We were curious — with more than 130 former FCS players named to 53-man NFL rosters this week, could we put together a competitive NFL team with just FCS products? Would it be a middle of the pack franchise, or would it actually compete?
We set up the team to have personnel who could man special teams positions, so just like NFL rosters we have more offensive and defensive skill players — leaning towards the younger players.
How would this team fare in the NFL this season?
So let's break down the FCS/NFL 53-man roster by position:[divider]
OFFENSE
The toughest position to fill was wide receiver, though there are some excellent FCS rookie receivers coming into the regular season, so it'll be interesting to see if they excel and firm up the offense. While there were solid fullback candidates in NFL starters James Develin (New England/Brown) and Kyle Juszczyk (San Fran/Harvard), we chose to go with a one-back set with Arizona's David Johnson (Northern Iowa) clearly the top FCS product at this point. He was the darling of Fantasy Football drafts everywhere this past couple of weeks.
The O-line looks stout, led by highly respected Cleveland center J.C. Tretter (Cornell) and budding second-year star Joe Haeg, the Indianapolis guard out of North Dakota State. Several 2017 NFL starters were left off the roster because the O-line situation was so deep. And quarterbacks? Looking just fine with Joe Flacco and Carson Wentz as options. We went with Josh McCown as the third QB over New England's Jimmy Garoppolo (Eastern Illinois) and Tampa Bay's Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard), but that could easily have been swapped.
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Flacco, Joe | BALTIMORE | QB | Delaware | 4,317 YDS PASS, 20 TDS |
| Bench | Wentz, Carson | PHILADELPHIA | QB | North Dakota State | 3,782 YDS PASSING, 16 TDS |
| Bench | McCown, Josh | N.Y. JETS | QB | Sam Houston State | 1,100 YDS PASSING, 6 TDS |
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Johnson, David | ARIZONA | RB | Northern Iowa | 1,239 rush yds, 879 rec yds, 20 TDs |
| STARTER | Brate, Cameron | TAMPA BAY | TE | Harvard | 660 rec yds, 5 TDs |
| STARTER | Gabriel, Taylor | ATLANTA | WR | Abilene Christian | 35 catches, 579 yds, 6 tds |
| STARTER | Hogan, Chris | NEW ENGLAND | WR | Monmouth – NJ | 38 catches, 680 yds, 4 TDs |
| STARTER | Kupp, Cooper | L.A. RAMS | WR | Eastern Washington | ROOKIE |
| Bench | West, Charcandrick | KANSAS CITY | RB | Abilene Christian | 293 rush yds, 1 TD |
| Bench | West, Terrance | BALTIMORE | RB | Towson | 774 rush yds, 5 TD; 236 rec yds |
| Bench | Crowell, Isaiah | CLEVELAND | RB | Alabama State | 952 rush yds, 7 TD; 319 rec yds |
| Bench | Thomas, Julius | MIAMI | TE | Portland State | 30 catches, 281 YDS, 4 TDs |
| Bench | Tye, Will | N.Y. JETS | TE | Stony Brook | 48 catches, 396 yards, 1 TD |
| Bench | Rogers, Chester | INDIANAPOLIS | WR | Grambling | 19 catches, 273 yards, 0 TDs |
| Bench | Williams, Chad | ARIZONA | WR | Grambling | ROOKIE |
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Tretter, JC | CLEVELAND | C | Cornell | 7 STARTS, 7 GAMES |
| STARTER | Haeg, Joe | INDIANAPOLIS | LG | North Dakota State | 14 STARTS |
| STARTER | Armstead, Terron | NEW ORLEANS | LT | Arkansas – Pine Bluff | 7 STARTS, 7 GAMES |
| STARTER | Bushrod, Jermon | MIAMI | RG | Towson | 16 STARTS |
| STARTER | Ijalana, Ben | N.Y. JETS | RT | Villanova | 13 STARTS, 16 GAMES |
| Bench | Howard, Austin | BALTIMORE | OL | Northern Iowa | 10 STARTS, 11 GAMES |
| Bench | Watford, Earl | JACKSONVILLE | OL | James Madison | 11 STARTS, 15 GAMES |
| Bench | Davenport, Julie'n | HOUSTON | OL | Bucknell | ROOKIE |
[divider]
DEFENSE
This was a situation where we were almost forced to go to a 3-4 scheme because of personnel. By far the best group of D-lineman available from the FCS ranks were — you'll never guess — nose tackles. So we ran with that and feel great about our two second year guys in Javon Hargrave (S.C. State) and Noah Spence (Eastern Kentucky) as pillars of the line. The linebacking corps was also a challenge, even though there are some good young ones coming in as rookies.
