The 2018 NFL Draft is approaching and UTSA’s Marcus Davenport has been making lots of noise at the Senior Bowl. This prompted the following question:
How many times has two CUSA players been drafted in the first round? Might just happen this year with Davenport and Hernandez.
— It E (@tejas_e) January 27, 2018
This is a good question.
The answer is not extremely difficult to answer but it becomes even easier when you consider reframing the question. The conference as it is currently comprised is very different than the pre-2013 realignment. We could delve into the the history of the league but that does not tell us much useful information. Tulane, SMU, and Houston have much more D1-A/FBS history than do UTSA and WKU and so comparing them would not be fair.
The short answer is that since 2013, there have not been more than one first round selection from CUSA programs in the NFL draft.
CUSA NFL Draft Selections By Round 2014-2017
| Year | Round 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 2015 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2016 | 1 † | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2017 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
† Vernon Butler of La tech selected 30th by the Carolina Panthers
Marcus Davenport and Will Hernandez were making noise at Senior Bowl week and might be getting into the first round together.
DE Marcus Davenport, Texas-San Antonio: He probably didn’t win as many one-on-one drills as I thought he would. He basically just showed bull rush all week long. He has great size and ability; he’s just very raw. I saw toughness from him. I think you’ll see his pass-rush moves develop, so I think he’s going to be fine. I think he’s a first-round guy. He just didn’t quite jump off the page in one-on-one drills like you thought he might
OG Will Hernandez, UTEP: He carries 340 pounds tremendously well. He’s a mauler.
Guys like Ito Smith, Richie James, Mike White, Jeff Wilson, and many other are looking to get picked up by the league in this spring’s draft.
2014
| Round | Pick | Team | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 85 | Packers | Khryi Thornton | DT | Southern Miss |
| 3 | 87 | Chiefs | Phillip Gaines | CB | Rice |
| 4 | 107 | Raiders | Justin Ellis | DT | La Tech |
| 5 | 142 | Washington | Ryan Grant | WR | Tulane |
| 5 | 170 | 49ers | Keith Reaser | CB | FAU |
| 5 | 172 | Seahawks | Jimmy Staten | DT | MTSU |
| 6 | 199 | Seahawks | Garrett Scott | OT | Marshall |
| 6 | 210 | Jets | IK Enemkpali | DE | La Tech |
| 7 | 221 | Bills | Randell Johnson | LB | FAU |
Wikipedia notes 4 players from this draft that went unselected and made major contributions: Zach Orr of NT, Chris Boswell of Rice, Cairo Santos and Orleands Darkwa of Tulane.
2015
| Round | Pick | Team | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 65 | Colts | D’Joun Smith | CB | FAU |
| 5 | 159 | Cardinals | JJ Nelson | WR | UAB |
| 6 | 213 | Packers | Kennard Backman | TE | UAB |
| 6 | 216 | Texans | Christian Covington | DT | Rice |
| 6 | 217 | Chiefs | Rakeem Nunez-Roches | DT | Southern Miss |
| 7 | 247 | Pats | Darryl Roberts | CB | Marshall |
Wikipedia notes Neville Hewitt of Marshall as one noteable undrafted player
2016
| Round | Pick | Team | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | Panthers | Vernon Butler | DT | La Tech |
| 3 | 64 | Titans | Kevin Byard | S | MTSU |
| 4 | 110 | Rams | Tyler Higbee | TE | WKU |
| 4 | 134 | Ravens | Kenneth Dixon | RB | La Tech |
| 6 | 188 | Vikings | David Morgan | TE | UTSA |
| 6 | 206 | Rams | Mike Thomas | WR | Southern Miss |
| 6 | 207 | 49ers | Jeff Driskel | QB | La Tech |
| 7 | 223 | Dolphins | Brandon Doughty | QB | WKU |
| 7 | 249 | 49ers | Prince Charles Iworah | CB | WKU |
| 7 | 253 | Titans | Kalan Reed ✢ | CB | Southern Miss |
✢ Mr. Irrelevant
Wikipedia notes Jalen Richard of USM as a notable undrafted player
2017
| Round | Pick | Team | Player | Position | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 38 | Chargers | Forrest Lamp | G | WKU |
| 3 | 65 | Browns | Larry Ogunjobi | DT | Charlotte |
| 3 | 72 | Titans | Taywan Taylor | WR | WKU |
| 3 | 82 | Broncos | Carlos Henderson | WR | La Tech |
| 3 | 100 | Titans | Jonnu Smith | TE | FIU |
| 3 | 103 | Saints | Trey Hendrickson | OLB | FAU |
| 5 | 177 | 49ers | Trent Taylor | WR | La Tech |
| 5 | 182 | Packers | Aaron Jones | RB | UTEP |
| 6 | 191 | Cowboys | Xavers Woods | S | La Tech |
Of the 34 picks here is the breakdown by school:
- La Tech – 8
- WKU – 5
- Southern Miss – 4
- FAU – 4
- Rice – 2
- UAB – 2
- Marshall – 2
- MTSU – 2
- Tulane – 1
- UTEP – 1
- UTSA – 1
- FIU – 1
- Charlotte – 1
In this same time period, La Tech has had two league title appearances (losing both) and WKU has two wins. Southern Miss has on title appearance (a loss) and Rice won the league over Marshall in 2013.
UAB disappeared for a while, obviously, but at least two players that left and went on to be drafted elsewhere: Jordan Howard went in the 5th round from Indiana, Gerald Everette went in the 2nd after transferring to South Alabama.
Wins in the years 2013-2016
WKU – 39
Marshall – 36
La Tech – 31
MTSU – 29
Rice – 26
USM – 20
UTSA – 20
UTEP – 18
FAU – 15
FIU – 14
Charlotte – 16 (10 of which were from FCS/FBS independent)
UAB – 8 (disbanded team after 2014)
Tulane – 7 (one season)
We can see that talent roughly correlates with winning. Marshall, of course, was led by Rakeem Cato who is still playing pro ball outside of the NFL. Also, FAU’s 4 draft choices and mere 15 wins before Lane Kiffin arrived is evidence of what was suspected: FAU was a sleeping giant.
What will be interesting as this chart is updated after the 2018 draft is that this year’s crop of good teams was relatively young. FAU’s main stars are returning to defend their title, and the West champ North Texas is in a similar situation. Young rosters led the way.
Southern Miss’ Ito Smith, Korey Robertson and Allenzae Staggers are in the mix for this draft and that will make Golden Eagle fans even more frustrated at the two title game losses and disappointing 2017 season with those players on the roster.
photo credit: mjpeacecorps NFL Draft 2011 via photopin (license)
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