4 Boise State Broncos Are Patiently Waiting For Their NFL Chance

The NFL Draft begins tomorrow in Kansas City, with college football's best players moving on to the next level and the next phase of their careers. The NFL is a tricky business, and finding quality players for NFL teams is a challenging science. A study of players drafted between 1996-2016 showed that of the 260 players drafted each year, only 24 go on to have meaningful careers. One or two might have Hall of Fame-level careers, while the remaining 20 have decent but not exceptional careers. Almost 40% of all draft picks are considered "useless" because they either didn't play enough or never even made the team.

Boise State has put several players into the NFL through the NFL Draft, but the numbers hold for former Broncos as well. We've certainly had successful players in the NFL, like Demarcus Lawerence and Leighton Vander Esch, who both play for the Dallas Cowboys. We've also had plenty of players that were successful on the Blue but not in the NFL.

We will unlikely hear the names of any Boise State players taken in the first draft round that starts tomorrow at 6pm. We could hear of a Boise State player going on the second day when rounds two and three get underway at 5pm.

The player likely to be the first Boise State Bronco drafted this year is Safety JL Skinner. Most projections have him going in the fourth round, while some think he could sneak into the third. The rest of the Broncos will have to wait until Saturday when rounds four through seven begin at 10am. The other Boise State players that could be taking their talents to the NFL include Safety Tyreque Jones, Tackle John Ojukwu, and Linebacker George Tarlas.