As a kid growing up, I remember pretty vividly remembering when Adam Timmerman played for the Packers.  It was my favorite team and he played offensive line (like me) and he went to South Dakota State, the school where my dad had graduated from and I thought that was all pretty cool!  Around the same time, and for many years after, Adam Vinatieri became one of the greatest kickers of all time.

Fast forward a number of years, I remember when Zach Zenner and Bryan Witzman squared off and how cool that was to have TWO professional Jackrabbits playing in the same game and two that I vividly remembered from their days at SDSU.  Fast forward to today and the Jackrabbits have turned into a legitimate NFL pipeline.  It’s rare to turn on a game and not see a Jackrabbit making plays.

The below graphic from Twitter caught my eye and is the basis for this blog post today.  I’ll go over the returning NFL players, what their 2025 looked like and what their path to a 2026 roster spot looks like as well. I will not be updating this throughout the season and encourage you to read Matt Zimmer’s weekly in season updates.

 

 

Colleges With Most Active NFL Players, per @spotrac 🏈 pic.twitter.com/wc6lo9Wmd3

— College Football Report (@CFBReport) May 7, 2026

 

 

Veteran Players

 

Dallas Goedert-TE- Philadelphia Eagles

• Ended the season with 60 receptions for 591 yards, and 11 TDs
• Had an overall PFF grades of 66.8 and a receiving grade of 69.7 (a PFF grade of 60 is considered average)
• Will make the team for his 9th season after restructuring his contract with $10 million guaranteed.

 

 

Christian Rozeboom– LB- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Started 15 games for the Carolina Panthers and had 122 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 TFL, 11 QBH, and 1 INT.
• Signed a 1 year contact with a base salary of 1.55 million
• Rozeboom will be competing with free agent addition Alex Anzalone and draft pick Josiah Trotter for snaps.  Rozeboom’s success on special teams throughout his career should help his case for a spot.

 

 

Chris Oladokun– QB- Kansas City Chiefs

• Started 2 games for the Chiefs after Mahomes was injured.  Completed 64% of his passes for 235 yards and 1 TD.
• Has been with KC for 4 seasons after being drafted in the 7th round.
• Will be competing with Gardner Minshew, Jason Bean, and 2026 7th round pick Garrett Nussmeier for a backup spot.

 

 

Tucker Kraft– TE- Green Bay Packers

• Tuck was on his way to an All-Pro season when he suffered a knee injury in week 8. He was being talked about as one of the best yards after catch players in the league.
• Prior to his injury he had 32 receptions for 489 yards and 6 TDs.
• He had an overall PFF grade of 78.1
• Will be the starter and will hopefully sign a massive contract before the season starts.

 

Pierre Strong– RB- Green Bay Packers

• Pierre spent the season on the Packers practice squad.  He was elevated twice throughout the season but was not active for either game.
• Will compete for the #2 spot behind Josh Jacobs as the Packers lost Emanuel Wilson in free agency.
• In his career, Pierre has 99 carries for 499 yards, and 2 TDs.  He has certainly been effective when given the opportunity.

 

 

Isaiah Stalbird– LB- New Orleans Saints

• Stalbird played in all 17 games for the Saints in his second year in the league.  He has carved out a niche as a special teams demon.
• Registered 25 total tackles (12 solo), had 2 sacks.  16 of those tackles were on special teams!
• His overall defensive grade according to PFF was 67.2
• Will compete to start and will be a special teams demon at a minimum.

 

Mason McCormick– RG- Pittsburg Steelers

• Started all 17 games for the Steelers in his second seaon and played over 1,000 snaps.
• His pass blocking grade from PFF was 71.6 which ranked him 16th among NFL guards in 2025.
• His run blocking grade jumped from 53.7 in 2024 to 66.7 in 2025.
• Carries the same nasty demeanor he played with at SDSU. Part of really young and talented offensive line in Pittsburg.
• Slated to start again in 2026

 

Isaiah Davis– RB- New York Jets

• Appeared in 16 games with 43 carries for 236 yards (5.5 ypc) and 1 TD. 21 receptions for 186 yards.
• Although he didn’t meet the minimum number of snaps to be ranked, Davis had a 69 PFF grade in 2025.
• He is caught behind Breece Hall so his snaps will be limited.  However, Braelon Allen missed most of 2025 due to injury but Davis was more affective when both were healthy.

 

 

Amar Johnson– RB- Los Angeles Chargers

• Spent all of training camp with the Green Bay Packers and was signed to the practice squad by the Chargers
• Was elevated from the practice squad and appeared in 2 games and had 2 carries for 8 yards.
• The Charges lost their leading rushing in JK Dobbins and released Gus Edwards.  However, they did sign speedster Keaton Mitchell to be their primary backup behind 2025 draft pick Omarion Hampton.  That means Amar will be competing with Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson for the RB3/RB4 spots.

