The 2020 NFL season has arrived and the rosters include many players who played DII and DIII football.
Here's a look at all DII and DIII football players on 2020 NFL 53-man rosters.
DII football players on NFL rosters
(NOTE: Players included are strictly limited to those on as of Saturday, Sept. 5.)
| NFL TEAM | PLAYER | COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | Dennis Gardeck | Sioux Falls |
| Atlanta Falcons | John Cominsky | Charleston (WV) |
| Baltimore Ravens | Matthew Judon | GVSU |
| Brandon Williams | Missouri Southern | |
| Buffalo Bills | John Brown | Pittsburg State |
| Carolina Panthers | Alex Armah | West Georgia |
| Trenton Cannon | Virginia State | |
| Chris Reed | Minnesota State | |
| Seth Roberts | West Alabama | |
| Brandon Zylstra * | Augustana (SD) * | |
| Chicago Bears | Marqui Christian | Midwestern State |
| Cleveland Browns | Tavierre Thomas | Ferris State |
| Dallas Cowboys | Greg Zuerlein | Missouri Western |
| Chris Jones | Carson-Newman | |
| Denver Broncos | Jonathan Harris | Lindenwood |
| Green Bay Packers | Malik Taylor | Ferris State |
| Houston Texans | Tyrell Adams | West Georgia |
| Indianapolis Colts | Ashton Dulin | Malone |
| Kenny Moore II | Valdosta State | |
| E.J. Speed ** | Tarleton State ** | |
| Grover Stewart | Albany State | |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Keelan Cole | Kentucky Wesleyan |
| Kansas City Chiefs | Tyreek Hill | West Alabama |
| Nick Keizer | GVSU | |
| Tershawn Wharton | Missouri S&T | |
| Mike Pennel | CSU-Pueblo | |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Denzelle Good | Mars Hill |
| Erik Harris | Cal (PA) | |
| Jeff Heath | Saginaw Valley State | |
| Eric Kush | Cal (PA) | |
| Tyrell Williams | Western Oregon | |
| Los Angeles Chargers | Austin Ekeler | Western State |
| Jason Moore | Findlay | |
| Trey Pipkins | Sioux Falls | |
| Los Angeles Rams | Morgan Fox | CSU-Pueblo |
| Miami Dolphins | Adam Shaheen | Ashland |
| Zach Sieler | Ferris State | |
| Minnesota Vikings | C.J. Ham | Augustana (SD) |
| Adam Thielen | Minnesota State | |
| New England Patriots | Kyle Dugger | Lenoir-Rhyne |
| Gunner Olszewski | Bemidji State | |
| New Orleans Saints | Deonte Harris | Assumption |
| New York Giants | Corey Ballentine | Washburn |
| Rysen John | Simon Fraser | |
| New York Jets | Pierre Desir | Lindenwood |
| Nathan Shepherd | Fort Hays State | |
| Vyncint Smith | Limestone | |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | Matt Feiler | Bloomsburg |
| Seattle Seahawks | David Moore | East Central (OK) |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Alex Cappa | Humboldt State |
| John Hurst | West Georgia | |
| Ryan Jensen | CSU-Pueblo | |
| Zach Triner | Assumption | |
| Tennessee Titans | Malcolm Butler | West Alabama |
* — Zylstra played his redshirt-freshman season with Augustana before transferring to DIII Concordia College.
** — Speed played at Tarleton State before the Texans moved to FCS.
This is the fourth season we've tracked DII football stars in the NFL. We started in 2017, when 90 DII players made cuts across the league. That number dropped to 83 players in 2018 and there were 49 players on NFL rosters for the . In 2020, there will be 54 former DII football players on opening day rosters.
Here are a few other notable numbers from our data:
3 — Schools with the most DII players on 2020 NFL rosters. West Alabama (Tyreek Hill, Malcolm Butler, Seth Roberts), West Georgia (Alex Armah, John Hurst, Tyrell Adams) and Ferris State (Zach Sieler, Tavierre Thomas, Malik Taylor) each had three players make the cut this year.
5 — DII players on the Las Vegas Raiders and Carolina Panthers, the most out of any NFL teams. Right behind them are the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers with four players apiece.
27 — Teams with at least one DII football alum, an increase from 26 last season. The Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Washington Football Team do not carry a DII player on its 53-man roster.
DIII football players on NFL rosters
| NFL TEAM | PLAYER | COLLEGE |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Cardinals | Dan Arnold | Wisconsin-Platteville |
| Atlanta Falcons | Matt Gono | Wesley College |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | Ben Bartch | St. John's (Minn.) |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Derek Carrier | Beloit |
| Nicholas Morrow | Greenville | |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Ali Marpet | Hobart |
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