NFL DRAFT: FCS’ Post-Combine Likely Draft Picks

If you think NFL players only come out of the FBS, think again. The highly respected site NFLDraftScout — which provides rankings for several media entities — says the FCS features 25 FCS players ranked among the top 350 prospects going into the 2017 NFL Draft. The chart below uses NFLDraftScout's post-combine ranking, pulled on March 22. 

There are other sites now doing full 7-round mock drafts, and while projecting the draft is as easy as herding felines — especially the "day three" rounds (4th, 5th, 6th, 7th) — a consensus is beginning to form about some of the FCS' top talent. With senior seasons, postseason all-star games, the combine and pro days all nearly wrapped up, the cream is rising to the top.

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Here are a few highlights:

• Eastern Washington's Cooper Kupp has held steady as a potential 2nd rounder, but Derek Rivers of Youngstown State has shot up the charts for several weeks now. Look for both to be clearcut Day Two picks (2nd or 3rd rounds). 
• When other mock drafts are used to create a consensus, Villanova's Tanoh Kpassagnon, Bucknell's Julie'n Davenport and Drake's Eric Saubert routinely grade among the top five FCS prospects.
• Along with the list below, players like New Hampshire's Casey DeAndrade, Grambling's Chad Williams, Montana's Brady Gustafson, Stetson's Donald Payne and Western Illinois' Lance Lenoir have all been projected as draft picks by at least one 7-round mock draft (Walter Football, Bleacher Report, Draftsite, DraftTek).

Check out the FCS prospects below and where NFLDraftScout projects them to go, post NFL Draft Combine, but remember … only one thing is certain when it comes to the NFL Draft, there will be surprises when April 27's draft arrives.

NOTE: There are 253 NFL Draft picks in the 7 rounds, so the chart below shows the top 253, along with another 100 or so prospects who project to be in the mix for a draft spot, according to NFLDraftScout.com.