NFL Draft: Top Five FCS Prospects in 2017
The Football Championship Subdivision, better known as the FCS, contains a number of impressive draft prospects for the 2017 NFL Draft.
Traditionally, the overwhelming majority of prospects come from the Football Bowl Subdivision, better known as the FBS, where the Power-5 schools dominate the NFL Draft headlines and fill the mock draft charts.
The Philadelphia Eagles took a shot away from that tradition, using the No. 2 pick in the 2016 NFL on quarterback Carson Wentz. Most of the biggest questions surrounding Wentz had to do with his level of play at FCS school North Dakota State.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also took a chance on an FCS prospect, Noah Spence. Spence started his collegiate career at Ohio State but was dismissed from Big 10 conference for repeated failed drug tests.
Once a potential top-20 pick, Spence fell to the 39th pick in the early second round. Spence proved his 13.5 sack campaign at Eastern Kentucky wasn’t due to lowly competition. During his 2017 rookie campaign, Spence racked up 5.5 sacks while used in a part-time role.
One of the NFL’s best-known FCS products is Hall of Famer Howie Long, who finished his NFL career with 84 sacks, an official figure that does not include his rookie season before sacks were an official statistic.
The 2017 NFL Draft similarly features a product of Long’s alma mater, Villanova. Let’s look at the top five draft prospects from the FCS.