The FCS has had hundreds of standout players move on to have special NFL careers, and a good number have made it to the NFL Hall of Fame. We decided to break down the “FCS-to-NFL” ranks by conference … leading up to a final national ranking of the top FCS products to finish a career in the NFL. We only ranked individuals who played for current FCS conference schools (no Appalachian States or Marshalls, for instance … and just because the player may have actually played D-2 football when they were in college, that doesn’t disqualify).
This ranking will be using the Pro Football Reference criteria for AV – “Approximate Value”, which uses an algorithm that measures a player’s statistics, honors, awards, you name it — on an annual basis dating back to 1960 when all of this statistical material was more easily attainable/tracked. It takes into account that an offensive lineman can’t put up stats like a quarterback, obviously, but an O-lineman with Pro Bowl credentials and being a cornerstone on a Super Bowl team will be rewarded too. Then … the annual points are added up to create a “career AV” which is a total reflecting the “Approximate Value” of a player’s career.
Obviously, Hall of Fame players do well in this rating, but you may be surprised at times at the rating given to a player who had a long career … with some true highlights … who did not make the Hall of Fame. It happens. See the list below.[divider]
TOP NFL CAREERS: Each Conference Linked
TOP NFL CAREERS – MEAC
(according to Pro-Football-Reference.com)
ABBREVIATIONS: PB — Career Pro Bowls; AV — site’s “Approximate Value” point system used by Pro Football Reference to quantify a player, based on statistics, honors, etc awarded by year back to 1960 – and taking position into consideration; YRS — Total years in the league
| RK | FCS SCHOOL | POS | PLAYER | PB | AV | YRS | SPAN | STATS |
| 1 | BETHUNE-COOKMAN | OL | Larry Little (*) | 5 | 130 | 14 | 1967-1980 | 183 career games |
| 2 | FLORIDA A&M | DB | Ken Riley | 0 | 127 | 15 | 1969-1983 | 65 career INTs |
| 3 | S.C. STATE | DB | Donnie Shell (*) | 5 | 120 | 14 | 1974-1987 | 51 career INTs |
| 4 | S.C. STATE | LB | Harry Carson (*) | 9 | 119 | 13 | 1976-1988 | 173 career games |
| 5 | S.C. STATE | DL | Deacon Jones (*) | 8 | 119 | 14 | 1961-1974 | 191 career games |
| 6 | NORTH CAROLINA CENT. | OL | Doug Wilkerson | 3 | 115 | 15 | 1970-1984 | 204 career games |
| 7 | MORGAN STATE | LB | Willie Lanier (*) | 8 | 108 | 11 | 1967-1977 | 27 career INTs |
| 8 | FLORIDA A&M | OL | Nate Newton | 6 | 107 | 14 | 1986-1999 | 198 career games |
| 9 | MORGAN STATE | RB | Leroy Kelly (*) | 6 | 102 | 10 | 1964-1973 | 9,555 total yds, 87 TDs |
| 10 | FLORIDA A&M | WR | Bob Hayes (*) | 3 | 96 | 11 | 1965-1975 | 7,414 rec yds, 71 TDs |
| 11 | S.C. STATE | WR | John Gilliam | 4 | 91 | 11 | 1967-1977 | 7,056 rec. yds, 48 TDs |
| 12 | S.C. STATE | DL | Barney Chavous | 0 | 91 | 13 | 1973-1985 | 183 career games |
| 13 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | DL | Elvin Bethea (*) | 8 | 90 | 16 | 1968-1983 | 191 career starts |
| 14 | HOWARD | DB | Antoine Bethea | 3 | 86 | 14 | 2006-2019 | 1,333 career tackles |
