Robert Chou
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When it comes to the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers like pedigree. Power 5 prospects who played against the best of the best, making their evaluation as clean and clear as possible. Every once in a while, the team turns to the FCS ranks for a prospect they really like. South Dakota State QB Chris Oladokun and South Carolina State DT Javon Hargrave are notable recent examples. But below that, the Steelers don’t play. Will Omar Khan change that?
With the 2024 draft approaching, I wanted to take a quantifiable look at how often the Steelers and the rest of the NFL draft players from Division Two or lower. Below is a list of the latest player each team has selected from those ranks. We will provide an analysis below.
Last Division II player selected
| Equipment | Year | Player/School |
|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis Colts | 2023 | OL Jake Whitt – Northern Michigan |
| Los Angeles Rams | 2023 | P Ethan Evans–Wingate |
| New England Patriots | 2022 | EDGE Sam Roberts – Northwest Missouri State |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2022 | CB Gregory Junior – Bautista Ouachita |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2022 | CB Joshua Williams – Fayetteville State |
| Arizona Cardinals | 2022 | CB Christian Matthew – Valdosta State |
| Seattle Seahawks | 2022 | WR Dareke Young – Lenoir Rhyne |
| Denver Broncos | 2021 | C Quinn Meinerz – Wisconsin-Whitewater* |
| Los Angeles Chargers | 2019 | OG Trey Pipkins – Sioux Falls |
| New York Giants | 2019 | CB Corey Ballentine – Washburn |
| chicago bears | 2019 | CB Stephen Denmark – Valdosta State |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2019 | TE Zach Davidson – Central Missouri State |
| Atlanta Falcons | 2019 | FROM John Cominsky – Charleston (WV) |
| New York Jets | 2018 | DT Nathan Shepherd – Fort Hays State |
| The Baltimore Ravens | 2018 | FROM Zach Sieler – Ferris State |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2018 | OG Alex Cappa – Humboldt State |
| carolina panthers | 2017 | FB Alex Armah – Western Georgia |
| New Orleans Saints | 2016 | Manager David Onyemata – Manitoba** |
| cleveland browns | 2014 | CB Pierre Desir – Lindenwood |
| Detroit Lions | 2014 | FROM Larry Webster – Bloomberg |
| Green Bay Packers | 2014 | WR Jeff Janis – Saginaw Valley State |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 2013 | FROM David Bass – Western Missouri State |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2012 | OL Jason Slowey – Western Oregon |
| buffalo bills | 2011 | DT Michael Jasper – Bethel (Tennessee)* |
| Miami Dolphins | 2011 | WR Clyde Gates – Abilene Christian |
| Dallas Cowboys | 2010 | CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah – IUP |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 2009 | RB Bernard Scott – Abilene Christian |
| Tennessee Titans | 2008 | FROM William Hayes – Winston Salem-State |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 2008 | LB Andy Studebaker – Wheaton* |
| Houston Texans | 2007 | WR Jacoby Jones – Lane |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 2004 | CB Ricardo Colclough – Tusculum |
| Washington Commanders | 1991 | DB David Gulledge – Jacksonville State |
*Division Three Perspective
** Canadian prospect
It’s worth noting that in some cases, schools that are at the D2 level on this list are now in higher rankings. Abilene Christian, for example, was D-II until 2012 before moving to the FCS. And if you didn’t like him using a Canadian pick for the Saints, they took DE Rufus Johnson out of Tarleton State in 2013, even more recent than Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have the second-longest streak without selecting a player from that group since CB Ricardo Colclough in 2004, one pick after selecting QB Ben Roethlisberger. Colclough was unsuccessful, starting only one game in his four years with the Steelers and intercepting a pass (which we covered here).
Although it’s impossible to know, it appears that after missing him, the Steelers decided to stay away from small school players. They decided to focus on prospects from larger schools to avoid the mess of projecting a player playing “above” several levels in addition to all the other projections that come with even those from the best college football programs. Their streak is surpassed only by Washington, which has not selected one since 1991.
There’s no rule that says the Steelers can’t or won’t draft a player at that level. But even the prospects they’ve looked at from Mercer are FCS, not D-II. This year’s best sub-FCS players are not likely to be drafted. Cortland State WR Cole Burgess is an “up” after a positive workout at the Combine, but he’s more likely to be signed as an undrafted free agent, not a draft pick.
As the data above shows, only a couple of D-II players are drafted each year and with expanded COVID eligibility and a more robust transfer portal, many D-II prospects are transferring at least to the FCS level. It weakens an already small group and likely means the Steelers’ streak lasts at least another year.
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