With the pandemic wiping out the preseason games, teams will need to construct their rosters without ever having seen some of the players on the field in an actual football game. This could be more notable than many realize. History shows us that some of these lightly regarded undrafted players will go on to have notable careers.
I decided to sift through the data some on this one. And there are more of these players than you might realize – players who showed up as tryout-type bodies but turned into viable contributors.
Looking at the last 10 years, I see 49 RB-WR-TE who were originally undrafted but at some point in the 2010-2019 seasons finished with a top-40 season for the first time. That’s using PPR scoring, and for tight ends (with half as many of them starting in fantasy leagues) I cut it off at the top 20. (For fantasy purposes, nobody cares too much about a tight end who finishes the season as the 24th-best player at his position).
Notably from recent years, Phillip Lindsay and Austin Ekeler. Both weren’t drafted at all. Had they not had the benefit of showing their ability in preseason games, they conceivably could have been practice-squad players rather than regular 53-man roster choices in their first seasons.
LeGarrette Blount, C.J. Anderson and Arian Foster also come to mind as undrafted free agents who developed into 1,000-yard rushers.
Not all of these players, of course, did it right away. Of the 49 players listed below, only seven had their first good season in their rookie season. (I’ve got them in bold.)
But there is some walk-on talent available, and chances are increased this year that some teams will make an error when deciding on their regular-season rosters.
On the chart below, I’m showing only the first decent season for each guy. Blount, for example, ran for 1,007 yards as a rookie in 2010. At that point he becomes a viable NFL player, and you don’t see his remaining successful seasons of work.
I didn’t include quarterbacks, where it’s more unusual to see undrafted players thrive. But it does happen occasionally. Among current quarterbacks, Case Keenum and Kyle Allen originally weren’t drafted.
| UNDRAFTED PLAYERS MAKING IT ONTO THE RADAR | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Yr | No | Rec | Run | Yds | TD | Rk |
| 2010 | RB LeGarrette Blount, T.B. | 1 | 5 | 14 | 1,007 | 1,021 | 6 | 34 |
| 2010 | RB Keiland Williams, Was. | 1 | 39 | 309 | 261 | 570 | 5 | 39 |
| 2010 | RB Arian Foster, Hou. | 2 | 66 | 604 | 1,616 | 2,220 | 18 | 1 |
| 2010 | RB Danny Woodhead, 2TM | 2 | 34 | 379 | 547 | 926 | 6 | 25 |
| 2010 | WR Danny Amendola, St.L. | 2 | 85 | 689 | 81 | 770 | 3 | 30 |
| 2010 | RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, N.E. | 3 | 12 | 85 | 1,008 | 1,093 | 13 | 19 |
| 2010 | RB Mike Tolbert, S.D. | 3 | 25 | 216 | 735 | 951 | 11 | 21 |
| 2011 | WR Victor Cruz, NYG | 2 | 82 | 1,536 | 3 | 1,539 | 9 | 3 |