Then we got to the secondary and we just couldn't find room for all the unbelievable DB talent the FCS produces. There were NFL starters left and right that we couldn't fit on our mythical 53-man FCS/NFL roster — specifically at cornerback. LeShaun Sims (Southern Utah) was an incredibly tough cut, as were rookie studs like Jaylen Hill (Jacksonville State) and Jamal Agnew (San Diego)? There just wasn't enough room. But hey … every team has its strengths and weaknesses.
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Hargrave, Javon | PITTSBURGH | NT | South Carolina State | 27 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 DEF TD |
| STARTER | Baker, Chris | TAMPA BAY | DE | Hampton | 48 tackles, 3 sacks |
| STARTER | Spence, Noah | TAMPA BAY | DE | Eastern Kentucky | 3 FF, 22 tackles, 5.5 sacks |
| Bench | Gunter, Rodney | ARIZONA | DL | Delaware State | 15 tackles |
| Bench | Wynn, Kerry | N.Y. GIANTS | DL | Richmond | 14 games, 8 games, 53 tackles in 2015 |
| Bench | Kerr, Zach | DENVER | DL | Delaware | 19 tackles, 2.5 sacks |
| Bench | Moss, Avery | N.Y. GIANTS | DL | Youngstown State | ROOKIE |
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Emanuel, Kyle | L.A. CHARGERS | OLB | North Dakota State | 12 STARTS, 55 TACKLES |
| STARTER | Thomas, Joe | GREEN BAY | ILB | South Carolina State | 7 STARTS, 68 tackles, 1 INT, |
| STARTER | Davis, Todd | DENVER | ILB | Sacramento State | 96 TACKLES |
| STARTER | Kpassagnon, Tanoh | KANSAS CITY | OLB | Villanova | ROOKIE |
| Bench | Humber, Ramon | BUFFALO | LB | North Dakota State | 1 START, 5 TACKLES |
| Bench | Allen, Chase | MIAMI | LB | Southern Illinois | ROOKIE |
| Bench | Payne, Donald | JACKSONVILLE | LB | Stetson | ROOKIE |
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Rodgers-Cromartie, Dominic | N.Y. GIANTS | CB | Tennessee State | 6 INTS, 49 tackles, 21 PDs |
| STARTER | Alford, Robert | ATLANTA | CB | SE Louisiana | 61 TACKLES, 19 PD, 2 INT |
| STARTER | Bethea, Antoine | ARIZONA | FS | Howard | 110 TACKLES |
| STARTER | Adams, Mike | CAROLINA | SS | Delaware | 79 TACKLES, 2 INTs |
| Bench | Johnson, Trumaine | L.A. RAMS | DB | Montana | 57 TACKLES, 11 PD |
| Bench | Skrine, Buster | N.Y. JETS | DB | Chattanooga | 47 TACKLES, 6 PD |
| Bench | Webb, Lardarius | BALTIMORE | DB | Nicholls State | 74 TACKLES, 5 PD, 1 INT |
| Bench | Graham, Corey | PHILADELPHIA | DB | New Hampshire | 83 TACKLES, 9 PD |
| Bench | Bethel, Justin | ARIZONA | DB | Presbyterian | 26 TACKLES, 6 PD, 1 INT TD |
| Bench | Bradberry, James | CAROLINA | DB | Samford | 59 TACKLES, 10 PD, 2 INT |
| Bench | Lane, Jeremy | SEATTLE | DB | Northwestern St. | 9 STARTS, 46 TACKLES |
[divider]
SPECIAL TEAMS
This is an outstanding unit as a whole for an FCS/NFL team. Kicker Adam Vinatieri is a future Hall of Famer, Jordan Berry's one of the best at what he does, Andre Roberts is a touchdown waiting to happen in the return game, and Eric Weems is just flat out one of the best all-around special teams players there is — whether in returns or coverage.
| ST/BN | PLAYER | TEAM | POS | FCS SCHOOL | 2016 STATS |
| STARTER | Vinatieri, Adam | INDIANAPOLIS | PK | South Dakota State | 27 of 31 FGs, LONG OF 54 |
| STARTER | Berry, Jordan | PITTSBURGH | P | Eastern Kentucky | 45.6 YDS PER PUNT |
| STARTER | Roberts, Andre | ATLANTA | KR/PR | Citadel | 246 YDS PR, 2 TD, 747 KR |
| Bench | Weems, Eric | TENNESSEE | ST/WR | Bethune-Cookman | 12 special teams tackles |
| STARTER | DeOssie, Zak | N.Y. GIANTS | LS | Brown | 16 games |
