For some NFL organizations, taking a chance on a Group of Six player by drafting them in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft has panned out.
A few of them have become faces of the league while others have been quietly consistent and key contributors. There are also a few – but not many – who never quite found their footing in the NFL.
Here’s a breakdown of G6 players drafted on Day 1 or 2 of the NFL Draft in the last decade:
G6 Stars In The NFL
Josh Allen
The 2024 NFL MVP, Allen was selected seventh overall in 2018 out of Wyoming by the Buffalo Bills, who traded up five spots to draft him. He has been named All-Pro twice and has led the Bills to the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons. Allen has passed for 34,017 yards and 249 touchdowns while rushing for 5,488 yards and 88 TDs in his career.
Even if he never gets over the hump and wins a Super Bowl, Allen will likely go down as one of the top G6 draftees of all time.
Sauce Gardner
It didn’t take long for Gardner to establish himself as one of the premier defensive backs in the league after being drafted fourth overall in 2022 by the New York Jets. The former University of Cincinnati standout was named the 2022 Rookie of the Year and was a first-team All-Pro in 2022 and 2023.
Gardner has 217 total tackles, 49 pass breakups – including 20 his rookie year when he was tested more often – and three interceptions in his career. He signed a four-year extension with the Jets last summer but was traded to the Indianapolis Colts in November.
Jordan Love
After being selected by the Green Bay Packers 26th overall in 2020, Love spent three years as the backup behind Aaron Rodgers. Since 2023, though, the Utah State product has been QB1 and has helped the Packers get to the postseason in each of his three seasons as the starter.
Love signed a $220 million, four-year extension in 2024 ($55 million per year), which was tied for the highest average annual value at the time. He is 27-20-1 as a starter.
Tyler Smith
The highest paid offensive guard in the NFL comes from Tulsa, where he was drafted 24th overall in 2022 by the Dallas Cowboys. He started all 17 games his rookie season and has played at least 96% of snaps in each of his four seasons.
He was a second-team All-Pro in 2023 and signed a four-year, $96 million contract extension last April.
Trey McBride
Last season, McBride became the first tight end in NFL history to have 100 or more receptions in two consecutive seasons. His 126 receptions last season are the most-ever by a tight end. He has become one of the top offensive weapons since being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round in 2022 (55th overall) out of Colorado State.
McBride has also had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and hauled in 11 TDs last year. He signed a four-year, $76 million extension last April, which made him the highest-paid TE in NFL history at the time.
Other Notables
There are plenty of other guys who were developed at G6 schools and became standouts at their positions. Some of them include third-rounder Trey Hendrickson (FAU), Haason Reddick (Temple), Milton Williams (Louisiana Tech), and Ed Oliver (Houston) just to name a few. Malik Willis (Liberty) also just signed a three-year, $67.5 million deal and should be Miami’s starting QB.
Then there are, of course, the younger players in the league such as Quinyon Mitchell, Ashton Jeanty, and Harold Fannin Jr.
Mitchell has already been named a first-team All-Pro and is a Super Bowl champ since being drafted out of Toledo in 2024 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Jeanty (Boise State) and Fannin (Bowling Green) both had solid rookie campaigns last year.
We’ll see which other younger G6 products prove themselves going forward.
G6 NFL Draft Busts
From 2016 to 2025, there have been a ton of G6 draftees who have either already established themselves as premier players in the league or have proven that they’ll likely be playing on Sundays for years to come – far more than there have been “busts.”
There have been 99 G6 players drafted in the first three rounds from 2016-23. Of those 99, I would argue only 17 of them have been busts, and these are players who could never quite make it off the practice squad or are no longer in the league. Most of them have signed multiple extensions and are still playing. I believe it’s too soon to classify any players drafted after 2023 as busts.
The biggest bust during that span is probably former Memphis QB Paxton Lynch, who was drafted 26th overall by the Denver Broncos in 2017.
In the NIL era, there’s a chance fewer G6 players will be drafted in the first three rounds. We only saw a total of 15 G6 players drafted last month, compared to 20 drafted in the first three rounds in 2022.
But history shows using a top 100 pick on a G6 player produces results, and the return on investment has been great.
