Where have all the NFL's small-school prospects gone? - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — Grey Zabel hesitated. The North Dakota State tackle didn't know if he should answer the question posed by a reporter. The two-time FCS national champion played five seasons for the Bison, and was one of seven FCS players invited to the NFL combine this year, the smallest number of small school prospects, defined as players who most recently played below the Division I FBS level, in a decade. Zabel said he had a few offers from bigger programs to enter the transfer portal.

How much money did you leave on the table by not entering the transfer portal for a Power 4 FBS program last year?

«That's a tough answer,» Zabel said, and paused to think about his words. «Six figures.»

«It's not just me. There's other very talented players that are getting tampered with every single year, that our guys are being [enticed] to transfer elsewhere.… It's tough for a lot of these guys to turn down that type of money. But in the long run, you just got to fall back to what you believe in.»

Zabel said he believed in Bison football, which he describes as a player-driven and process-driven program. He played for the same offensive line coach, Dan Larson, for the past four years, a coach who has a record of developing players for the NFL. The Zabels have a family farm in South Dakota, and Grey didn't have much NIL money from NDSU, but he used what he had to lease 245 acres of farmland in South Dakota. The Bison lost in the semifinals of the 2023 postseason, and he didn't want to end his time in Fargo, North Dakota, that way.

«It's an emptiness that you want to fill immediately,» Zabel said. He wanted to be a national champion again, and he did that. Since then, he has been climbing draft boards because of a strong Senior Bowl