Another Former Spartan QB Given UFL Opportunity With Michigan Panthers
The Michigan Panthers could be adding yet another former Michigan State quarterback.
On Wednesday, the Panthers selected former Spartan quarterback Rocky Lombardi with the fifth overall pick of the 2024 UFL College Draft.
Lombardi comes off an impressive final season at Northern Illinois, having posted 2,274 passing yards and 11 touchdowns on 189 completions.
We're excited for this one đź‘Ź
— Michigan Panthers (@USFLPanthers) July 17, 2024
Our fifth pick of the 2024 UFL College Draft is QB Rocky Lombardi 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kdvQDQtVvR
The three-year Spartan quarterback signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent this past spring.
Lombardi's former teammate, Brian Lewerke, made two starts for the Panthers this spring, throwing for 120 yards and a touchdown on just 11 completions.
As a Spartan, Lombardi appeared in 22 games, totaling 1,902 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. Lombardi had some memorable performances for Michigan State, including his 323-passing-yard, three-touchdown outing against Michigan in 2020 when the Spartans defeated the Wolverines in Ann Arbor.
Lombardi would transfer to Northern Illinois, where he played in 30 games in his three seasons with the Huskies. He finished his career second in program history in passing yards per game (183.9), third in completions per game (14.5), fifth in completions (439) and sixth in passing yards (5,516).
The former Spartan made an appearance at Michigan State's Pro Day this year, throwing passes to his friend and former teammate, Tre Mosley.
The Panthers also selected former Michigan State guard J.D. Duplain in Wednesday's draft. Duplain spent five seasons with the Spartans and was Lombardi's teammate for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
The former Spartan offensive lineman was a five-year letterwinner at Michigan State. He made 47 starts at left guard. Duplain was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention by league coaches for his 2021 campaign when he helped lead the Spartans to an 11-2 record and a victory over Pittsburgh in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
The Panthers selected Duplain with the sixth pick of the ninth round of the draft.
The following are the rest of the players the Panthers drafted on Wednesday:
OT Julian Pearl, Illinois
CB Dwight McGlothern, Arkansas
DE Isaac Ukwu, MIssissippi
OT Brian Dooley, Eastern Michigan
WR Dayton Wade, Mississippi
S Akeem Dent, Florida State
CB Andrew Meyer, UTEP
LB Isaiah Stalbird, South Dakota State
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