 

 

Dalys Beanum– CB- New Orleans Saints

• Beanum signed after the 2025 NFL draft with the Saints and spent the entire year on the practice squad.  He was not elevated.
• The Saints CB room will look pretty different in 2026.  Kool-Aid McKinstry is still there and 2025 draft pick Quincy Riley are still there.  The team did sign Martin Emerson Jr. from the Browns to a modest free agent deal.  So really, Dalys will be competing with journeymen Isaac Yiadom and Ugo Amadi (slot defender) and rookie TJ Hall to make the roster.

Rookies

10 former Jackrabbits are getting a shot at the NFL this coming season — impressive:

Drafted:
OG Beerntsen – Ravens (SDSU 4 / Northwestern 1)

UDFA Signing:
QB – M. Gronowski – Dolphins (SDSU 4 / Iowa 1)
OL – S. Hagen – Texans (UND 2 / SDSU 2)
WR – A. Bullock – Jaguars…

— Rabbit Tracks (@rabbittracks605) May 5, 2026

As referenced in the tweet above, the Jackrabbits helped launch a number of rookies into the NFL this year as both UDFAs and as try out players.  With expanded practice squads since COVID, the NFL is giving guys a real shot to develop and work their way onto an NFL roster.

 

 

 

Evan Beerntsen– OL- Baltimore

• Beerntsen earned a degree from SDSU and helped block the way to two FCS National Titles.  He’s a Jackrabbit.
• He’s likely competing for a back-up roll with the Ravens this year.  John Simpson was signed in free agency and Olaivavega Loane was drafted in the first round.  Andrew Vorhees is a veteran backup and Amery Jones Jr. has guard/tackle versatility.  Beerntsen may be competing with UNI grad Jared Penning for a spot

 

Mark Gronowski– QB- Miami

• Gronowski earned multiple degrees from SDSU and was the starting QB for 3 National Championship games.  He’s a Jackrabbit.
• The Dolphins have a whole new coaching staff, and mostly remade QB room.  Malik Willis was the big free agent signing to be QB1.  Mark will be competing with 2025 7th round pick Quinn Ewers, and former Bison Cam Miller to be the QB2 and practice squad QB.  Ewers looked awful at the end of last season for the Dolphins.  Miller was drafted by the Raiders in the 6th round in 2025 but was cut before the season started.

 

Sam Hagen– OL- Texans

• Hagen started for the Jacks at right tackle for two years after transferring down from UND
• Will shift to guard in the NFL.
• Was a priority free agent for the Texans and his contract of 3 years, $3.1 million has already been announced.
• The Texans have really struggled across the OL in recent seasons so they have attempted to remake it in 2026.  Ed Ingram returns as the starting right guard.  Wyatt Teller was signed to play left guard.  Evan Brown was signed to provide experienced swing interior depth and Febechi Nwaiwu was signed drafted in the 4th round.  Brown has been “meh” throughout his career so I think he’s probably competing with Sam, Jarrett Kingston, and Jarrett Patterson.  The big unknown right now is where the Texans plan to play first round pick Keylan Rutledge as it sounds like they want to try him at center first.  Sam’s ability to play right tackle in a pinch could help in this competition as well.

 

 

Alex Bullock– WR- Jaguars

• Spent one year at SDSU where he became WR1 after Lofton O’Groske was injured.  He was terrific!
• Immediately signed by the Jaguars as a UDFA following the draft.
• Will be tough sledding to crack the lineup as Brian Thomas Jr., Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington all return. Plus Travis Hunter will continue to eat into snaps as he dabbles at WR.
• Bullock is likely competing with veterans Tim Jones, Josh Cameron, CJ Williams, Austin Trammell, Chandler Brayboy. Plus they signed Brady Boyd, Ben Patterson, Trevor Pena, and Montana’s Michael Wortham.
• Bullock will need to make the team on special teams.

 

 

Tucker Large– Safety- Eagles

• Spent 4 years at SDSU before spending his final season at Washington State.  I’m uncertain if he earned a degree from SDSU but he did heavily contribute to two National Championships for the Jackrabbits.
• Andrew Mukuba and Marcus Epps are back as the starting safeties for the Eagles and Cooper DeJean is the primary slot defender for the Eagles.  J.T. Gray is listed as the top backup for the Eagles with veteran Tristin McCollum and Andre’ Sam also competing to make the roster.  Former Bison, Cole Wisniewski was a 7th round pick this year.
• It’s funny that Large went to the Eagles because I have always compared him to DeJean.  They both played LB, S, and slot in college and cut their teeth making plays on special teams.  They are both undersized but tremendous athletes.
• I think Tucker has a real shot at making the team in Philadelphia.

 

Go Jacks!

Matt