Best undrafted players ever

A familiar face makes the list

Jeff Saturday – unlike most of the players on this list, Saturday played major college football. He went to North Carolina, where he was named All-ACC his junior and senior seasons. He started the last 37 games of his collegiate career and was also named academic All-ACC. His senior season, in 1997, the Tar Heels averaged 29 points per game en route to an 11-1 season, crushing Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl. He blocked for Jonathan Linton, who led the team with 1000 rushing yards. From ’97 to ’99, 18 Tar Heels were drafted into the NFL, but Saturday was not one of them. The man Saturday would spike the ball to for a decade was also All-conference as a senior in ’97, but Peyton Manning became the #1 pick in the 1998 draft. After the draft, the Ravens signed Saturday, but cut him a couple of months later; he sat out the entire 1998 season, and signed with the Colts in 1999. He became a full-time starter for the Colts in 2000, and Saturday and Manning started 154 games together in the ’00s. He’s a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time AP first-team All-Pro; last season, he was the leader of a line that allowed only 10 sacks on Manning. Saturday helped the Colts win the Super Bowl in ’06 and win the conference championship in 2009. His block on Vince Wilfork in the AFCCG not only helped scored the winning touchdown, but it vaulted him over the top to win TMQ’s non-QB, non-RB 2006 NFL MVP award.