I saw that there were 19 FCS players invited to the 2016 NFL Combine. I noticed that the Big Sky Conferences had 4 players invited; one of them was TE Beau Sandland form Montana State (MSU). I have been an MSU fan for 20 years, so I decided to see if any MSU players were ranked in the 2017 NFL prospect list. According to a CBS NFL prospect list, here are the top 5 Big Sky players as ranked by their position. The reason I included the top 5 is because that way I could include an MSU player.
Eastern Washington (EWU) WR Cooper Kupp (6’ 2” 194) is ranked #7. MSU didn’t play EWU this year, but last year I was super impressed by his 152 yards and 2 TD day against us. We couldn’t stop him in a shoot-out loss to EWU. Let’s hope that our ‘D’ can stop him this year. I predict that he will become an excellent slot receiver at the next level.
Montana QB Brady Gustafson (6’ 7” 229) is ranked #10. Unfortunately for us, he threw for 353 yards in our season-ending loss. Gustafson had great games against North Dakota St. and EWU. He has a great frame and I think that his ranking will go up a year from now. Let’s hope that he will make the same transition that Mariotta made going from a Tempo scheme to the pros.
EWU QB Jordan West (6’ 3” 220) is ranked #21. He has good size, though I think his feet are a little slow. The question is: how much of his success was because of Kupp and an excellent group of receivers? The last time we played them, Adams was the QB. I am sure that I will have a better opinion of West after we play them this year.
Northern Colorado (UNC) FB Quinn Zamora (6’ 1” 250) is ranked #28. I happened to go to the 2013 game and was impressed by the play of the tough freshman FB. I guess I remember him because on one play he caught a pass and after an MSU defender ripped off his helmet, he kept running with the ball. Typical FB. Now that UNC runs a Tempo 1-back offense, will Zamora get enough playing time for the NFL scouts?
MSU OG JP Flynn (6’ 5” 320) is ranked #28. What can I say, other than I think he should be ranked higher? He has great feet and has the size to play on Sundays. I predict that his ranking will be higher after he leads us into the playoffs in 2016.
So there are the top 5 Big Sky NFL prospects for the 2017 draft. Let’s hope that years from now more than four Big Sky players are invited to the combine.