Factoid

August 20, 2020

Undrafted rookies

Will pandemic cause an undrafted player to be overlooked?

With the pandemic wiping out the preseason games, teams will need to construct their rosters without ever having seen some of the players on the field in an actual football game. This could be more notable than many realize. History shows us that some of these lightly regarded undrafted players will go on to have notable careers.

I decided to sift through the data some on this one. And there are more of these players than you might realize – players who showed up as tryout-type bodies but turned into viable contributors.

Looking at the last 10 years, I see 49 RB-WR-TE who were originally undrafted but at some point in the 2010-2019 seasons finished with a top-40 season for the first time. That’s using PPR scoring, and for tight ends (with half as many of them starting in fantasy leagues) I cut it off at the top 20. (For fantasy purposes, nobody cares too much about a tight end who finishes the season as the 24th-best player at his position).

Notably from recent years, Phillip Lindsay and Austin Ekeler. Both weren’t drafted at all. Had they not had the benefit of showing their ability in preseason games, they conceivably could have been practice-squad players rather than regular 53-man roster choices in their first seasons.

LeGarrette Blount, C.J. Anderson and Arian Foster also come to mind as undrafted free agents who developed into 1,000-yard rushers.

Not all of these players, of course, did it right away. Of the 49 players listed below, only seven had their first good season in their rookie season. (I’ve got them in bold.)

But there is some walk-on talent available, and chances are increased this year that some teams will make an error when deciding on their regular-season rosters.

On the chart below, I’m showing only the first decent season for each guy. Blount, for example, ran for 1,007 yards as a rookie in 2010. At that point he becomes a viable NFL player, and you don’t see his remaining successful seasons of work.

I didn’t include quarterbacks, where it’s more unusual to see undrafted players thrive. But it does happen occasionally. Among current quarterbacks, Case Keenum and Kyle Allen originally weren’t drafted.

UNDRAFTED PLAYERS MAKING IT ONTO THE RADAR
Year	Player	Yr	No	Rec	Run	Yds	TD	Rk
2010	RB LeGarrette Blount, T.B.	1	5	14	1,007	1,021	6	34
2010	RB Keiland Williams, Was.	1	39	309	261	570	5	39
2010	RB Arian Foster, Hou.	2	66	604	1,616	2,220	18	1
2010	RB Danny Woodhead, 2TM	2	34	379	547	926	6	25
2010	WR Danny Amendola, St.L.	2	85	689	81	770	3	30
2010	RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, N.E.	3	12	85	1,008	1,093	13	19
2010	RB Mike Tolbert, S.D.	3	25	216	735	951	11	21
2011	WR Victor Cruz, NYG	2	82	1,536	3	1,539	9	3
2011	TE Jake Ballard, NYG	2	38	604	0	604	4	20
2011	WR David Nelson, Buff.	2	61	658	0	658	5	39
2011	WR Malcom Floyd, S.D.	8	43	856	0	856	5	38
2011	WR Nate Washington, Ten.	9	74	1,023	5	1,028	8	15
2012	RB Joique Bell, Det.	2	52	485	414	899	3	23
2012	RB Marcel Reece, Oak.	4	52	496	271	767	1	31
2013	TE Tim Wright, T.B.	1	54	571	2	573	5	13
2013	WR Rod Streater, Oak.	2	60	888	17	905	4	33
2014	RB Branden Oliver, S.D.	1	36	271	582	853	4	26
2014	RB Isaiah Crowell, Cle.	1	9	87	607	694	8	33
2014	RB C.J. Anderson, Den.	2	34	324	849	1,173	10	11
2014	TE Larry Donnell, NYG	2	63	623	0	623	6	12
2014	RB Benny Cunningham, St.L.	2	45	352	246	598	4	32
2014	RB Matt Asiata, Min.	3	44	312	570	882	10	14
2014	RB Bobby Rainey, T.B.	3	33	315	406	721	2	40
2014	RB Chris Ivory, NYJ	5	18	123	821	944	7	24
2015	RB Thomas Rawls, Sea.	1	9	76	830	906	5	37
2015	WR Allen Hurns, Jac.	2	64	1,031	0	1,031	10	19
2015	WR Willie Snead, N.O.	2	69	984	0	984	3	32
2015	RB Charcandrick West, K.C.	2	20	214	634	848	5	35
2015	WR Kamar Aiken, Balt.	3	75	944	0	944	5	29
2015	WR Doug Baldwin, Sea.	5	78	1,069	0	1,069	14	11
2016	WR Tyrell Williams, S.D.	2	69	1,059	0	1,059	7	19
2016	WR Cameron Meredith, Chi.	2	66	888	6	894	4	38
2016	TE Cameron Brate, T.B.	3	57	660	0	660	8	7
2016	WR Adam Thielen, Min.	3	69	967	15	982	5	30
2016	TE Jack Doyle, Ind.	4	59	584	0	584	5	13
2016	WR Cole Beasley, Dall.	5	75	833	7	840	5	33
2017	WR Robby Anderson, NYJ	2	63	941	9	950	7	18
2017	RB Orleans Darkwa, NYG	4	19	116	751	867	5	36
2017	WR Jermaine Kearse, NYJ	6	65	810	0	810	5	28
2018	RB Phillip Lindsay, Den.	1	35	241	1,037	1,278	10	13
2018	RB Austin Ekeler, LAC	2	39	404	554	958	6	25
2018	RB Matt Breida, S.F.	2	27	261	814	1,075	5	26
2018	RB Jalen Richard, Oak.	3	68	607	259	866	1	29
2018	RB Peyton Barber, T.B.	3	20	92	871	963	6	31
2018	WR Adam Humphries, T.B.	4	76	816	11	827	5	24
2018	TE Trey Burton, Chi.	5	54	569	2	571	6	8
2019	RB Raheem Mostert, S.F.	5	14	180	772	952	10	26
2019	TE Darren Fells, Hou.	6	34	341	0	341	7	17
2019	RB Damien Williams, K.C.	6	30	213	498	711	7	37

—Ian Allan

Phillip Lindsay Austin Ekeler

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