The 2015 NFL Supplemental Draft will take place today, and we'll likely see someone selected for the first time since 2012.
There hasn't been a supplemental selection made since the Cleveland Browns spent a second-round pick on Josh Gordon out of Baylor in 2012. Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle is an NFL talent who has a real shot of helping some team this season. He's projected to be drafted as high as Round 4.
The prospects
Battle (6-foot-7, 290 pounds) played in 27 career games, started 11 contests for Clemson last season and played more snaps than any other player on the team (824). He said he left school to enter the draft because he has "some family matters to address, with a child due this summer." Battle has been in trouble in the past at Clemson, serving a suspension in 2013 after punching a player, and another last season for disciplinary reasons.
Other players taking part in this year's supplemental draft include West Georgia DT Dalvon Stuckey, West Georgia DE Darrius Caldwell, Houston DE Eric Eiland, Kansas DB Kevin Short, UConn TE Sean McQuillan, and North Carolina Central WR Adrian Wilkins.
Stuckey (6-foot-4, 300 pounds) is a former all-state high school player from DeFuniak Springs, Fla. He committed to Florida State out of high school but had academic issues. After two seasons of junior-college football in Mississippi, Stuckey committed to Arizona State, but didn't qualify academically. He instead went to Division II West Georgia and had 4.5 sacks, nine tackles for loss and three forced fumbles last fall.
Caldwell (6-foot-6, 245 pounds) originally signed with Illinois and he played in all 12 games in 2012 while recording 17 tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Academic issues forced him out in 2013, and after they again prevented him from signing with Arizona State after a year of JUCO, Caldwell landed at West Georgia, where he recorded 69 total tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks this past season.
Wilkins (5-foot-8, 175-pounds) is mostly known for his return abilities and averaged more than 20 yards per kick return last season for the NCCU Eagles. Wilkins also added 50 catches for 540 yards and three touchdowns as a wideout. His best season might have been in 2013, though, when the speedster had five special teams touchdowns (three on kickoffs, two on punt returns).
Eiland (6-foot-2, 225 pounds) started 18 games at defensive end the past two years at Houston but projects as an outside linebacker in the NFL. Eiland will turn 27 in September as he spent four years pursuing baseball after being drafted in the second round by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2007. Last year Eiland recorded 44 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and half a sack for the Cougars. He's not getting drafted and will be lucky to even get a camp invite.
McQuillan (6-foot-3, 247 pounds) started 19 games over his collegiate career while catching 41 passes for 354 yards and two scores during that time. He will reportedly appear in Rockville Superior Court July 16 to face an assault and disorderly conduct charge stemming from an April fight with a person identified in a court document as his roommate.
Short (6-foot-2, 185 pounds) signed with Kansas as a highly touted JUCO prospect but was unable to qualify academically and went on to play at Fort Scott Community College. He broke the school record by grabbing 10 interceptions over two seasons, two of which he returned for touchdowns.
The process
This is the annual draft that's often used for college players who find themselves in some form of trouble (legally, athletically, or academically) after the NFL draft. The most recent examples of this were former Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor declaring for the supplemental draft after facing an NCAA investigation in 2011 and Josh Gordon in 2012 after he was dismissed from Baylor in August 2011 for off-field issues.
The process for the draft order involves the NFL holding a draft lottery in which the worst teams will be weighted more to receive better opportunities to pick higher; the Buccaneers will have their name in the drawing 32 times, the Titans 31, the Jaguars 30, so on and so on.
The draft starts with the 10 worst teams (based on the 2015 NFL draft order) in the first drawing, picking the order to select first through tenth. There's a second drawing with the 10 worst teams after that. The third drawing will feature the 12 playoff teams from last season.
Once that's determined, the draft starts. Teams submit bids for certain players in certain rounds without knowledge of what other teams are doing, much like a blind auction. The highest bid wins, but that teams surrenders that pick in the following year's draft. For example, the Cincinnati Bengals sacrificed their third-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft after selecting Virginia LB Ahmad Brooks in the third round of the 2006 Supplemental Draft.
The former picks
Since 2000, only 11 players have been selected in the supplemental draft, and here's a look back at them:
Year |
Player |
Position |
School |
Round |
Team |
2002 |
Milford Brown |
OL |
Florida State |
6th |
Houston Texans |
2003 |
Tony Hollings |
RB |
Georgia Tech |
2nd |
Houston Texans |
2005 |
Manuel Wright |
DT |
USC |
5th |
Miami Dolphins |
2006 |
Ahmad Brooks |
LB |
Virginia |
3rd |
Cincinnati Bengals |
2007 |
Paul Oliver |
S |
Georgia |
4th |
San Diego Chargers |
2007 |
Jared Gaither |
OT |
Maryland |
5th |
Baltimore Ravens |
2009 |
Jeremy Jarmon |
DE |
Kentucky |
3rd |
Washington Redskins |
2010 |
Harvey Unga |
RB |
BYU |
7th |
Chicago Bears |
2010 |
Josh Brent |
NT |
Illinois |
7th |
Dallas Cowboys |
2011 |
Terrelle Pryor |
QB |
Ohio State |
3rd |
Oakland Raiders |
2012 |
Josh Gordon |
WR |
Baylor |
2nd |
Cleveland Browns |
As you can see, there's not much there in terms of quality players. The most talented prospect on the list is Josh Gordon, but the same drug issues which led to him entering the supplemental draft have now derailed his NFL career. The same holds true with Josh Brent, a quality defensive lineman who was involved in a DUI that fatally killed one of his teammates.