NFL Draft Late Round “Diamonds in the Rough”: The Top 30 Small College “Gems” of All-Time

With the NFL Draft approaching, much talk has centered on whether teams can find the next Tom Brady (2000-sixth Round, Patriots) or Terrell Davis (1995-sixth Round, Broncos).

While finding a franchise quarterback or running back that late in the draft is certainly a bonus, taking players like Brady and Davis from major schools with low round picks is not especially risky.

What has often helped teams turn a good draft into a franchise changing draft has been the ability to find the small school “Diamonds in the Rough.”

NFL history is full of small school (defined here as schools not part of the Football Bowl Subdivision) players who have been selected early in the NFL Draft.

Though they may have escaped the attention of major college coaches coming out of high school, players such as Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Gene Upshaw, Mel Blount, Calvin Hill, Joe Greene and Steve McNair did not escape pro scouts and were selected in the top rounds of the NFL Draft.

However, NFL Draft history is also full of players from small schools who fell to the lower rounds (fourth round or later) before proving to be a late round “gem.”

Players such as John Stallworth, Charles Haley, Shannon Sharpe and Bob Hayes are examples of late round draft selections from smaller schools that went on to help their teams earn championships.

After analyzing every NFL Draft since 1936, this list includes my analysis of the 30 Best Late Round “Gems” from Small Schools.

A couple quick things:

1.This is not intended to be a list of the 30 best small school players of all time as that is a list for another day. This list includes only small school players selected from the fourth round on of the NFL or AFL draft.

I did not include early round selections because by the time it came to draft day, their value had already been exposed and they were no longer “Diamonds in the Rough.” I also did not include undrafted free agents because this list is focused on players who were drafted.

2. My rankings are not based solely on player ability as I also considered where in the draft the player was chosen as well as the obscurity of their alma mater. In other words, if abilities were similar, I considered someone selected in the 17th round out of a Division III school more of a gem than someone chosen in the fourth or fifth round from a Division I-AA (Football Championship Subdivision) school.

3. You will notice that a majority of the players on the list are from drafts prior to 1994. The number of small school players selected in the lower rounds has dramatically declined since the draft went from 12 to seven rounds.

That also accounts for why there has been an increase in the number of small school free agents making the Pro Bowl in recent years. Prior to 1994 those players would have been worthy of a low round pick, but now are signed as free agents.

4. Narrowing this list down to 30 was amazingly difficult. I originally had more than 130 players on my list who met the qualifications and had solid NFL careers.

Among the players who met the qualifications, but didn’t make the top 30 are: Lemar Parrish, Ken Riley, Willie Galimore, Rickey Young, Brandon Jacobs, Lyle Alzado, Ron Bolton, Bryce Paup, Jethro Pugh, Terrence McGee, Marques Colton, Tony Canadeo, and Ben Coates.

5. You may wonder why Joe Horn and Lou Creekmur are not included. Though Horn was selected in the draft and played at Itawamba Junior College, he was drafted immediately after having spent a year in the Canadian Football Leage, so I felt that disqualified him from this list as he received exposure in the CFL.

Creekmur was chosen by the Eagles in the 24th round of the 1948 draft, but returned to school and was later selected in the second round of a special draft.

6. I welcome your comments and opinions.

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