40 Division 2 Football Players Will be on 53 Man Rosters in the NFL to start the year
The 2025 NFL season is ready to kick off Thursday, Sept. 4. When the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles take the field, and did you know there will be 40 Division 2 football players on 53-man rosters to start the season.
There are some on this list who played at other schools, but started off on a Division 2 football team. Check out this list compiled by the guys over at NCAA.com. They did a great job breaking this down.
| Player | Position | Team | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dee Alford | DB | Atlanta Falcons | Tusculum |
| Kyle Hinton | OL | Atlanta Falcons | Washburn |
| Michael Jerrell | OL | Atlanta Falcons | Findlay |
| David Moore | WR | Carolina Panthers | East Central |
| Tershawn Wharton | DT | Carolina Panthers | Missouri S&T |
| Tyson Bagent | QB | Chicago Bears | Shepherd |
| Jonathan Owens | DB | Chicago Bears | Missouri Western |
| Tanner Hudson | TE | Cincinnati Bengals | Southern Arkansas |
| CJ Goodwin | DB | Dallas Cowboys | Cal (PA) |
| Deondrea Tillman | LB | Denver Broncos | Indiana (PA) |
| Trevor Nowaske | LB | Detroit Lions | Saginaw Valley State |
| Craig Reynolds | RB | Detroit Lions | Kutztown |
| Shane Zylstra | TE | Detroit Lions | Minnesota State |
| Matt Ozrech | LS | Green Bay Packers | Azusa Pacific |
| Emanuel Wilson | RB | Green Bay Packers | Fort Valley State |
| EJ Speed | LB | Houston Texans | Tarleton State** |
| Ashton Dulin | WR | Indianapolis Colts | Malone |
| Kenny Moore II | DB | Indianapolis Colts | Valdosta State |
| Grover Stewart | DL | Indianapolis Colts | Albany State (GA) |
| Dennis Gardeck | LB | Jacksonville Jaguars | Sioux Falls |
| Josh Williams | DB | Kansas City Chiefs | Fayetteville State |
| Caleb Murphy | LB | Los Angeles Chargers | Ferris State |
| Trey Pipkins III | OL | Los Angeles Chargers | Sioux Falls |
| Ethan Evans | P | Los Angeles Rams | Wingate |
| Alex Cappa | OL | Las Vegas Raiders | Humboldt State (now Cal Poly Humboldt) |
| Tyreek Hill | WR | Miami Dolphins | West Alabama |
| Matthew Judon | LB | Miami Dolphins | Grand Valley State |
| Kader Kohou | DB | Miami Dolphins | Texas A&M-Commerce ++ |
| Zach Sieler | DL | Miami Dolphins | Ferris State |
| Kion Smith | OL | Miami Dolphins | Fayetteville State |
| CJ Ham | RB | Minnesota Vikings | Augustana (SD)++ |
| Adam Thielen | WR | Minnesota Vikings | Minnesota State |
| Tavierre Thomas | DB | Minnesota Vikings | Ferris State |
| Kyle Dugger | DB | New England Patriots | Lenoir-Rhyne |
| Nathan Shepherd | DL | New Orleans Saints | Fort Hays State |
| Gunner Olszewski | WR | New York Giants | Bemidji State |
| Dareke Young | WR | Seattle Seahawks | Lenoir-Rhyne |
| Kameron Johnson | WR | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Barton |
| C.J. Ravenell | DL | Missouri Western | Tennessee Titans |
| Austin Ekeler | RB | Washington Commanders | Western Colorado |
NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com