Most of the attention leading up to the NFL draft centers on the top players, the ones who can change the fortunes of a franchise by helping it climb up from the bottom or simply turn the final corner.
They become household names. Peyton and Eli Manning. Josh Allen. Patrick Mahomes.
They also tend to come from the highest ranks of college football, in the Football Bowl Subdivision if not the Power Five conferences that form the upper tier of the upper tier. Far less attention is generally paid to the players in the Football Championship Subdivision and below, players who probably could have followed the trend of looking to transfer up when it became evident that they had the skills — but instead opted to stay where they started.
Two of them from last year’s draft, No. 34 overall pick Christian Watson, a wide receiver from North Dakota State selected by the Green Bay Packers, and cornerback Tariq Woolen, the No. 153 pick by the Seattle Seahawks from the University of Texas at San Antonio, have excelled in the pro ranks and likely are in the running for rookie of the year accolades.
This year’s parade of picks will be no different, and as teams set their draft boards, here are six FCS players who might warrant extra attention from each team’s talent evaluators.
McCLENDON CURTIS, OL, 6-6, 328, UTC
There must be something about the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the offensive line. This past April, Cole Strange was drafted in the first round by the New England Patriots. Now here comes Curtis, who in his sixth college season was part of a unit that allowed only 14 sacks in 11 games.
Jim Nagy is the executive director of the Senior Bowl, which included Strange this year and is set to include Curtis in February in Mobile, Alabama.
“Big man. Big body. Looks the part,” Nagy said of Curtis, a prep standout for the Central Purple Pounders before making the short trip to UTC. “Every NFL scout that went through Chattanooga this year that I talked to says, ‘That’s a pro.'”
The Associated Press FCS All-America Team released Tuesday included Curtis as a second-team pick, along with sixth-year defensive lineman Devonnsha Maxwell and fourth-year defensive back Kameron Brown. UTC also had a first-team pick in fifth-year defensive lineman Jay Person, and the four honorees overall on the AP team is a record for the Mocs, whose pro day should give scouts plenty to think about.
ANDREI IOSIVAS, WR, 6-3, 200, Princeton
Iosivas is a speedy wide receiver and two-sport star who finished fourth at the 2022 NCAA indoor track and field championship meet in the heptathlon and set an event record at 6.71 seconds in the 60-meter dash.
On the football field, he made 66 catches for 943 yards and seven touchdowns for the Tigers this year and finished his career with 125 catches for 1,909 yards and 17 touchdowns in just three seasons. The Ivy League did not play in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Really good body control, fluid athlete, strong hands,” Nagy said. “Just at that level, I mean, he just plays at a different speed than everyone else in the Ivy. It’s pretty obvious when you put on the tape that one guy is an NFL player.”
TUCKER KRAFT, TE, 6-5, 255, South Dakota State
He’s only a junior and still has at least one more game Saturday, when the top-seeded Jackrabbits face Montana State in the national semifinals, but some project him as high as a top-50 pick. A solid blocker with good hands, he caught 65 passes for 780 yards and six touchdowns last season with at least two receptions in every game.
He has missed more than half of this season with an ankle injury, but he has 21 catches for 249 yards and two scores, including his longest career reception of 57 yards against Northern Iowa.
HUNTER LUEPKE, FB, 6-1, 236, North Dakota State
Luepke was invited to the Senior Bowl, but he won’t play because of a left shoulder injury that will require surgery. Yet he’s the best fullback at any level in the draft, Nagy said.
“I don’t think he would have gotten out of the fourth round. I mean, he had a chance to maybe go in the late third,” Nagy said. “I think the standard bearer, the bar setter at that position right now in the league is Kyle Juszczyk, who played in the senior bowl years ago out of Harvard, and Hunter is the closest thing to Juszczyk that I’ve seen.”
Juszczyk plays for the San Francisco 49ers.
When the Bison lost 31-28 to Arizona early this season, Luepke rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries and caught three passes for 65 yards and another score.
The Bison face Incarnate Word in Friday night’s semifinal.
CODY MAUCH, OL, 6-foot-6, 303, North Dakota State
Massive linemen have become a habit for the Bison, winners of nine of the past 11 FCS titles, and Mauch is this year’s best prospect from Division I’s lower tier “by a considerable margin,” as far as Nagy is concerned.
Mauch “makes it look easy at that level. Really easy at that level. You want small-school players to be dominant players. They should rarely look stressed to get the job done at their respective positions, and that’s Cody,” Nagy said. “He’s extremely efficient. Like if you look at just his win rate on blocks. … He’s a nasty finisher. He’s a high-end athlete.”
While a left tackle for the Bison, Mauch projects more as a guard in the NFL because his arms aren’t long enough to meet the reach threshold that pro teams have for tackles.
AUBREY MILLER JR., LB, 6-2, 225, Jackson State
Miller led the Southwestern Athletic Conference in tackles last season with 109, including 11.5 for a loss and 6.5 sacks. He’ll finish near the top again for the Tigers (12-0), taking 106 stops into Saturday’s Celebration Bowl against North Carolina Central.
“Teams love his play style. He’s a run-and-hit linebacker, instinctive. He just flies around and hits whatever’s in his path,” Nagy said, calling Miller a likely late-round selection. “You feel good about him making your club because of special teams. Hard to find guys that are that reckless and that can run like that and are that reckless.”