Ben Shumate

It was reported Wednesday that South Dakota State’s Dallas Goedert, considered by most to be the top small-school player and best tight end prospect for April’s NFL Draft, will miss Saturday’s senior bowl with a hamstring injury. Several mock drafts, dating back to December, have Goedert coming off the board in the mid to late first round and it’s not hard to see why — he has a Gronk-like frame at 6’4″ and 260 pounds and proved to be pretty much unguardable at the FCS level.

It’s a disappointment for Goedert to miss out on the chance to show his stuff against FBS guys at the Senior Bowl, although he still will be coming off the board very early in April. Goedert wouldn’t have been the only small-school guy showing his stuff at the Senior Bowl — here’s a look at other little-known prospects to keep an eye on in Saturday’s Senior Bowl.

Justin Watson, WR, Penn

Statistically, Watson is one of the most prolific receivers to ever come out of the Ivy League. In addition to re-writing the record book at Penn, no player in the league’s history has had more 100-yard receiving games (19) and he is second in league history in receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns and total receptions. In addition to being listed at 6’3″ and 213 pounds, Watson reportedly runs a 4.59 40-yard dash.

He’s shown off at Senior Bowl practice thus far with a few acrobatic catches:

https://twitter.com/BillyM_91/status/955929870953013249

Something tells me Watson will make an NFL team very happy some day and he’s worth a watch on Saturday.

Kyle Lauletta, QB, Richmond

Quarterbacks are always subject to intense scrutiny at the Senior Bowl, and for good reason. But Lauletta is the most likely to sneak under the radar relative to prospects like Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen. Although, early reports from mid-week practices indicate that Lauletta has proven himself of being deserving to be among that group.

He has prototypical size at 6’3″, 215 pounds and racked up over 10,000 yards over three starting seasons at Richmond. He was also hyper-accurate at the FCS level, completing 63.5 percent of his passes. This package of skills and size, plus his background, has drawn comparisons to Jimmy Garoppolo and led some to speculate on whether he could indeed replace Jimmy G as Tom Brady’s backup in New England. ESPN’s Mel Kiper said Thursday that he sees Lauletta coming off the board in the third to fifth rounds, where he could end up being an absolute steal.

Michael Joseph, DB, Dubuque

Perhaps the best story out of all the small-school players is that of Joseph, who played college ball at Division III Dubuque in Iowa. After not even starting in high school, Joseph has come out of nowhere to become a legitimate NFL prospect.

Joseph is a bit undersized and is likely to be overlooked throughout the whole draft process because of his background. But in addition to a stellar final season at Dubuque, which earned him the Cliff Harris Award as the best defensive player in small-school college football, Joseph has impressed observers against FBS talent during practice this week.

If he continues to show his skills against big quarterback and wide receiver prospects Saturday, Joseph will have an NFL team come calling in April and will complete the rare pipeline of Division III to the NFL.