5 Potential 2023 NFL Draft Picks From FCS
Professional scouts consistently mine the ranks of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in hopes of finding the next Terrell Owens or Cooper Kupp.
More than 150 current National Football League players have FCS roots. There were 20 players selected directly from the FCS during the 2022 NFL Draft and there could be a similar number picked in 2023.
Here are five potential NFL Draft picks who competed for FCS programs this past fall.
OL McClendon Curtis, Chattanooga
After former Mocs’ left guard Cole Strange landed in the First Round last spring, Curtis has positioned himself as a potential 2023 NFL Draft pick.
The Chattanooga native’s size and strength alone are enough to excite professional scouts. Then, there is Curtis’s lengthy history of on-field production. The three-time All-Southern Conference First Team honoree, who totaled 38 starts (49 career appearances) for UTC, showed great versatility in 2022. After spending much of his career at right guard, Curtis logged seven starts as Chattanooga’s left tackle this past fall and earned First Team All-America (Stats Perform, AFCA) accolades for his efforts.
The UTC Master’s student should excel during any character evaluation sessions that he encounters throughout the draft process. Curtis, who tutored fellow student-athletes during his time on campus, was a two-time national finalist for the FedEx Ground Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award. The 2022 Chattanooga team captain was twice appointed to the NCAA Football Oversight Committee as a student-athlete representative.
WR Andrei Iosivas, Princeton
The unanimous All-Ivy League First Team receiver possesses a size and speed combination that demands the attention of NFL scouts.
A physical mismatch for Ivy League secondaries, Iosivas totaled 66 receptions for 943 yards and seven touchdowns over a 10-game regular season schedule this past fall. The Hawaiian-born athlete made multiple receptions in every game for the Tigers, who finished with an 8-2 record.
Iosivas has the opportunity to shed the “small-school stigma” at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he is likely to be one of the most athletic prospects in Mobile. The accomplished 6-foot-2 pass catcher has also excelled as a Heptathlete for Princeton’s Men’s Track & Field team. The Ivy League champion accounted for the third-highest Heptathlon score on the NCAA Division I season leaderboard last winter.
While competing at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Iosivas ran the 60-meter dash in 6.71 seconds. That display of straight-line speed suggests that Iosivas could record an eye-popping 40 time during NFL Combine testing.
TE Tucker Kraft, South Dakota State
Let the Dallas Goedert comparisons begin.
Like Goedert, Kraft attended high school in South Dakota before developing into an All-American tight end at South Dakota State. Five years after the Philadelphia Eagles selected Goedert in the Second Round at No. 49 overall, Kraft has generated buzz as a potential early-round pick out of SDSU. The physically-imposing tight end currently sits in the Top 100 on the 2023 NFL Draft Bible Big Board.
With his size and speed posing a mismatch for FCS defenses, Kraft experienced great success as a pass-catcher. He caught 65 balls for 780 yards and six touchdowns during a breakout 2021 campaign, recording at least two receptions in all of South Dakota State’s 15 games.
After earning multiple All-America honors in 2021, Kraft endured an injury-interrupted 2022 season. He missed six regular season games but proved healthy during the Jackrabbits' triumphant run through the FCS Playoffs. Kraft made four grabs for 69 yards and one touchdown in a semifinal win over Montana State. In the National Championship Game victory over North Dakota State, the 6-foot-5 target gained 30 yards on two receptions.
OLB/EDGE Isaiah Land, Florida A&M
The FAMU sack machine may be the most intriguing HBCU prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft class.
Showing above-average agility and great pursuit, Land piled up 37.0 tackles-for-loss over his last 20 games in a Rattlers’ uniform. The explosive pass rusher won the 2021 Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award winner as the top defensive player in the FCS after recording a nation-high 19.0 sacks in 12 games.
Despite entering the NCAA transfer portal last spring and reportedly receiving offers from SEC schools, Land returned to Florida A&M for the 2022 season. In eight games this past fall, Land logged 7.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries. The high-motor edge rusher lacks the bulk that NFL scouts covet, but his speed and collegiate production demand the attention of evaluators.
LT Cody Mauch, North Dakota State
Whether the reason is his hair, his smile or his resume of on-field dominance, Mauch seems to be everyone’s favorite FCS lineman in the 2023 NFL Draft class.
The 6-foot-6 blindside protector garnered back-to-back All-America selections and finished his North Dakota State career with 62 appearances. Mauch, the only offensive lineman to advance to the final round of voting for the 2022 Stats Perform Walter Payton Award, made a habit of manhandling defenders in run blocking as Bison ball carriers averaged 6.0 yards per rush this past season.
Mauch, who has also earned high grades for pass protection, displays elite athleticism at the tackle position. He saw action as a pass-eligible tight end during the 2019 campaign before settling in as NDSU’s starting left tackle during the 2021 spring season.
Ralph Ventre (@RealestRalph) covers the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for NFL Draft Bible.
