The first two nights and three rounds of the NFL Draft have given us a lot of memorable and meme-able moments, but one thing has been missing.
There have been no players from historically black colleges and universities to be picked in the first three rounds of the draft.
[inArticle]
This is the longest we’ve had to wait to see an HBCU prospect get selected in the NFL Draft since 2015. Delaware State’s Rodney Gunter was selected in the fourth round, 115th overall, by the Arizona Cardinals. Two other HBCU prospects – Texas Southern’s Tray Walker and Tennessee State’s Robert Myers– would be picked that year as well.
Of course this isn’t a new issue for HBCU prospects. HBCU Gameday found that, including this year’s NFL Draft, eight times since 2000 there have been no players selected from HBCUs. That comes out to 40 percent of the time.
Of course teams still manage to find HBCU talent at the back end of the draft as well as undrafted free agency. Here’s a look at some of the standout players who have been drafted in the fourth round or later, as well as undrafted free agents that have managed to stick.
Tarik Cohen (NCA&T)& Greg Williams(GRAMBLING) we’re taken in the 2017 draft
Jerome Mathis was taken in the ’05 Draft.