In today's era of the transfer portal, it's much less common for prospects from the Group of 5 level to get drafted into the NFL, much less outside of the FBS. The top college football teams do a great job of identifying top small-school talents and throwing the bag their way to get them to transfer to a bigger school.
That's not to say it's impossible for a small-school prospect to get selected early. Chris Johnson was selected in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft coming out of the Mountain West's San Diego State. Emmanuel McNeil-Warren from Toledo and Ted Hurst from Georgia State were also both top-100 picks.
However, it's a much lighter frequency than in years past because of the NIL presence in college football. These are ten prospects for the 2027 NFL Draft who came from the Group of 5 level or lower and are making the jump to the Power 4 this season.
2025 School: USF
Byrum Brown heads into 2026 as one of the biggest physical specimen quarterbacks at the collegiate level. After breaking out for USF as a redshirt freshman starting in 2023, he was a fixture in their offense to the tune of 32 career starts. Now, he follows his Bulls head coach Alex Golesh over to Auburn, where he'll prove he can make the jump to the SEC level.
At 6'4″ and 232 pounds, Brown has prototypical size for the quarterback position. He was one of just two quarterbacks to make Bruce Feldman's "Freaks List" in 2025, having been timed at 22.5 mph on the GPS with a 300-pound bench press and a 600-pound squat. He's an elite athlete at quarterback with a rare combination of size, speed, and contact balance.
Though Brown is quite inconsistent in terms of his ball placement, which I'd attribute to shoddy footwork and an elongated throwing motion, he's demonstrated flashes of deep ball touch to complement his elite physical tools. That should be enough to get him Day 3 buzz in the 2027 NFL Draft, even if he's a major work in progress as a passer.
2025 School: North Dakota State
North Dakota State is making the jump from the FCS to the Group of 5 level with their move to the Mountain West in the 2026 season. They'll be doing so without one of their top defenders from last year, however, as Toby Anene transferred to play under Deion Sanders on the Colorado Buffaloes.
Anene combined for 71 pressures in his two starting seasons at NDSU, having tallied 7.0 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss in 2025. He has a dense frame at 6'4″ and 260 pounds, and his combination of anchor strength and low center of gravity allows him set the edge well in the run game. His first-step acceleration is good, and his relentless motor shines every time he takes the field.
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I'd like to see Anene work on his flexibility at the top of his arc, and I think his hands stall out too often when his initial pass-rushing move doesn't win. Other edge rushers in the 2027 NFL Draft will have longer arms and better agility, but Anene's linear athleticism and high motor have him in Day 3 territory for me.
2025 School: UConn
Alex Honig's journey to the NFL has been an interesting one thus far. A native of Bavaria, Germany, he was a three-star recruit as a quarterback who committed to TCU. He made the switch to tight end and ended up at UConn, where he served as a critical in-line blocker. Now making the jump to tight end, he looks to continue to boost his NFL stock under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
You're going to have a tough time finding a bigger tight end in the 2027 NFL Draft class than Honig, who's 6'6″ and 275 pounds with 11-inch hands. He uses that size well as a blocker, as he can land his strikes accurately at the point of attack and has the leg drive to push defenders off the line of scrimmage. He's another "Freaks List" honoree who was listed as having a 36-inch vertical jump.
Honig has a few factoring working against him, as he's a sixth-year senior prospect who only has 221 career receiving yards going into 2026. He doesn't have a deep route tree and has stiff hips that make it tough for him to create separation. That said, he's quick off the snap and has good ball-tracking skills in the end zone. I have a mid-Day 3 initial grade on Honig, but it's entirely possible he improves his stock in time.
2025 School: Texas State
The top offensive lineman on this list, Tellek Lockette is an experienced starter with 2,011 offensive snaps at the collegiate level heading into his redshirt senior season. With starting tape at both UL-Monroe and Texas State, he now looks to make the jump to the Big Ten, spending his final year of eligibility at Maryland.
Lockette is a densely-built, powerful guard who knows how to land his strikes accurately and keep his legs churning through contact to drive defenders off the ball. He packs a mean punch and has the drive needed to bury the opposition into the dirt. He also showcases ideal spatial awareness in pass protection in picking up exotic pass-rushing looks.
I had a Day 3 grade on Lockette last year, primarily because of the level of competition and athleticism concerns I had around him. However, he dropped down from about 330 pounds into the range of 315 pounds, which should help him become more explosive and agile. If his level of play translates to the Big Ten level, I think it's a real possibility he appears more in Day 2 conversations.
2025 School: Harvard
After a successful stint at Harvard, Jaden Craig makes the jump to TCU for his final year of eligibility. One could argue Craig would've been a draft pick had he declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, having broken the Crimson's program records for the most passing yards and passing touchdowns.
Craig is a well-built quarterback with a 6'3″, 230-pound frame. It's cliche to say that an Ivy League prospect will have a high football IQ by default, but he shows good pocket presence with awareness of incoming pressure and the composure needed to climb the pocket, keeping his eyes up and his feet active to avoid pressure. He has a quick mental trigger to know when to get the ball out, too.
