When it comes to the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers like pedigree. Prospects from the Power 5 who played against the best of the best, making their evaluation as clean and clear as possible. Occasionally, the team will dip into 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 ball. Will Omar Khan change that?
With the 2024 draft upcoming, I wanted to take a quantifiable look at the frequency the Steelers and the rest of the NFL draft players from Division Two or below. Below is a list of the last player each team has selected from those ranks. We’ll provide analysis below.
Last Division II Player Drafted
| Team | 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 – NW Missouri State |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2022 | CB Gregory Junior – Ouachita Baptist |
| 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* |
| LA 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 | DE John Cominsky – Charleston (WV) |
| New York Jets | 2018 | DT Nathan Shepherd – Fort Hays State |
| Baltimore Ravens | 2018 | DE Zach Sieler – Ferris State |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2018 | OG Alex Cappa – Humboldt State |
| Carolina Panthers | 2017 | FB Alex Armah – West Georgia |
| New Orleans Saints | 2016 | DT David Onyemata – Manitoba** |
| Cleveland Browns | 2014 | CB Pierre Desir- Lindenwood |
| Detroit Lions | 2014 | DE Larry Webster – Bloomberg |
| Green Bay Packers | 2014 | WR Jeff Janis – Saginaw Valley State |
| Las Vegas Raiders | 2013 | DE David Bass – Missouri Western State |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2012 | OL Jason Slowey – Western Oregon |
| Buffalo Bills | 2011 | DT Michael Jasper – Bethel (TN)* |
| 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 | DE 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 prospect
** Canadian prospect
It’s worth noting that in some cases, schools that are D2 on this list are now in higher ranks. Abilene Christian, for example, was D-II until 2012 before bumping to FCS. And if you didn’t like me using a Canadian pick for the Saints, they took DE Rufus Johnson from Tarleton State in 2013, still more recent than Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have the second-longest streak, not selecting a player from that pool since CB Ricardo Colclough in 2004, one selection after taking QB Ben Roethlisberger. Colclough did not pan out, starting just one game in his four years with the Steelers and intercepting one pass (which we covered here).
Though impossible to know, it seems after missing on him, the Steelers decided to shy away from small school players. They decided to focus on prospects from larger schools to avoid the messiness of projection a player playing “up” several levels on top of all the other projections that come with even those from the top college football programs. Their streak is only bested by Washington, who haven’t drafted one since 1991.
There’s no rule that says the Steelers can’t or won’t draft a player on that level. But even the prospects they’ve looked at from Mercer are FCS, not D-II. The top sub-FCS players this year aren’t likely to be drafted. Cortland State WR Cole Burgess is a “riser” after a plus Combine workout but he’s more likely to be signed as an undrafted free agent, not a draft pick.
As the above data shows, only a couple D-II players get drafted each year and with expanded COVID eligibility and a more robust transfer portal, many D-II prospects are transferring up to at least the FCS level. It weakens an already small pool and likely means the Steelers’ streak will live on for at least another year.
