSU. 2023 NFL Draft: Pick-by-pick analysis for Day 3, Rounds 4-5 Smith is a nine year veteran that still has a lot of gas left in his tank. Remember Brett Gardner before you do that. In the open field he is unstoppable. However, he didn . He is now one of the most-feared defensive players in the league and a man who makes the Pro Bowl squad pretty much every year that he plays. This story was originally published April 29, 2022, 5:10 PM. Bagent hails from Martinsburg, a town of less than 20,000 in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, 10 miles from the Shepherd campus. But a Miami offense in shambles did not give Welker the support to play to his full potential. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Even when other schools entered the picture later that year (including Alabama), Toney stuck with the Gators and enrolled early. Poor Tony Romo has not been able to land respect since even his high school days. At UGA, Stokes became a full-time starter in 2019. Slater quickly moved into the starting lineup for the Wildcats and ended up starting 37 games in his career 26 at right tackle and 11 at left tackle. He ended his career as one of the most celebrated players ever for a celebrated small-school program. George, who is only 25-years old and not yet in his prime, is one of the best defensive players in the NBA today. As a 245-pound defensive end/linebacker coming out of Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, Strange flew under the radar during the recruiting process. -- Harry Lyles Jr. Aubrey Miller Jr. saw every side of college football there was to see. ", He just needed a chance. A lanky cornerback known for his speed, Eric Stokes was recruited at a variety of positions. He is the best little man in the game today. Then, he really broke out. 4 on ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay's list of guard prospects, and the fact that Strange has shown he can also play center should only help him continue to climb draft boards. That's an average of 20.4 yards per catch and 8.0 yards per carry; throw in a 26.4-yard kick return average, and you've got a player who was plainly too explosive for college football's second subdivision. 10 and No. Tryon stuck with his WSU commitment after the offers from Oregon and Utah, but he ended up flipping to Washington in January 2017. Before he committed to Tulsa in August of 2016, Collins had just one other offer and it came from Central Oklahoma, a Division II school. He combined for 42 tackles in his first two seasons. "And yet there's other kids at Alabama, Georgia, that aren't even getting looked at -- three, four stars. Probably the least known player on the list, but a great player nonetheless. A dominant season followed, setting him up with options. Jackson State had an undefeated regular season before losing to North Carolina Central in the Celebration Bowl. Now a Pro-Bowler and known as one of the best backs in the game today, Jones-Drew is the perfect example of NFL superstar talent in a smaller body. 12 wide receiver. Lauren Smith. He totaled 20 pass breakups and made a highlight reel interception against Justin Fields and Ohio State in the 2020 Big Ten title game. Bagent was invited to the NFL combine and projects as a late-round pick, somewhere between the No. . Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. "I knew when I first saw him that if there was anything he wanted to do, he could. "I'll never forget that because those are the great ones. Walter Payton #34 of the Chicago Bears celebrates on the field as the Bears win the NFC Championship. 0:06. 2017 position ranking: No. 2017 position ranking: No. NFL Draft 2023: List of selections from Jacksonville-area high schools 17 offensive tackle. Surtain ended up starting 38 games for the Crimson Tide and became one of the top corners in the nation. Jayson Oweh was a basketball player for the early parts of high school. As a rookie he recorded 1,448 all-purpose yards working as a receiver and punt returner. "I just chose to go to Mizzou just because I thought that's what the best competition was," Miller said, referring to playing in the SEC. Big 12 schools like Baylor and Oklahoma showed interest in Slater, but never offered him a scholarship. Volson redshirted for one season, then served as a backup for two, piling on both pounds and technique in the process. In an age when online recruiting profiles often detail how future NFL or NBA players were underhyped coming out of high school, there is a common storyline. Read more on the 2023 draft . Tucker Kraft, TE, South Dakota State. And in 2017, seven players from area high schools were taken. It wasn't like we were eating pizza, chicken wings and beer every night.". A loss. Before they were selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft on Thursday night, the 32 players who heard their name called were high schoolers with a dream. 32 lingering post-draft questions: Will Lions have regrets? He completed 69% of his career passes -- he's not an all-or-nothing passer. So what the heck is the catch here? Despite setting a single-season school record for total yards in 2001 (2,466 total . Later on, he resurfaced at Miami and showed the traits that made him such a coveted recruit. He flourished in that position and, despite multiple back surgeries, worked his way into the first round. Like Patrick Surtain, Jaycee Horn is the son of a longtime NFL player. He switched to psychology and earned his undergraduate degree in 2020; he is now halfway to his master's degree in engineering management. It turns out that reps and practice time are really worth so much when the individual involved has the natural gifts and abilities to be one of the best pass-rushers in NFL history. "Where he explodes on film is through his blocking," further explained the man they call "Coach Stig." For Cordell Volson, a spectacular Bison lineman, it's a similar story. A look at how many Georgia football players were selected in the NFL From Anamoose, North Dakota, Volson is, like Watson, an almost prototypical late-bloomer story. 1063 player of his class. NFL Draft sleepers: The best FCS, HBCU & small-school players you - MSN 6 wide receiver. 'Football City': Nearly 2 dozen NFL players have come from one small Despite some of the medical concerns, the Dolphins grabbed Phillips in the first round. At 6-3, 195 pounds, Williams possesses a rare combination of size and agility, even by NFL standards. 6 / 10. He was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. Now the kid no FBS schools bothered to call is projected as a Day 2 pick at worst, following in the cleat steps of another Jackrabbits tight end, Philadelphia Eagles standout Dallas Goedert, a Day 2 selection in 2018. McCook swears he knew what he had from the start. Pick, Pos., Player, NFL team . Even in the era of Hudl film, a pro-style prototype quarterback evidently can get overlooked.