Many of the NFL’s best players were never even drafted, as once a player makes the 53-man roster, anything can happen. So here are the 15 best undrafted NFL players of all time:
QB Kurt Warner:
Quarterbacks drafted outside the first two rounds of the NFL draft have next to no chance of becoming franchise quarterbacks, let alone winning MVPs and Super Bowls. However, Warner defied the very slim odds by earning accolades that most first-round QBs never come close to. After starting just 12 games in college at Northern Iowa, Warner unsurprisingly went undrafted after the 1994 draft. Warner tried out in the Packers training camp, but was released before the season, thus playing in the Arena Football League for three years.
The Rams then signed Warner as a third-string quarterback in 1998, but he became the starter after starter Trent Green suffered a season-ending ACL tear. Warner went on a tear himself, leading the NFL in completion percentage for three straight seasons, winning two MVP awards, winning a Super Bowl, and helping the Rams have one of the best three-year offensive stretches in NFL history. Injuries limited Warner in the following years in St. Louis, who eventually became a journeyman, and nearly led the Cardinals to a surprise Super Bowl victory in 2008.
QB Warren Moon:
Warren Moon’s 20 touchdowns to 19 interceptions during his college career at Washington didn’t exactly scream “early round pick”, and thus Moon went undrafted in 1977 as a result. Moon then played six seasons in the CFL, where he eventually led the league in passing yards, passer rating, and completion percentage later in his CFL career.
Moon’s dominance in Canadian Football opened an opportunity to play for the Oilers of the NFL, where, after some initial growing pains, Moon developed into a perennial Pro Bowler. Moon won offensive player of the year in 1990, led the NFL in passing yards in 1990 and 1991, earned nine Pro Bowl appearances, and a Hall of Fame induction in 2006. Warren Moon never had a sufficient team surrounding him to realistically compete for a Super Bowl, but that did not stop him from continuing to play well into his 40s, a feat that most drafted quarterbacks fail to achieve.
DE/DT John Randle:
After going undrafted during the 1990 draft, the Vikings signed the pass rusher out of Texas A&M, John Randle, acquiring a game-wrecker without spending a single draft pick. Randle would eventually become a crucial contributor for Minnesota’s defense in the 90s, and the team’s eight playoff berths during that era. Randle didn’t start a single game in his rookie season, and then recorded 9.5 sacks while starting half of the games in his sophomore season. From 1993 to 1998, Randle earned a First Team All-Pro in six consecutive seasons.
LB James Harrison:
James Harrison was signed and cut by the Steelers and the Ravens after going undrafted in 2002, before being signed again by the Steelers, and this time made the active roster due to multiple injuries to players ahead on the depth chart. Harrison was mostly unknown until recording 8.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles in a 2007 Pro-Bowl season.
In 2008, Harrison blew his 2007 statistics out of the water, recording 16 sacks, seven forced fumbles again, and over 100 combined tackles, earning Defensive Player of the Year honors. Harrison remained one of the league’s top linebackers into his late thirties, earning a spot in the Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame, though he was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
RB Priest Holmes:
Undrafted running back Priest Holmes had some success in Baltimore before joining the Chiefs in 2001, but he took his game to a completely new level after signing with Kansas City. In his first season in a Chiefs uniform, Holmes became the first undrafted player to lead the NFL in rushing yards, with 1,555 total. Holmes proceeded to lead the league in scrimmage yards in back-to-back seasons, rushing touchdowns in back-to-back seasons, and gain First Team All-Pros in three consecutive seasons. However, despite having one of the league’s top-5 offensive players for four seasons, the Chiefs could only muster one winning season and zero playoff wins.
TE Antonio Gates:
In just two years, Antonio Gates went from never playing college football to a starting NFL tight end. Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers in 2003, most tight ends at 6’4, 255 pounds, would be used exclusively for blocking purposes. Antonio Gates, however, is not most tight ends.
Gates permanently changed the tight end position, recording receiving numbers and big plays that no NFL player of that size had ever achieved. Gates earned First Team All-Pro selections in three consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2007, even beating out Keenan Allen for the franchise-most career receiving yards and receptions.
QB Tony Romo:
Tony Romo was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2004, during the Bill Parcells era of the Cowboys, where the team had a revolving door at quarterback. After starting for the Cowboys merely as a placekicker for his first two seasons, Romo went from third string to first string by week eight of 2007, and threw for the remaining 10 games of the season.
Romo led his team to a 13-3 record in the following season with his second of four Pro Bowl appearances, and the Cowboys had found another franchise quarterback without drafting him. A 2-4 playoff record has kept Romo out of the Hall of Fame, and behind other Dallas QBs Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, but regular-season success is all that matters when you play for Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.
LB Sam Mills:
The end of the USFL in 1986 brought many stars to the NFL, such as Jim Kelly, Reggie White, and Sam Mills, although Mills flew a bit further under the radar. Mills followed his USFL head coach Jim Mora to the Saints, where Mora saw potential in the undrafted free agent, making him a starter.
New Orleans’ defense immediately jumped from a below-average group to well inside the top-ten with the new presence of Sam Mills, and the Saints’ 12-3 record that season was enough for the franchise’s first playoff berth. Eleven years later, the Saints still hadn’t won a playoff game, but Mills had racked up five career Pro Bowls, 22 career forced fumbles, and a reputation as a do-it-all linebacker that could transform any defense.
