HBCU players often serve as popular underdog stories during NFL Draft season.
Most HBCUs exist at the FCS level or lower, so they are not common targets for NFL-level talent. Nevertheless, the HBCUs have a rich history of putting successful players into the pros, overcoming difficult odds via talent and work ethic.
That trend has tapered off recently, as NFL front offices have doubled down on blue-chip prospects from FBS power conferences. The transfer portal has exacerbated this, making it more common for players to jump from smaller schools to power programs.
As a result, FCS schools – HBCUs and non-HBCUs alike – are holding on to fewer draft prospects.
Still, there will be a lot of interest in whether or not a handful of deserving HBCU prospects will crack the 2025 draft as Day 3 approaches.
The last HBCU pick was Jackson State’s Isaiah Bolden, who the Patriots took in the seventh round of the 2023 draft. Perhaps the 2025 event will yield more results for HBCU prospects.
HBCU Players to Watch In the 2025 NFL Draft
- Kendall Bohler, CB, Florida A&M
- Karate Brenson, WR, Tenn. State
- Jayden Broughton, EDGE, South Carolina State
- James Burgett, CB, Alabama State
- Jada Byers, RB, Virginia Union
- Robert McDaniel, DB, Jackson State
- Irv Mulligan, RB, Jackson State
- Jeremiah Pruitte, TE, Florida A&M
- Fred Stokes Jr., EDGE, Prairie View A&M
- Carson Vinson, OT, Alabama A&M
- Elijah Williams, EDGE, Morgan State
- Jeremiah Williams, DL, Jackson State
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