Professional scouts are constantly looking through the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks in hopes of finding the next Terrell Owens or Cooper Kupp.
Today, over 150 National Football League players have FCS roots. In 2022, he has his 20 picks straight from FCS in the NFL Draft, and a similar number could be picked in 2023.
Here are five NFL Draft picks who entered the FCS program this fall.
Curtis has positioned himself for the 2023 NFL Draft pick after former Mox left guard Cole Strange landed in the first round last spring.
The Chattanooga native’s size and strength alone are enough to excite professional scouts. Then there is Curtis’ long history of production in the field. With 38 total starts (49 career appearances) at UTC, the All-Southern Conference First Team winner has shown great versatility in 2022. Curtis recorded seven starts as a left tackle for Chattanooga after spending much of his career at right guard. He fell and earned First Team All-America (Stats Perform, AFCA) accolades for his effort.
UTC Master students must excel in all character assessment sessions encountered throughout the drafting process. Curtis, who coached her fellow student-athletes while on her campus, has twice been named a national finalist for the FedEx Ground Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. The 2022 Chattanooga captain of her team made her two appointments to the NCAA Football Oversight Board as a student-athlete representative.
The unanimous Ivy League First Team receiver has a combination of size and speed that will catch the attention of NFL scouts.
Physically mismatched for an Ivy League secondary player, Iosivas totaled 66 receptions for 943 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 regular-season games last fall. The Hawaii-born athlete had multiple receptions in every game for the Tigers, finishing with an 8-2 record.
Iosivas has the opportunity to shed his “small school stigma” at Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he could become one of the most athletic players on mobile. An accomplished 6-foot-2 pass catcher, he also excels as a heptathlete on the Princeton men’s track and field team. The Ivy League champion posted his third-highest heptathlon score on his leaderboard last winter in his NCAA Division I season.
While competing in the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Iosibus ran the 60-meter dash in 6.71 seconds. That straight-line speed display suggests Iosivas could record an eye-popping 40 hours during his NFL combine his test.
Let the Dallas Gedard comparison begin.
Like Goedert, Kraft attended high school in South Dakota before becoming an All-American tight end in South Dakota. Philadelphia It’s been five years since the Eagles picked Gedelt in the second round at 49th overall, and Kraft is making headlines as he could be an early-round pick from the SDSU. The physically impressive tight end currently sits in the top 100 of the 2023 NFL Draft Bible Big Board.
Kraft had great success as a pass catcher as his size and speed created a mismatch in the FCS defense. He caught 65 balls and scored 6 touchdowns for his 780 yards during his 2021 breakout campaign, scoring at least his 2 in all 15 games for South Dakota State. Recorded 1 reception.
After winning multiple U.S. Championship honors in 2021, Kraft endured an injury-interrupted 2022 season. Although he missed his six games of the regular season, he proved to be fit during his playoff victory over Jackrabbit. Kraft had four grabs for 69 yards and one touchdown in the semifinal win over Montana State. In his championship game victory over North Dakota, the 6-foot-5 target gave him 30 yards on his two receptions.
The FAMU sack machine may be the most interesting HBCU prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft class.
Displaying above-average agility and excellent pursuit, Lando has 37.0 tackles for loss in his last 20 games in a Rattlers uniform. The explosive pass rusher, after recording his 19.0 sacks, his best in the country in 12 games, was the FCS’s top defensive player in 2021. bottom.
Despite reportedly entering the NCAA transfer portal last spring and receiving an offer from an SEC school, Rand returned to Florida A&M for the 2022 season. In his eight games this fall, Rand recorded his 7.5 sacks and his hurleys eight quarterbacks. The High Motor Edge Rusher lacks the bulk NFL scouts crave, but his speed and college production demand the attention of evaluators.
Whether that’s because of his hair, smile, or dominating resume on the field, Mauch seems to be everyone’s favorite FCS lineman in the 2023 NFL Draft class.
The 6-foot-6 blindside protector was a back-to-back National Championship selection, appearing in 62 games to finish his North Dakota career. The only offensive lineman to advance to the final ballot for the 2022 Stats Perform Walter Payton Award, Mauch was the only offensive player to advance to the last season’s Bison ball runs as his career averaged 6.0 yards per rush in his block. I got into the habit of manipulating defenders with.
Mauch, who is also highly rated in pass protection, displays elite athleticism in the tackle position. After confirming action as a pass-eligible tight his end during the 2019 season, he settled as his tackle at NDSU’s starting left during the 2021 spring season.
Ralph Ventre (@RealestRalph) covers the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision of the NFL Draft Bible.
