The passing of Matt Blair got me thinking about who in addition to Matt had solid NFL careers. The players below have the highest 'career values' from pro football reference .com (however that's calculated). I filtered out those who came before the Super Bowl era. Who are your top 3?
Best NFL Career
- Thread starter SouthJerseyCy
- Start date
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
AJ Klein should probably be on this list.
Could make the argument for Seneca too (on the list not as the winner of the list), he had about a 12 year pro career backing up a borderline gold jacket guy in Matt Hasselbeck. Seneca easily could have been a starter for a Jets or Bengals type organization but was paid as a top flight backup for a long time. Not a bad way to accrue 15MM plus.
Could make the argument for Seneca too (on the list not as the winner of the list), he had about a 12 year pro career backing up a borderline gold jacket guy in Matt Hasselbeck. Seneca easily could have been a starter for a Jets or Bengals type organization but was paid as a top flight backup for a long time. Not a bad way to accrue 15MM plus.
Agreed on Klein. His stats aren't incredible but he's playing in his 8th season as a pro.
It’d be interesting if there was a website that tallied the pro statistics of college players from specific schools. It’s be useless other than for this discussion and maybe for play by play people but interdicting nonetheless. I figured there had to be others with decently long pro careers (Ellis Hobbs and Leonard Johnson came to mind) I wouldn’t know many names prior to that but it’d be cool to have them all in one spot to compare how their careers turned out.
If I were a betting man too, I’d bet that we have the greatest on the roster right now (barring something stupid happening). You have the likes of Isheem young, mike rose, eisworth, the d-line, purdy, Kolar, and hall who at this point look like they should get at least a cup, if not more in the NFL.
Plus Montgomery and Lazard have put together decent careers thus far.
Lazard’s a wild card. Love Montgomery but he’s not going anywhere as a bear while they have that o-line, coach, and to a lesser extent qb on his team (I am a bears fan).
I would put Sage Rosenfels and Seneca Wallace on that list. Neither had impressive NFL careers but Sage was in the league for 8 seasons and played in 44 games while starting 12. Seemed like he made a pretty decent career as a solid backup which is not the worst thing in the world to hold a clipboard while making a 7 digit salary. Had Brett Favre not gone the Vikings he was in line to be the starter there. Seneca also played 8 seasons appearing in 66 games and starting in 22. Makes you wonder if he had just changed positions to WR if he would of had more of a career but like Sage he was in demand as a backup QB. In Seattle they lined him up at WR for a few plays once in awhile and he even had a few receptions in his career. Some other Cyclones that got some meaningful playing time in the NFL was James Reed with 7 seasons and 99 games and Jordan Carstens played 3 seasons before having to retire due to a medical condition but in 2005 he started 15 of 16 games for the Panthers. Jordan may be one of the biggest success stories of the program coming in as a little known walk on to becoming an NFL starter one day.
I picked KO as he has had a long career and won a Super Bowl. I am too young to remember Blair
I picked KO as he has had a long career and won a Super Bowl. I am too young to remember Blair
There are multiple guys on this current team that have potential to have a career in the NFL. Right now I think Hall looks the part of a NFL running back some day. I think our trio of TE will all get a sniff of the NFL in some form either drafted or in a training camp. We've had some good defenses over the history of this program but not many players have went on to have long NFL careers unfortunately. There are some guys on this roster right now that sure have the potential to possibly have a sustained career in the NFL one day.
demoncore1031
Well-Known Member
I think Isheem will be a star in the NFL. He reminds me of David Sims but has a much higher ceiling.
Hobbs was really good but injuries ended his career early, otherwise he would probably be at the top of this list.
Hobbs was really good but injuries ended his career early, otherwise he would probably be at the top of this list.
Kolar will get more than a sniff. He’ll get drafted and at some point be a starter. I could see Allen sneaking his way onto a roster too, but don’t see him getting any meaningful time in his career.
Mike stensrud was a long time starter on some good oiler teams.
Poll would only allow me to put in 10. According to pro football reference, these are the top 10 in the SB era according to their CarAV stat, which I guess is like their version of WAR in baseball. Mike Stensrud was just short with Hobbs and Klein following close behind. Would imagine AJ gets there before his career is done. I think a case could be made for Sage and Seneca, but they just didn't accumulate much in the way of stats as backups most of their careers.
It's interesting that according to the site, there are a pretty clear top 3, but one of them is severely undervalued according to the early poll results.
It's interesting that according to the site, there are a pretty clear top 3, but one of them is severely undervalued according to the early poll results.
Since this seems to be dying, I'll point out I was surprised to find out Marcus Robertson was a primary starter for 10 years in the NFL (most among x-ISU) and was a 1x 1st team All-Pro.
CarAV ratings according to the site:
1. Matt Blair - 76
t2. Keith Sims - 70
Marcus Robertson - 70
4. Atyuba Rubin - 48
5. Bruce Reimers - 45
6. Kelechi Osemele - 44
CarAV ratings according to the site:
1. Matt Blair - 76
t2. Keith Sims - 70
Marcus Robertson - 70
4. Atyuba Rubin - 48
5. Bruce Reimers - 45
6. Kelechi Osemele - 44
