The NFL draft is April 25th, and the Mountain West looks to have a few players officially move onto the pros. On those lines, I thought I’d look at how well former Mountain West players have performed recently. It gets a harder to follow those players if they aren’t on teams we usually follow.... or root against. I know some Boise State fans were very conflicted when four former Broncos were on the Dallas Cowboys roster...
With the transfer portal it gets a little muddy determining what exact school gets credit for a player, so to keep it simple I’m giving credit to any school where a player spent at least one season.
Per Pro Football Reference 89 former Mountain West players were on NFL rosters last year (excluding practice squad players):
Pro Football Reference also measures who’s had the best career through a weighted career approximate value (wAV) stat. Below is the total wAV for each school, based on those 89 active players
And here are the top players, by wAV:
The Mountain West very quietly has produced some solid players. Bobby Wagner has arguably been the best linebacker of the past decade, Josh Allen is the reigning league MVP, and Davante Adams is one of 10 receivers in league history with 100+ touchdowns. All three will likely end up in the Hall of Fame. Beyond that, three starting quarterbacks have come from the Mountain West.
This got me thinking - how good of a team could you build with Mountain West alumni last season? This list is subjective, however, here’s what I came up with for the offense:
This passing attack would be exciting. Josh Allen is a top five quarterback, and top three depending who you ask. Adams had a down year, partly due to being traded mid-season and dealing with all of the Jets drama, but still had over 1,000 yards. Trey McBride was the second best tight end in the league according to PFF.
The downside is the running game, specifically the offensive line. Warren is a solid complimentary running back in Pittsburgh. Cleveland and Bitonio were average offensive linemen according to PFF last year, ranking 52nd and 57th among qualifying guards. The others were primarily backups, though Corbett started 50 games from 2020-2022 for the Rams and Panthers.
That’s not to say the Mountain West has never produced quality linemen. Ryan Clady, Donald Penn, and Samson Satele, and Byron Bell were all regular starters in the early 2010s.
Here’s the defense, which was a little harder:
Linebackers were pretty strong, headlined by Wagner. Outside of Granderson, the defensive line did not contribute much. While Lawrence missed most of last season with a foot injury, he has over 60 career sacks and has been to four pro bowls. Like the offensive linemen, the Mountain West defensive lineman are going through a bit of a rough patch. In recent years players like Tyrone Crawford and Tyeler Davison had solid careers, though both are out of the league now.
The defensive backs have also seen better days. Bland was injured this past year, but is still young and in 2023 set the NFL single season record for interceptions returned for touchdowns. Damontae Kazee from San Diego State and Tashaun Gipson from Wyoming have had good careers as safeties. In 2023, they combined for 23 starts, however, in 2024, neither recorded a start and saw minimal playing time for the first time since their rookie seasons.
Two other notable MW alumni I haven’t touched on much yet are Jordan Love and Derek Carr. Love has thrown 57 touchdowns the past two seasons and is carrying on the Packers’ frustratingly consistent quarterback success (seriously, 1991 was the last time they had a legitimate need to get a quarterback). Carr ranks seventh in touchdown passes over the past decade (236).
Conclusion
While the Mountain West isn’t producing as many prospects as the SEC or Big Ten, it’s still turning out some solid players - especially at receiver and, somewhat surprisingly, quarterback. The conference had three quarterbacks start 10+ games last year, which is more than any other Group of 5 conference or the Big Ten (not accounting for last summer’s conference realignment). Having an actual MVP as an alum is also pretty sweet. We’ll see how many future Mountain West stars get their shot at the next level on April 25th