Heading into 2026, Craig's career-high completion percentage is only 61.5%, which needs to improve. I don't see elite physical attributes with him outside of his size, as his arm talent and athleticism are pretty run of the mill. He has the mental aspect ready, though, and with a little more ball placement consistency, he should be a long-term backup in the NFL and a possible mid-round pick.
2025 School: Southern Miss
When Charles Huff moved from Marshall to become the head coach at Southern Miss in 2025, he took a lot of players from the Thundering Herd with him. Chief among them was Corey Myrick, who allowed a passer rating in coverage of just 53.7 in 2025. He's parlaying that success into a starting job at Clemson in 2026.
Listed at 6'3″ and 200 pounds, Myrick is a lengthy defensive back with a large catch radius that helps him out at the catch point in coverage. He plays with a high motor in pursuit, which combines well with his precise angles to the ball and physicality to make him an above-average tackling safety. His closing speed sees him generate some pop in his pads, as well.
Being as tall as he is, it can naturally be tougher for Myrick to sink his hips into his cuts and change direction seamlessly. This hurts his range in coverage and could prevent him from being trusted by NFL teams as a single-high safety. That said, his size and physicality gives him special teams and big nickel/dime upside, and I think a mid-round selection could fit him well in the 2027 NFL Draft.
2025 School: New Mexico State
Colorado was incredibly efficient in the transfer portal in 2026, and arguably their top acquisition this year was former New Mexico State defensive tackle Ezra Christensen. He finished second in the FBS with an 87.5 PFN DT Impact Score , notching 6.0 sacks, 11.0 tackles for loss, and 29 run stops in 2025.
The big concern with Christensen is his size, as he's 6'2″ and 280 pounds and lacks significant length along the defensive line. That said, he's shown that he can overcome that and maximize his strengths. Chief among those strengths is his explosiveness, as he has a quick first step off the snap and can slip through the B-gap as a 3-technique to create backfield penetration.
Christensen also has active hands and a deep arsenal of moves he can use to stack and shed blocks, and his smaller frame helps with his naturally lower center of gravity to win the leverage battle. He's fighting an eligibility battle and hasn't been cleared to play in 2026, so that's a situation worth monitoring. Either way, he's a future NFL player with impressive pass-rushing value along the interior.
2025 School: Miami (OH)
Though Adam Trick was the only player to beat Christen in PFN DT Impact Scoring with a 96.4 score, he'll be an edge rusher at the NFL level. He excelled as a redshirt junior for Miami (OH) last year, finishing with 8.5 sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss, and 67 pressures in a first-team All-MAC campaign.
Trick will be part of the duo responsible for replacing David Bailey and Romello Height on Texas Tech's defensive line, but he showed tremendous potential last season for the Redhawks. He's a twitched-up athlete who's fast coming off the line of scrimmage and has impressive closing speed in pursuit. His pass-rushing motor runs hot, and he has a deep arsenal of moves he can use to shed blocks from various alignments along the defensive line.
Though Trick took some interior reps at Miami, I think he'll be strictly an edge rusher in the NFL, and even there, his 6'4″, 249-pound frame is on the lighter side. I'd like to see him add some more weight and work on his ankle flexion so his angles can be tighter on the outside speed rush. That said, his straight-line explosiveness and pass-rushing IQ could see him rise into Day 2 range with a strong year for Texas Tech.
2025 School: North Texas
With an 87.5 PFN WR Impact Score , Wyatt Young led the entire FBS as the most efficient wide receiver in the nation in 2025. His 70 receptions for 1,264 yards and 10 receiving touchdowns made him the top weapon for North Texas' explosive offense last year, and he's one of many star players from the Mean Green making the jump to Oklahoma State behind head coach Eric Morris.
Young averaged an absurd 3.69 yards per route run in 2025, and his high route-running IQ played a big role in that efficiency. He can exploit soft spots in zone coverage by adjusting his tempo based on the looks he sees, and he can attack leverage points by changing his stem pattern. He's shifty after the catch with great ball-carrier vision, and he adjusts well to the ball in the air.
At 6'0″ and 199 pounds, Young isn't the biggest or most physical receiver in the world. That lacks of play strength could see whichever NFL team that drafts him look elsewhere whenever he's in a contested situation. But Young's a smart route runner with good hands, ball skills, YAC ability, and collegiate production. He's a top-60 player on my board with the chance to go Round 1 with another big year.
2025 School: North Texas
Drew Mestemaker's journey as a zero-star recruit who didn't star in high school into the top quarterback in the transfer portal has been remarkable to watch. Following his North Texas head coach to Oklahoma State, Mestemaker heads to the Power 4 level after a season which saw him reach a 68.7% completion rate, a 114.8 passer rating, and 4,381 passing yards.
The 6'3″, 211-pound Mestemaker's calling card is his arm strength. He has an elastic arm that can deliver darts from any angle or platform, and the velocity he gets behind his throws can help him fit passes into tight windows. He's an agile, creative scrambler who can extend the play with his feet, and he has a good sense of timing behind his throws.
Being as inexperienced as he is, Mestemaker can struggle going through his progressions and going past his first read. He also had passer ratings beneath 80.0 passing to the left from short, intermediate, and deep ranges, which is something he'll need to become more comfortable doing. There's a chance Mestemaker doesn't even declare for the 2027 NFL Draft, but he has the upside to challenge for a first-round selection if he continues to grow.
