Old North Banter
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NFL Free Agency: Small NC Schools Count

By John Woodcock

Sep 12, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Bug Howard (84) tries to catch an overthrown pass while North Carolina A&T Aggies defensive back Tony McRae (21) defends during the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2015; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Bug Howard (84) tries to catch an overthrown pass while North Carolina A&T Aggies defensive back Tony McRae (21) defends during the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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NFL free agency needs players to feed the beast and sometimes those players come from smaller North Carolina programs.

NFL free agency can be a funny beast. The way to stardom is not always through the Florida States or Michigans. If that was true then why would we have somebody like Josh Norman in the league? There are other ways to get a shot at the pros at levels other than FBS.

One of those routes is the old Division 1-AA or now known as the FCS. Norman came from Coastal Carolina, a South Carolina school but there are a number of North Carolina schools as well. Western Carolina is there. So is Gardner-Webb. North Carolina Central saw Ryan Smith taken in the fourth round of the draft.

A half-step down is the Pioneer League of FCS. While they play the same level competition as other FCS teams, they do it without scholarships for football. Yet Campbell or Davidson are not prevented from producing pros. After all, Campbell is coached by former Carolina Panther great Mike Minter.

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    • Finally there are Division II and lower programs. These could also generate a surprise or two. So let’s see what the little guys of North Carolina produced in terms of undrafted free agents.

    Baltimore Ravens

    DT – O.J. Mau (Gardner-Webb)

    Pittsburgh Steelers

    DL – Johnny Maxey (Mars Hill)

    New York Jets

    DL – Helva Mantungulu (Western Carolina)

    Oakland Raiders

    CB – Tony McRae (North Carolina A&T)

    New York Giants

    DT – Greg Millhouse (Campbell)

    Arizona Cardinals

    LS – Daniel Dillon (Campbell)

    Of the guys mentioned here, Dillon would be the one that would play right away. Teams look for long snappers wherever they can find them. Once they have them, they generally keep them as long as they can. So score one for Campbell.

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    The other thing to notice here is the number of defensive linemen coming from these smaller schools.  It shows the old saying that you cannot teach size. Each of these spots are good fits for the linemen in questions because the Ravens, Jets, Giants, and Steelers all have good track records for developing defensive linemen.

    So there are the hidden gems. To discover the hidden gems of the future, one must keep an eye on FCS and lower division football.

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