2017 NFL Draft

Fri Apr 28, 2017 9:16 pm

For anyone interested, here's the first few FCS players that were taken in this year's NFL draft:

Rd 2, Pick 27 (59th overall) - Kpassagnon, Tanoh (DE, Villanova) -> Chiefs
Rd 3, Pick 5 (69th overall) - Kupp, Cooper (WR, Eastern Washington) -> Rams

They weren't actually the first non-FBS players picked in the draft, since the Bears picked a really big and really fast TE from DII Ashland University (Ohio) at #13 in the 2nd Round (45th overall). Of course, in his game videos, he's playing against DII competition, but he makes the other guys looks like high-schoolers.

While I think it's probably unlikely that we'll see Lance Lenior get drafted, I think there's a very good chance that he gets picked up by a team right after the draft as a free agent, so hopefully he will get at least a shot to prove himself at the next level.

Sat Apr 29, 2017 9:35 am

Now that the draft is into the later rounds, there'll be quite a few FCS players going. I'll just be doing updates on MVFC players getting drafted, just fyi.

Round 3, Pick 19 (83rd overall) - Derek Rivers, DE, Youngstown State -> Patriots

Also of some interest, Northern Illinois WR Kenny Golliday went to the Lions with the 96th overall pick.
Golliday had 113 receiving yards, 39 rushing yards, and 1 receiving TD in the game against Western last season.

meganeck · Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:14 am

So Rivers was the 1st conference player to get picked? Interesting

Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:37 am

meganeck wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:14 am So Rivers was the 1st conference player to get picked? Interesting

Not entirely surprising for me...not many "big names" out of the MVFC this year (next year should see a couple of guys on the SDSU offense go, I'd bet). He was a HUGE part of why Youngstown's defense was so good last year and why they made it to the championship game. They averaged 16.5 points per game through the regular season (and 14.4 per game against FCS teams in the regular season. Their two DE's were both phenomenal, but Rivers was a bit of a step ahead of Avery Moss. I wouldn't be surprised to see Moss as the second conference player taken in the draft as well. As far as the NFL's grading system on their site is concerned, Rivers is a 5.5, Moss is a 5.4 as well as LB Dylan Cole from Missouri State.

meganeck · Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:36 pm

Surprising no ND State Players

Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:47 pm

meganeck wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:36 pm Surprising no ND State Players

Not really, they didn't really have any huge standouts that were seniors this year. OG Zach Johnson is really the only one with any shot at being drafted. Might see King Frazier picked up as FA, but there's a lot of better RBs available. The thing is, with NDSU, is that they don't often have any phenomenally amazing players (outside of Carson Wentz). They have a lot of really good players that play well together, but that doesn't always translate to individual players being drafted.

Sat Apr 29, 2017 2:11 pm

ST_Lawson wrote: ↑Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:37 am Their two DE's were both phenomenal, but Rivers was a bit of a step ahead of Avery Moss. I wouldn't be surprised to see Moss as the second conference player taken in the draft as well. As far as the NFL's grading system on their site is concerned, Rivers is a 5.5, Moss is a 5.4 as well as LB Dylan Cole from Missouri State.

And there we go:
Round 5, Pick 23 (167th overall) - Avery Moss, DE, Youngstown State -> Giants
So the two YSU DE's will be fairly close to each other (Boston and NY) although different divisions, so they won't play each other much.

Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:51 pm

Not our conference, but maybe of some interest...

De'Angelo Henderson, the RB for Coastal Carolina who burned us for 167 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards, and 2 rushing TDs in our game at CCU back in 2015 just got drafted with the 203rd pick (Round 6, Pick 19) by the Broncos.

Sat Apr 29, 2017 6:03 pm

Draft is done. The two YSU players were the only ones in the conference to get drafted, although there's quite a few players that are decent enough to get signed as free agents including most everyone on this list: http://www.nfl.com/draft/2017/tracker/b ... ourivalley

Sat Apr 29, 2017 6:51 pm

Here's a constantly updated list of undrafted free agent signings to follow along with: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2017/4/29/1 ... -nfl-draft

As of right now, MVFC who have been signed are:
B.J. Bello, LB, Illinois State -> Cleveland Browns
Cameron Lee, G, Illinois State -> New Orleans Saints

And I'm not quite sure what my Bears are doing this draft, but they've signed a free agent who was a basketball forward for Ball State. Averaged 13.4 points per game...so...what's that....nearly 2 TDs per?