Per Jason Fitzgerald of the indispensable OverTheCap.com site, 37% of all fourth-round picks make it to a second contract, and 10% make it to a major contributing role in that second contract. Last year, Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (taken with the 138th overall pick out of Louisiana Tech) and Bills receiver Gabriel Davis (takcn with the 128th overall pick out of Central Florida) proved to be important additions to top NFL teams. Other active impactful players taken in the fourth round include David Bakhtiari, Kirk Cousins, Geno Atkins, K.J. Wright, and some guy named Dak Prescott. You may have heard of him.
If we want to take this into the Wayback Machine, Hall-of-Famers like Steve Largent, Andre Reed, Harry Carson, John Stallworth, and Charles Haley were all taken in the fourth rounds of their drafts.
So, just because you were taken outside the first three rounds doesn’t mean you can’t take the NFL by storm, even if the NFL didn’t think much of you to start. Here are four players who could prove to be absolute steals in the 2021 fourth round.