| 15 | FLORIDA A&M | OL | Henry Lawrence | 2 | 85 | 13 | 1974-1986 | 187 career games |
| 16 | S.C. STATE | DL | Robert Porcher | 3 | 84 | 12 | 1992-2003 | 95.5 career sacks |
| 17 | BETHUNE-COOKMAN | DB | Rashean Mathis | 1 | 83 | 13 | 2003-2015 | 649 tackles, 32 INTs |
| 18 | FLORIDA A&M | LB | Earl Holmes | 0 | 70 | 10 | 1996-2005 | 957 tackles |
| 19 | DELAWARE STATE | WR | John Taylor | 2 | 68 | 9 | 1987-1995 | 5,598 rec yds, 43 TDs |
| 20 | NORTH CAROLINA CENT. | DB | Charles Romes | 0 | 66 | 11 | 1977-1987 | 28 career INTs |
| 21 | FLORIDA A&M | DB | Glen Edwards | 2 | 65 | 11 | 1971-1981 | 39 career INTs |
| 22 | MORGAN STATE | TE | Raymond Chester | 4 | 65 | 12 | 1970-1981 | 5,013 rec yds, 48 TDs |
| 23 | NORFOLK STATE | DB | Ken Reaves | 1 | 64 | 12 | 1966-1977 | 37 career INTs |
| 24 | NORTH CAROLINA CENT. | DB | Louis Breeden | 0 | 64 | 10 | 1978-1987 | 33 career INTs |
| 25 | BETHUNE-COOKMAN | DL | Lee Williams | 2 | 63 | 10 | 1984-1993 | 82.5 career sacks |
| 26 | S.C. STATE | OL | Edwin Bailey | 0 | 62 | 11 | 1981-1991 | 139 career games |
| 27 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | DB | Mel Phillips | 0 | 60 | 12 | 1966-1977 | 147 career games |
| 28 | FLORIDA A&M | DB | Gene Atkins | 0 | 59 | 10 | 1987-1996 | 614 tackles, 25 INTs |
| 29 | S.C. STATE | DB | Dwayne Harper | 0 | 59 | 12 | 1988-1999 | 572 career tackles |
| 30 | MORGAN STATE | OL | Roosevelt Brown (*) | 9 | 56 | 13 | 1953-1965 | 162 career games |
| 31 | FLORIDA A&M | RB-TE | Hewritt Dixon | 4 | 55 | 8 | 1963-1970 | 5,909 total yds, 28 TDs |
| 32 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | DL | Dwaine Board | 0 | 55 | 10 | 1979-1988 | 121 career games |
| 33 | NORFOLK STATE | DB | Ron Bolton | 0 | 54 | 11 | 1972-1982 | 35 career INTs |
| 34 | MORGAN STATE | RB | Dave Meggett | 2 | 52 | 10 | 1989-1998 | 13,996 all-purpose yds |
| 35 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | OL-DL | Tom Day | 1 | 52 | 9 | 1960-1968 | 117 career games |
(*) – Denotes an NFL Hall of Famer[divider]
MEAC – TOP CURRENT NFL PLAYERS
ABBREVIATIONS: PB — Career Pro Bowls; AV — site’s “Approximate Value” point system used by Pro Football Reference to quantify a player, based on statistics, honors, etc and taking position into consideration; YRS — Total years in the league
| RK | FCS SCHOOL | POS | PLAYER | PB | AV | YRS | SPAN | STATS |
| 1 | HOWARD | DB | Antoine Bethea | 3 | 86 | 14 | 2006-2019 | 1,333 career tackles |
| 2 | S.C. STATE | LB | Darius Leonard | 1 | 30 | 2 | 2018-2019 | 284 tackles, 19 TFLs |
| 3 | S.C. STATE | DT | Javon Hargrave | 0 | 27 | 4 | 2016-2019 | 168 tackles, 22 TFLs |
| 4 | DELAWARE STATE | DT | Rodney Gunter | 0 | 22 | 5 | 2015-2019 | 126 tackles, 26 TFLs |
| 5 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | RB-RS | Tarik Cohen | 1 | 21 | 3 | 2017-2019 | 4,171 all-purpose yds |
| 6 | S.C. STATE | LB | Joe Thomas | 0 | 11 | 6 | 2014-2019 | 157 tackles |
| 7 | NORTH CAROLINA CENT. | CB | Ryan Smith | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2016-2019 | 113 tackles |
| 8 | NORTH CAROLINA A&T | OT | Brandon Parker | 0 | 7 | 2 | 2018-2019 | 26 games, 15 starts |
