At least historically, there probably isn’t another franchise in the NFL who has a more decorated history with picking players from smaller schools, having both the skill and the confidence to bring them into the fold and giving them the opportunity, and the coaching, to blossom. Many key cogs of their 1970s dynasty were found from such schools, including some Hall of Famers in John Stallworth and Donnie Shell.
More recently, they had a homerun swing with Javon Hargrave, a third-round pick in 2016, who just played his way out of town. Over the course of the past four seasons, he carved out a niche for himself that earned him the second-highest nose tackle contract in NFL history—second only to another also handed out this year.