Fewer players from outside the
Power Four are being selected in the NFL draft
[April 10, 2026]
By ARNIE STAPLETON
Just like Cinderella teams have become less of a factor at the NCAA
men's basketball tournament, fewer longshots are reaching the NFL
draft from small schools.
Blame NIL riches and the crowded transfer portal, a combination that
has led to a concentration of talent in the power conferences.
The SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 dominate college football,
commanding higher revenue, better television ratings and bigger
budgets.
And more and more, they're siphoning stars from the nonpower
leagues.
“Jerry Rice still gets drafted by the 49ers, but I don’t know that
it’s from Mississippi Valley State today,” Denver Broncos coach Sean
Payton said of the Hall of Fame wide receiver who had one of the
biggest rags-to-riches journeys in league history. “That’s where he
started, but I think it may be from — pick a big school.”
Hardwood, gridiron parallels
March Madness used to regularly feature little-known schools from
look-it-up locales that rose from obscurity to capture the hearts of
hoops fans and bust so many brackets. But last year, all 16 regional
semifinalists hailed from power conferences, including the Big East,
for the first time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
The same thing happened this year, suggesting the transfer portal
has led to a concentration of the best players at the big schools
with the most NIL money.
What has transpired on the hardwood is manifesting itself on the
gridiron in its own way.
Consider: Only 24 of the 257 players selected in the NFL draft last
year came from nonpower conferences. That continued a trend since
2022, when 70 draftees came from nonpower conferences. That number
dipped to 38 in 2023, then to 34 in 2024.
And those figures are boosted by players who may not hail from power
conferences but certainly played for college powerhouses. The two
nonpower school first-rounders last year were Boise State running
back Ashton Jeanty, who was selected sixth overall by Las Vegas, and
North Dakota State guard Grey Zabel, who was drafted 18th by
Seattle.
Boise State has long been a powerhouse program, producing seven NFL
draft picks since 2021, and the North Dakota State Bison have won 18
national championships, including 10 FCS titles since 2010 and eight
Division II titles.
Others hailed from the likes of Alabama A&M, Central Arkansas and
Western Kentucky.
The NCAA’s policy on name, image and likeness allowing
student-athletes to profit from their personal brand was implemented
in the summer of 2021. Shortly thereafter, the NCAA approved changes
that allowed athletes to transfer multiple times and still be
immediately eligible, providing they met certain criteria.
Players like Jeanty and Zabel are still getting drafted — it's just
that they're coming from traditional football factories now.
[to top of second column] |
Denver Broncos guard Quinn Meinerz (77) defends against Kansas City
Chiefs defensive end Mike Danna (51) during the second half of an
NFL football game, Dec. 25, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed
Hoffmann, File)
What about this year?
There could be a bigger dearth of small-school names called in this
year's draft on April 23-25 in Pittsburgh because of the 319
prospects invited to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, only
17 were from nonpower conference schools.
That includes safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren of
Toledo, whom NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah rates as the
16th-best prospect in the draft, and San Diego State defensive back
Chris Johnson, whom Jeremiah ranks 40th.
Consequences of concentration
This phenomenon has changed the way some NFL teams scout college
prospects, cutting down on their trips to check out players on small
campuses.
“I think as you set your schedule for where you want your scouts to
spend their most time, I think even in the last couple of years, you
want them more in those places, concentrated areas like we talked
about,” Broncos general manager George Paton said. “Not that there’s
not going to be good players in some of these other smaller
schools.”
It’s just that plenty of them have transferred to the power
conferences where, besides more money, they get more exposure and
build their personal brand.
Small school successes
Paton drafted one of the best small college finds this decade when
he picked guard Quinn Meinerz of Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater
in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft.
One of 37 smaller school draftees that year, Meinerz quickly
established himself as one of the league's top guards and in 2024 he
showed up in a gold paisley suit to sign his new $80 million
contract. Since then, he's earned back-to-back first-team All-Pro
honors.
Playing “for the love of the game” at the Division III level,
Meinerz found himself on NFL radars despite playing in the obscure
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
“There's a pretty good scouting department across the entire NFL,”
Meinerz said, “and they'll come find you.”
That they will, but more and more scouts don't have to bother
straying too far from the campuses of the Power Four.
___
AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed.
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