Pre-draft visit tracker: FCS prospects attracting widespread NFL team interest

Cole Payton, North Dakota State’s top-ranked FCS quarterback on HeroSports at No.3 with a fifth-round projection and Draft Scout overall prospect rank of No.171, illustrates why NFL teams are combing the FCS this spring: NFLTradeRumors published a 2026 NFL Draft Visit Tracker on March 3 that compiles reported pre-draft meetings, Combine formal interviews, pro-day visits and private-team workouts across the entire draft class. NFLTR added, "We will be tracking pre-draft meetings between prospects and teams ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, which begins on Thursday, April 23," and the tracker is organized by team to log everything from Combine interviews to 30-visit lists.

TheAnalyst places the activity in longer-term context and flags roster flow: "The draft numbers have declined for the FCS this decade as player transfers to the upper-tier FBS have occurred more frequently," but it also notes, "This year, though, NDSU still leads the way for the many FCS NFL prospects." Josh Buchanan’s pre-Combine FCS update, cited by TheAnalyst, keeps Bryce Lance at No.1 for North Dakota State and lists Daniel Sobkowicz of Illinois State at No.4, a receiver projected as a 7th-round Priority Free Agent who finished his Redbirds career with 262 receptions and 41 touchdown catches and 3,559 receiving yards.

San Francisco’s local tracker confirms that NFL clubs are turning up across the all-star circuit and pro days. 49ersWebZone, in a tracker published Feb. 28 and updated Mar. 6, details the team’s contact: Other Meetings include OT Travis Burke of Memphis (Justin Melo), LB Khalil Jacobs of Missouri (Ryan Fowler) and WR Keontez Lewis of Oklahoma (Easton Butler). The site lists reported interest in WR EJ Williams Jr., Indiana (Easton Butler), and logs 49ers attendance at showcase events including the Hula Bowl (CB Duce Chestnut, Syracuse; K Laith Marjan, Kansas), the NFL-FCS Showcase (WR Treyvhon Saunders, Colgate), the East-West Shrine Bowl (DB Myles Rowser, Arizona State) and the Senior Bowl (LB Bryce Boettcher, Oregon). The 49ersWebZone tracker reminds readers that "The 49ers are permitted to formally meet with up to 45 prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine. However, they can hold informal meetings with as many prospects as they choose."

Across independent rankings, HeroSports’ FCS board mixes draftable mid-round names and late-round/PFA types: Cole Payton (No.3, projected 5th), J’Mari Taylor of NC Central (No.4, projected 5th-6th), Kaleb Proctor of Southeastern Louisiana (No.5, projected 5th-6th) and Daniel Sobkowicz again at No.8 on that list with a HeroSports projection of 6th-7th and Draft Scout overall rank No.235. That overlap — Buchanan placing Sobkowicz at No.4 while HeroSports slots him at No.8 — highlights how pro teams are triangulating film, Combine metrics and private visits to sort small-school talent.

Measurement data circulating in the Draft Bible also feeds team decisions: AllAccessFootball’s excerpted list records declared Combine athletes and invites, from OT Kadyn Proctor at 6062, 369, 5.36e to WR Aaron Anderson at 5075, 187, 4.38e and RB Raleek Brown at 5075, 195, 4.35e. NFLTradeRumors reminds that "Virtual meetings over Zoom have become a fixture since the 2020 pandemic," and that teams still rely on all-star games, the Combine and pro days to convert interest into workouts and 30-visit invites.

The practical implication is blunt: with the NFL Draft opening April 23 and running April 23-25 in Pittsburgh, tracked meetings will help determine which FCS players land late-round draft slots or Priority Free Agent contracts. Jarod Washington’s FCS-leading 23 passes defended and Daniel Sobkowicz’s school-record receiving volumes are the kind of quantifiable storylines that turn tracker entries into roster-impact moves. As NFLTradeRumors and team-specific trackers continue updating through pro days, expect the visit logs to be the roadmap teams use to turn FCS production into NFL opportunities.