WR Wes Welker:
Wes Welker, a receiver who went undrafted in 2004, spent just one game as a kick returner for the Chargers before head coach Marty Schottenheimer released Welker, making the “biggest mistake [he] ever made”. Welker then spent a few seasons in Miami as a depth receiver before he was signed by the Patriots in 2007.
Welker immediately became an annual 1,000+ yard wideout upon arrival in New England, earning two First Team All-Pro selections and leading the NFL in receptions in three different seasons. Belichick once again parted ways with a player before their prime ended, but it worked this time, as Welker was not much of a factor during his final career seasons in Denver.
G Larry Little:
When Larry Little was traded from the Chargers to the Dolphins in 1969, after the Chargers had signed Little as an undrafted free agent two years prior, the Dolphins hadn’t come close to a winning record in the first four seasons in existence.
However, when the NFL and AFL merged, and Don Shula took over as head coach of the Dolphins, the vibes in Miami changed very quickly. The Dolphins became an annual playoff team. Larry Little played a crucial role in the team’s unstoppable rushing attack of the early 70s, as well as part of the legendary 17-0 team in 1972. Little was one of the five Dolphins who earned a First Team All-Pro for the ‘72 season, and one of eight to be inducted in the Hall of Fame.
WR Rod Smith:
Rod Smith came from a D-II school, but his conference-record 3,043 career receiving yards and 34 touchdowns were enough for the Broncos to give him a chance following the 1994 draft. Smith played for the Broncos for the rest of his twelve-year career, becoming the franchise leader in receiving yards and the first undrafted player to top 10,000 career receiving yards. Smith was the Mike Evans of the 2000s, surpassing 1,000 receiving yards in eight of his ten seasons as a starter. Any NFL team would spend a top-ten draft pick for this level of production, but the Broncos didn’t pay a single draft pick for it.
FS Willie Wood:
Willie Wood went from playing at USC as a quarterback, to writing a letter to Vince Lombardi asking for a tryout, to becoming a starting Packers’ safety, to eventually an All-Pro and a Hall of Famer. The Packers’ defense during the 60s and early 70s featured plenty of elite playmakers, but it’s no coincidence that Green Bay’s defense ranked top-ten in points allowed for eight of Wood’s twelve seasons. Wood’s seven consecutive Pro Bowls, never missing a game for ten consecutive seasons, and recording 48 career interceptions, is a rare level of consistency that is only present in just a few of today’s NFL players.
K Justin Tucker:
It’s not the most shocking event that an undrafted kicker has a successful career, since kickers are rarely valued as early-round draft selections. However, if the Ravens knew that Justin Tucker, an undrafted free agent from Texas A&M, would become the most accurate kicker in NFL history, they would have selected him much higher in the 2012 draft.
After Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard game-tying field goal in the 2011 AFC Championship, the Ravens decided a new face was needed at the kicker position, thus signing the undrafted Justin Tucker. Tucker proceeded to earn five First Team All-Pro selections throughout his career, and kicked the NFL’s longest-ever field goal, a 66-yard kick bouncing off the crossbar.
OT Jason Peters:
Despite Sports Illustrated projecting offensive tackle Jason Peters, from the University of Arkansas, to be selected in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft, Peters was not drafted. Peters was signed by the Bills shortly after, becoming a starter one season later, but contract disputes caused the Bills to trade Peters to Philadelphia. Peters became a major component in the Eagles’ electric rushing attack, as well as their Super Bowl LII victory, and even gained two First Team All-Pro selections in 2011 and 2013. The 9-time Pro Bowler eventually retired after playing for 19 seasons with a Hall of Fame resume, although he is not eligible until 2029.
K Adam Vinatieri:
If a team is losing by one with a few seconds remaining in a playoff game, there is no kicker they would rather have than Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri is undoubtedly the NFL’s most clutch postseason kicker of all time, with four Super Bowl wins, two Super Bowl-winning kicks, and having made 90% of postseason kicks.
Like many other players, Bill Belichick chose not to re-sign Vinatieri in 2006, anticipating a decline in play due to age. However, Vinatieri wasn’t even nearing the end of his prime, making 14 of 15 kicks in the following playoffs and Super Bowl victory with the Colts. Vinatieri continued to be one of the league’s elite kickers before retiring after 24 seasons at age 47.
Ranking the Biggest NFL Rivalries in each Division in 2025
There’s only one thing better than watching your favorite NFL team win: watching your least favorite NFL team lose. There have been some truly great NFL rivalries that have stood the test of time, and some new ones have sparked as well. So here are the 8 biggest NFL rivalries in Each Division in 2025: NFC South: Falcons vs. Saints All…
The 10 Most OVERRATED NFL Players Heading into 2025
Every year there always seems to be a handful of NFL players that fans, the media, and their own team’s front desks hold in a higher regard than what they’re probably worth. So here are the 10 most overrated NFL players heading into the 2025 season: Deebo Samuel: Deebo Samuel is a YAC machine, but…
NFL Power Rankings 2025: Where All 32 Teams Stand Heading Into the Season
The 2025 NFL season is just around the corner, so it’s time to see where all 32 teams stack up heading into week 1. Here are the NFL power rankings heading into the 2025 season: No. 32: New Orleans Saints It’s between Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough for the Saints’ starting quarterback position, and the…
Leave a Reply