| 2011 | TE Jake Ballard, NYG | 2 | 38 | 604 | 0 | 604 | 4 | 20 |
| 2011 | WR David Nelson, Buff. | 2 | 61 | 658 | 0 | 658 | 5 | 39 |
| 2011 | WR Malcom Floyd, S.D. | 8 | 43 | 856 | 0 | 856 | 5 | 38 |
| 2011 | WR Nate Washington, Ten. | 9 | 74 | 1,023 | 5 | 1,028 | 8 | 15 |
| 2012 | RB Joique Bell, Det. | 2 | 52 | 485 | 414 | 899 | 3 | 23 |
| 2012 | RB Marcel Reece, Oak. | 4 | 52 | 496 | 271 | 767 | 1 | 31 |
| 2013 | TE Tim Wright, T.B. | 1 | 54 | 571 | 2 | 573 | 5 | 13 |
| 2013 | WR Rod Streater, Oak. | 2 | 60 | 888 | 17 | 905 | 4 | 33 |
| 2014 | RB Branden Oliver, S.D. | 1 | 36 | 271 | 582 | 853 | 4 | 26 |
| 2014 | RB Isaiah Crowell, Cle. | 1 | 9 | 87 | 607 | 694 | 8 | 33 |
| 2014 | RB C.J. Anderson, Den. | 2 | 34 | 324 | 849 | 1,173 | 10 | 11 |
| 2014 | TE Larry Donnell, NYG | 2 | 63 | 623 | 0 | 623 | 6 | 12 |
| 2014 | RB Benny Cunningham, St.L. | 2 | 45 | 352 | 246 | 598 | 4 | 32 |
| 2014 | RB Matt Asiata, Min. | 3 | 44 | 312 | 570 | 882 | 10 | 14 |
| 2014 | RB Bobby Rainey, T.B. | 3 | 33 | 315 | 406 | 721 | 2 | 40 |
| 2014 | RB Chris Ivory, NYJ | 5 | 18 | 123 | 821 | 944 | 7 | 24 |
| 2015 | RB Thomas Rawls, Sea. | 1 | 9 | 76 | 830 | 906 | 5 | 37 |
| 2015 | WR Allen Hurns, Jac. | 2 | 64 | 1,031 | 0 | 1,031 | 10 | 19 |
| 2015 | WR Willie Snead, N.O. | 2 | 69 | 984 | 0 | 984 | 3 | 32 |
| 2015 | RB Charcandrick West, K.C. | 2 | 20 | 214 | 634 | 848 | 5 | 35 |
| 2015 | WR Kamar Aiken, Balt. | 3 | 75 | 944 | 0 | 944 | 5 | 29 |
| 2015 | WR Doug Baldwin, Sea. | 5 | 78 | 1,069 | 0 | 1,069 | 14 | 11 |
| 2016 | WR Tyrell Williams, S.D. | 2 | 69 | 1,059 | 0 | 1,059 | 7 | 19 |
| 2016 | WR Cameron Meredith, Chi. | 2 | 66 | 888 | 6 | 894 | 4 | 38 |
| 2016 | TE Cameron Brate, T.B. | 3 | 57 | 660 | 0 | 660 | 8 | 7 |
| 2016 | WR Adam Thielen, Min. | 3 | 69 | 967 | 15 | 982 | 5 | 30 |
| 2016 | TE Jack Doyle, Ind. | 4 | 59 | 584 | 0 | 584 | 5 | 13 |
| 2016 | WR Cole Beasley, Dall. | 5 | 75 | 833 | 7 | 840 | 5 | 33 |
| 2017 | WR Robby Anderson, NYJ | 2 | 63 | 941 | 9 | 950 | 7 | 18 |
| 2017 | RB Orleans Darkwa, NYG | 4 | 19 | 116 | 751 | 867 | 5 | 36 |
| 2017 | WR Jermaine Kearse, NYJ | 6 | 65 | 810 | 0 | 810 | 5 | 28 |
| 2018 | RB Phillip Lindsay, Den. | 1 | 35 | 241 | 1,037 | 1,278 | 10 | 13 |
| 2018 | RB Austin Ekeler, LAC | 2 | 39 | 404 | 554 | 958 | 6 | 25 |
| 2018 | RB Matt Breida, S.F. | 2 | 27 | 261 | 814 | 1,075 | 5 | 26 |
| 2018 | RB Jalen Richard, Oak. | 3 | 68 | 607 | 259 | 866 | 1 | 29 |
| 2018 | RB Peyton Barber, T.B. | 3 | 20 | 92 | 871 | 963 | 6 | 31 |
| 2018 | WR Adam Humphries, T.B. | 4 | 76 | 816 | 11 | 827 | 5 | 24 |
| 2018 | TE Trey Burton, Chi. | 5 | 54 | 569 | 2 | 571 | 6 | 8 |
| 2019 | RB Raheem Mostert, S.F. | 5 | 14 | 180 | 772 | 952 | 10 | 26 |
| 2019 | TE Darren Fells, Hou. | 6 | 34 | 341 | 0 | 341 | 7 | 17 |
| 2019 | RB Damien Williams, K.C. | 6 | 30 | 213 | 498 | 711 | 7 | 37 |
—Ian Allan