2018 UDFA Tracker and a Word of Warning

Ryan McDowell Posted On May 7, 2018

The 2018 NFL Draft has come and gone and many NFL hopefuls ended the weekend disappointed when their name was not called. While this is frustrating for the players (and dynasty owners), it is not the end for most of them. Many of these players have already been signed as undrafted free agents, commonly referred to as UDFAs.

While this status could be a setback, it is not a complete deterrent. Since 1994 when the NFL Draft decreased to seven rounds, a relatively large number of productive seasons have come from these UDFAs. For the purpose of this research, I focused only on starter seasons, meaning players that finished among the top 12 scoring quarterbacks and tight ends or top 24 scoring running backs and wide receivers.

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Position	Total Number of Starter Seasons	Number of Starter Seasons (UDFAs)	Percentage of Starter Seasons (UDFAs)
QB	288	26	9%
RB	576	56	9.7%
WR	576	37	6.4%
TE	288	28	9.7%

At first glance, these numbers are actually pretty encouraging. Essentially around ten percent of the top fantasy scorers from any given season over the past 23 have been undrafted free agents. In digging a bit deeper, it appears a few standout players are responsible for a large part of those start seasons.

Among the 26 starting seasons for quarterbacks, seven came from Tony Romo and another four each from Jeff Garcia and Kurt Warner. The running back position looks like the best opportunity for dynasty players to gamble on UDFAs, with 56 starter seasons in the studied time frame. Of those 55, Priest Holmes and Fred Jackson posted five apiece, with Pierre Thomas and Arian Foster notching four such seasons, totaling 18 among them.

Wide receiver seems to be the toughest position for UDFAs to crack the elite group on an annual basis, with only 37 total starter seasons. Of the 37, Rod Smith had eight of those and Wes Welker had seven. Every other UDFA wideout since 1994 managed just 19 total starter seasons, which is less than four percent. The encouraging news is that last year gave us three such seasons thanks to Adam Thielen, Robby Anderson and Doug Baldwin, with Thielen and Baldwin safe bets to repeat their top 24 performance in 2018.

Finally, the tight end position has been dominated by Antonio Gates, who has accounted for 12 of the 26 total starter seasons among UDFAs. Former Colt Marcus Pollard chipped in another five seasons and every other UDFA tight end managed just nine starter seasons.

With that dose of reality, let’s return to the class of 2018 and some of the big names who surprisingly went undrafted. If you are careful and diligent, you might find the next Romo, Holmes, Smith or Gates…just don’t expect it.

Here’s a list of all skill position players who have been signed as UDFAs since the draft concluded last week. Consider players in italics priority options in the late rounds of your rookie drafts.

Buffalo Bills

Robert Foster, WR

Cam Phillips, WR

Miami Dolphins

Buddy Howell, RB

New England Patriots

Chris Lacy, WR

Ralph Webb, RB

New York Jets

Dimitri Flowers, RB

Vin Enware, RB

Ryan Green, RB

Baltimore Ravens

Gus Edwards, RB

Jaelon Acklin, WR

Nick Keizer, TE

Andre Lovrone, WR

Mark Thompson, RB

De’Lance Turner, RB

Cincinnati Bengals

Jordan Franks, TE

Zach Green, RB

Adonis Jennings, WR

Ray Lawry, RB

Quinton Flowers, QB

Devonte Boyd, WR

Virnel Moon, WR

Cleveland Browns

Da’Mari Scott, WR

Darvin Kidsy, WR

Derek Willies, WR

Pittsburgh Steelers

Jarvion Franklin, RB

Quadree Henderson, WR

Pharoah McKever, TE

Denver Broncos

Phillip Lindsey, RB

Jimmy Williams, WR

Josh Diarse, WR

Kansas City Chiefs

Byron Pringle, WR

Blake Mack, TE

Elijah Marks, WR

Chase Litton, QB

Darrel Williams, RB

Los Angeles Chargers

Cole Hunt, TE

Ben Johnson, TE

JJ Jones, WR

Detrez Newson, RB

Nic Shimonek, QB

Kent Shelby, WR

Oakland Raiders

Marcus Baugh, TE

Saeed Blacknall, WR

Houston Texans

Lavon Coleman, RB

Vyncint Smith, WR

Terry Swanson, RB

Jester Weah, WR

Indianapolis Colts

Steve Ishmael, WR

Jacksonville Jaguars

Allen Lazard, WR

Dorren Miller, WR

Tennessee Titans

Devin Ross, WR

Deontay Burnett, WR

Ethan Wolf, TE

Jordan Veasy, WR

Akrum Wadley, RB

JT Luper, WR

Cameron Batson, WR

Larry Rose, RB

Dallas Cowboys

Dalton Sturm, QB

Jordan Chunn, RB

Malik Earl, WR

David Wells, TE

Marchie Murdock, WR

New York Giants

Davon Grayson, WR

Jawill Davis, WR

Stephen Baggett, TE

Philadelphia Eagles

Josh Adams, RB

Jeremiah Briscoe, QB

Brandon Silvers, QB

Ray Bolden, WR

Jordan Gandy, WR

Anthony Mahoungou, WR

Washington Redskins

Simmie Cobbs, WR

Micah Holder, WR

De’Mornay Pierson-El, WR

Matt Flanagan, TE

Martez Carter, RB

Shay Fields, WR

Cam Sims, WR

Chicago Bears

Ryan Nall, RB

Garrett Johnson, WR

Detroit Lions

Kyle Lewis, WR

Brandon Powell, WR

DeAndre Goolsby, TE

Teo Redding, WR

Green Bay Packers

Damon Gibson, TE

Tim Boyle, QB

Kevin Rader, TE

Minnesota Vikings

Jeff Badet, WR

Jake Wieneke, WR

Mike Boone, RB

Roc Thomas, RB

Korey Robertson, WR

Kamryn Pettway, RB

Tyler Hoppes, TE

Armanti Foreman, WR

Peter Pujals, QB

Arizona Cardinals

Chad Kanoff, QB

Trent Sherfield, WR

Jalen Toliver, WR

Alec Bloom, TE

Jonah Trinnaman, WR

Andrew Vollert, TE

Corey Willis, WR

Los Angeles Rams

Codey McElroy, TE

Steven Mitchell, WR

LaQuvionte Gonzalez, WR

Ricky Jeune, WR

San Francisco 49ers

Ross Dwelley, TE

Steven Dunbar, WR

Jack Henegan, QB

Jeff Wilson, RB

Seattle Seahawks

John Franklin, WR

Taj Williams, WR

Troy Williams, QB

Caleb Scott, WR

Ka’Raun White, WR

Atlanta Falcons

Malik Williams, RB

Jake Roh, TE

Kurt Benkert, QB

Dontrez Byrd, QB

Demario Richard, RB

Justin Crawford, RB

Troy Mangen, TE

Christian Blake, WR

Detrich Clark, WR

Devin Gray, WR

New Orleans Saints

Keith Kirkwood, WR

Deon Yelder, TE

Carolina Panthers

Kyle Allen, QB

Reggie Bonnafon, RB

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Shaun Wilson, RB

Austin Allen, QB

Donnie Ernsberger, TE

Jason Reese, TE

Erv Phillips, WR

Sergio Bailey, WR

Tanner Hudson, TE

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Ryan McDowell

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

In addition to his senior leadership role here at DLF, Ryan is also a husband, father of three and PE teacher. Ryan is the commissioner of multiple dynasty leagues, most notably the Kitchen Sink Dynasty Leagues. Here at DLF, Ryan’s focus is on identifying, monitoring and analyzing player value.