NFL Top 100 Free Agents: Where are the Longhorns?
Pro Football Focus published its top 100 NFL free agents and there was a conspicuous lack of Texas Longhorns on the list.
PFF’s list is based upon player evaluation and positional value. At the top of the list was Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
It isn’t just that there are no Longhorns in the Top 100. A deeper look reveals that the Longhorns, frankly, are under-represented in the NFL right now.
A check of every NFL roster revealed that there were 31 Texas players in the league as of Jan. 17. Only two of them were first-round selections — Tennessee safety Kenny Vaccaro (taken No. 15 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft) and New Orleans defensive tackle Malcom Brown (taken No. 32 overall in the 2015 NFL Draft). So Texas hasn’t had a first-round selection in five seasons.
Perhaps more striking is that 13 of those 31 Longhorns — nearly 42 percent — made to the NFL undrafted.
If there’s a sweet spot for the Longhorns among its current players in the NFL it’s the third round. A half-dozen players Texas players were taken in the third round are on NFL rosters at the moment — Arizona linebacker Jordan Hicks, Baltimore wide receiver Devin Duvernay, Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Malik Jefferson, Miami safety Brandon Jones, New York Giants quarterback Colt McCoy, and Tennessee running back D’Onta Foreman.
Contrast that with Alabama, which has seen 33 players taken in the first round since the 2009 NFL Draft. In fact, the Crimson Tide had four players taken in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
At the start of the 2020 NFL season, the NCAA noted that Alabama had 56 players on opening day rosters (defined as players on the 53-man roster), followed by Ohio State with 50, LSU with 41, Florida with 39, and Michigan with 33. At the start of the season, the Longhorns had 25 players on NFL rosters, so several players were added since September.
Perhaps that’s another reason the Texas Longhorns are on their third head coach since 2014.
Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Longhorns in the Pros for Longhorn Country on FanNation.com and SINow. He also writes for CowboyMaven and DallasBasketball.com, covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com, and is the Editor of the College Football America Yearbook. Have a story idea about a former Longhorn now in the professional ranks? Contact Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.