What do Hall of Famers Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Howie Long, Art Shell, Willie Brown and Ray Guy have than common other than being former Raiders?

These six players were products of mid-major football programs, defying the odds of overcoming small school stigma to reach superstardom in the NFL.

Despite entering the league without wide recognition, plenty of players drafted out of smaller programs have taken the NFL by storm. Take Maxx Crosby for instance, who was drafted out of Eastern Michigan in the fourth round by the Raiders in 2019. As a member of the Silver and Black, he's amassed five consecutive Pro Bowl selections and 69.5 career sacks.

The Raiders roster consist of other productive players from similar small school background, including Malcolm Koonce from Buffalo, Dylan Laube from New Hampshire, Jeremy Chinn from Southern Illinois and 2025 third-round pick Charles Grant from William & Mary.

As a Samford University graduate, I have a soft spot for FCS football representation. Therefore I feel obligated to take a look at top prospects outside of Power Four conference programs. Let's get into it.

Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Safety, Toledo

The Toledo to NFL pipeline has been prosperous over the last few years, with at least one Rockets defender drafted since 2022. This includes First-Team All-Pro cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, a first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2024.

Toledo's ability to develop defensive backs should eliminate doubt as safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren enters the draft.

His size and physicality stand out at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, as does his ability to come downhill. He has 11 tackles for loss and a whopping nine forced fumbles in four collegiate seasons. While considered a great run stopper, he doesn't lack in coverage skills, having recorded a career five interceptions and 13 pass deflections. His 4.52 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine also helps his case.

Bucky Brooks, NFL.com analyst and The Raiders NFL Draft Podcast host, has McNeil-Warren ranked as his fourth-best safety in this year's draft class.

"Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is a rangy center fielder with outstanding awareness and ball skills," Brooks wrote. "Although he specializes in protecting the deep middle, the Toledo product also shines as an aggressive box-area defender when deployed as a designed run stopper from the second level.

Ted Hurst, Wide receiver, Georgia State

You might not know who Ted Hurst is, but I think he's arguably the best red zone threat in this year's draft class.

Yes, you read that correctly – and I stand on that.

He started his career at Division II powerhouse Valdosta State, where he caught 10 touchdowns in two seasons. The Georgia native decided to stay close to home by transferring to George State.

In his junior season, he caught nine touchdowns with 961 receiving yards. He followed up in his senior season by surpassing 1,000 receiving yards and adding another six touchdowns. What makes Hurst so impressive as a prospect is his large frame and catch radius. Standing at 6-foot-4 and over 200 pounds, he ranked in the 95th percentile of strong catch rates with a 59.3 percent contested catch rate by Pro Football Focus.

His big frame and strong hands are also supplemented with speed and leaping ability. He recorded a 4.42 40-yard dash and 36.5-inch broad jump at the NFL Combine.

"Just being under recruited coming out of high school, I felt like I was good enough to play Power 5 [football] from the beginning," Hurst said at the NFL Combine. "So just that chip on my shoulder, going out there and having to earn a scholarship, that's a chip for me."

Bryce Lance, Wide receiver, North Dakota State

Bryce Lance is widely regarded as a top FCS prospect, especially with two FCS national champions on his resume.

North Dakota State has churned out an immense amount of NFL talent from the FCS ranks, with five players drafted in the first two rounds since 2021. Lance should be considered the best receiver to come from the program since Green Bay Packers' Christian Watson, who Lance played with as an underclassman.

In Lance's two seasons starting for the Fighting Bison, he racked up 2,132 receiving yards and 25 total touchdowns. Like Hurst, his large frame matched with blazing speed is his superpower.

"Fifth-year senior with two seasons of explosive production as a boundary target," NFL.com's Lance Zierlein wrote. "Lance lacks release quickness/short-area agility as a route-runner but possesses outstanding ball skills and positional instincts that allow him to create catch space.

The receiver rose his draft stock tremendously at the Combine as he was one of four wideouts since 2003 to measure 6-foot-3 or taller, run a sub-4.4 40-yard dash and have a 40-inch-plus vertical jump.

He has his brother Trey as a mentor, who was a first-round pick in 2021 and is currently the backup quarterback behind Justin Herbert for the Los Angeles Chargers.