Nearly 200 players from outside the biggest programs
The NFL’s 32 teams cut down to 53-man rosters earlier this week, then rebuilt through practice squad signings. As of Wednesday morning, current FCS programs accounted for close to 165 players across active rosters, injured reserve, the physically unable to perform list and practice squads. Widen the definition to take in players whose schools have since moved up to the FBS level and the figure climbs to almost 200.
South Dakota State leads every current FCS program with 10. The Jackrabbits supply tight ends Dallas Goedert to Philadelphia and Tucker Kraft to Green Bay, offensive guard Mason McCormick to Pittsburgh and linebacker Christian Rozeboom to Tampa Bay. McCormick started for both Jackrabbits sides that won FCS national titles, in 2022 and 2023, which gives some sense of how recently this pipeline was assembled.
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North Dakota State remains the outlier
The largest single contingent belongs to a school no longer in the subdivision. North Dakota State, now playing at FBS level, has 15 former players in NFL organisations, and the quarterback list alone reads like a decade of draft history: Carson Wentz with the Vikings, Trey Lance with the Chargers, Easton Stick with the Buccaneers, Cole Payton with the Eagles. Add receiver Christian Watson in Green Bay and lineman Grey Zabel in Seattle and the Bison have produced NFL bodies at nearly every position group.
Yale sits second among current FCS schools with seven. Jaguars linebacker Foyesade Oluokun anchors that group, having recorded more tackles than any player in the league over the last five seasons. Eastern Washington, Holy Cross and Illinois State each contribute five, with the Eagles’ group including Cooper Kupp in Seattle and Kendrick Bourne in Arizona.
The spread matters more than the leaders
Harvard, Idaho, Montana State, Northern Iowa and William & Mary all place four. Below them sit Bryant, Central Arkansas, Florida A&M, Furman, Maine, Montana, North Carolina Central and Northern Arizona on three apiece. That distribution puts the FCS contribution across roughly 20 schools rather than concentrating it in two or three, which is the part scouting departments tend to care about.
The regular season opens on Sept. 9. Transactions have already slowed from the volume seen earlier in the week, though the totals will shift again before kickoff.
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