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2023 NFL Draft: Non-Power 5 prospect big board

Who are some of the top small-school prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft?

By Jacob Infante
/ new
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 17 North Dakota State at Arizona Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

I’m a big fan of watching small-school prospects in my pre-draft evaluations.

There’s such something about watching a player from the Group of 5, FCS, Division II, Division III or NAIA shoot up boards and get the attention they deserved all along. When those players succeed at the next level, it makes me even happier. It just tugs at my heartstrings, and a part of me will always pull for the underdog to reign supreme.

The 2023 NFL Draft varies from other recent draft classes in that there isn’t a non-Power 5 prospect who truly stands out as a likely pick in Round 1 at the moment. However, there are plenty of intriguing talents who should come off the boards on Days 2 and 3 who could make a serious impact at the next level. And who knows, maybe a few of these guys tear it up in the all-star circuit or the Combine and make their way into the first round!

Though I have watched many more small-school guys— with many intriguing FCS and Division II prospects just missing the cut here — I decided to narrow my current list down to 60, as tape can be tougher to find for certain players, and I don’t feel as confident with my evaluations for some of them yet as I do with certain bigger names.

Here are my current top 60 non-Power 5 prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Note: These rankings do not include Notre Dame prospects, because even though they’re independent, I have a hard time include them as a “non-Power 5 school” when much of their schedule consists of Power 5 competition.

2023 NFL Draft: Non-Power 5 prospect big board

Rank Player Position School Tentative Round Grade
Rank Player Position School Tentative Round Grade
1 Cody Mauch OT North Dakota State Round 2-3
2 Andre Carter II EDGE Army Round 2-3
3 Blake Freeland OT BYU Round 2-3
4 Rashee Rice WR SMU Round 2-3
5 Tucker Kraft TE South Dakota State Round 3-4
6 Isaiah Davis RB South Dakota State Round 3-4
7 J.L. Skinner S Boise State Round 3-4
8 Nathaniel Dell WR Houston Round 3-4
9 Ivan Pace Jr. LB Cincinnati Round 3-4
10 Andrei Iosivas WR Princeton Round 3-4
11 Zack Kuntz TE Old Dominion Round 3-4
12 Jalen Cropper WR Fresno State Round 4-5
13 Zakhari Franklin WR UTSA Round 4-5
14 Karl Brooks DL Bowling Green Round 4-5
15 Jaren Hall QB BYU Round 5-6
16 Mark Evans II OG Arkansas-Pine Bluff Round 5-6
17 Josh Whyle TE Cincinnati Round 5-6
18 DeWayne McBride RB UAB Round 5-6
19 Tre Tucker WR Cincinnati Round 5-6
20 Hunter Luepke FB North Dakota State Round 5-6
21 Nick Hampton EDGE Appalachian State Round 5-6
22 McClendon Curtis OG Chattanooga Round 5-6
23 Quindell Johnson S Memphis Round 6-7
24 Arquon Bush CB Cincinnati Round 6-7
25 Jake Haener QB Fresno State Round 6-7
26 Thomas Incoom EDGE Central Michigan Round 6-7
27 Willie Lampkin OG Coastal Carolina Round 6-7
28 Robert Soderholm LS VMI Round 6-7
29 Andre Jones EDGE Louisiana Round 6-7
30 Clayton Tune QB Houston Round 6-7
31 D'Anthony Jones EDGE Houston Round 6-7
32 Starling Thomas V CB UAB Round 6-7
33 Patrick McMorris S San Diego State Round 6-7
34 Jerrod Clark DL Coastal Carolina Round 6-7
35 Isaac Rex TE BYU Round 6-7
36 Caden McDonald LB San Diego State Round 6-7
37 Puka Nacua WR BYU Round 7-UDFA
38 Kyle Patterson TE Air Force Round 7-UDFA
39 Grayson McCall QB Coastal Carolina Round 7-UDFA
40 Tyjae Spears RB Tulane Round 7-UDFA
41 Khalan Laborn RB Marshall Round 7-UDFA
42 Gervarrius Owens S Houston Round 7-UDFA
43 Darrell Luter Jr. CB South Alabama Round 7-UDFA
44 Thomas Greaney TE Albany Round 7-UDFA
45 Caleb Murphy EDGE Ferris State Round 7-UDFA
46 Myles Brooks CB Louisiana Tech Round 7-UDFA
47 Lance Boykin CB Coastal Carolina Round 7-UDFA
48 Nick Saldiveri OG Old Dominion Round 7-UDFA
49 Jadakis Bonds WR Hampton Round 7-UDFA
50 Camerun Peoples RB Appalachian State Round 7-UDFA
51 Isaiah Land EDGE Florida A&M Round 7-UDFA
52 Dorian Williams LB Tulane Round 7-UDFA
53 Nehemiah Shelton CB San Jose State Round 7-UDFA
54 Jalen Wayne WR South Alabama Round 7-UDFA
55 Deneric Prince RB Tulsa Round 7-UDFA
56 Xavier Smith WR Florida A&M Round 7-UDFA
57 Aaron Frost OG Nevada Round 7-UDFA
58 Tyson Bagent QB Shepherd Round 7-UDFA
59 Jacky Chen OT Pace Round 7-UDFA
60 Shaq Davis WR South Carolina State Round 7-UDFA

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