Mel Kiper thinks Kansas State’s long NFL Draft streak is in jeopardy after 26 years
No Big 12 football team can claim a longer active NFL Draft streak than Kansas State.
For 26 consecutive years, the Wildcats have produced at least one draft pick. That longevity is good enough to rank 11th nationally, ahead of traditional powers such as Oklahoma and Texas.
It’s one of K-State’s proudest football factoids. The Wildcats promote it on the fifth page of their media guide and then again on pages 18 and 19. Their streak more than doubles most of the Big 12 competition, as Oklahoma (24) is the only other school that has produced a draft selection in more than 12 consecutive years.
But their might soon be a changing of the guard.
K-State’s NFL Draft streak will be in jeopardy next week when teams begin selecting players on April 23. The Wildcats have several late-round hopefuls, but very few, if any, are showing up on mock drafts.
Is this the year the streak comes to an end?
“It wouldn’t be a complete surprise if they don’t have anybody drafted this year,” ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper said in a conference call Wednesday. “Maybe one sneaks into the later rounds, but that would be it.”
The bad news for K-State’s draft hopefuls is that Kiper had to talk himself into considering any former Wildcats for even a seventh-round selection.
When he was first asked if any former K-State players were on his radar of draft prospects, he provided a one-word answer: “No.”
“Most of them are borderline draftable or undrafted free agents,” Kiper said.
Several K-State players worked out in front of NFL scouts at the Wildcats’ pro day in early March, but none of them were deemed worthy of an invitation to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine.
That created an uphill path for K-State’s draft hopefuls, but a few of them did enough to get noticed.
Kiper mentioned three former K-State football players as potential late-round selections: running back James Gilbert, left tackle Scott Frantz and right tackle Nick Kaltmayer.
“When you look at the offensive linemen, they are all borderline guys who could go in that mix,” Kiper said. “The running back transfer (from Ball State), Gilbert, at times he looked like a draftable guy. But I have an undrafted grade on him.”
A few teams might also take a chance on receiver Dalton Schoen, who was a reliable passing target throughout his college career and showed off impressive speed at his pro day, or defensive linemen Reggie Walker and Trey Dishon.
Throw linebacker DaQuan Patton and punter Devin Anctil into the mix, and K-State is expected to at least have a large number of players join NFL rosters as undrafted free agents.
But there’s no guarantee any of them will hear their name called in the actual draft.
For example: Alex Barnes entered the 2019 draft with a much higher profile, coming off a season in which he led the Big 12 in rushing yards and had a terrific showing at the NFL Combine. Some experts had him going as high as the middle rounds. But he went undrafted.
Frantz might be K-State’s best hope this year. The 6-foot-5 offensive lineman from Lawrence started 51 games for the Wildcats and went out as a second-team All-Big 12 player as a senior. He more than held his own against NFL-caliber defenders during his college career and is hoping to make history as the first openly gay athlete to play in a regular-season NFL game.
Kaltmayer could appeal to NFL teams because of his size. The 6-8 offensive tackle started all 13 games for the Wildcats last season and looked good filling in for current Denver Broncos offensive lineman Dalton Risner in previous seasons.
Gilbert rushed for 737 yards and six touchdowns as K-State’s lead running back last season.
Perhaps a NFL team will select one of them with their final pick next week.
If not, K-State will have to try and start a new NFL Draft streak in 2021.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Mel Kiper thinks Kansas State’s long NFL Draft streak is in jeopardy after 26 years."