Lehigh sends three seniors to NFL rookie minicamps after historic season
A 12-0 run and a Patriot League title pushed TJ Burke, Langston Jones and Matt Spatny from Bethlehem to NFL rookie minicamps with three different teams.
Lehigh’s breakout season did more than fill the trophy case. It put three seniors on NFL offseason paths, with TJ Burke headed to the Philadelphia Eagles, Langston Jones to the New York Jets and Matt Spatny to the Seattle Seahawks for rookie minicamp work.
The invites were a direct extension of a year that changed the program’s standing. Lehigh finished 12-0 in the regular season, beat Lafayette 42-32 to secure its league-leading 14th Patriot League title and earned its sixth undefeated regular season, first since 2001. The Mountain Hawks also returned to the FCS playoffs for the second straight year, turning a program that won just four total games in Kevin Cahill’s first two seasons into one that has won 21 games and two championships over the last two years.
For NFL evaluators, the appeal starts with production that showed up on film every week. Jones, a four-year starter at right guard, anchored an offense that ranked fifth in the FCS in rushing and fourth nationally in fewest sacks allowed at 0.69 per game. He collected four All-America honors in 2025, including second-team recognition from the Associated Press, AFCA and FCS Football Central, plus third-team honors from Stats Perform. That résumé marked him as one of the best small-school interior linemen in the country, and it earned him a look even after he went undrafted.
Burke and Spatny gave Lehigh a defensive front that overwhelmed opponents in different ways. Burke finished with 37 tackles, seven tackles for loss and four sacks, while earning first-team All-Patriot League honors for the second straight year. Spatny was even more disruptive over the course of the season, leading the Mountain Hawks with 14 tackles for loss, ranking second with nine sacks and adding 26 tackles. He also broke Lehigh’s career sack record, finishing at 24.5. Together, they were part of a defense that led the FCS in rushing defense at 70.1 yards allowed per game and ranked fourth nationally in sacks at 3.31 per game.
Rookie minicamps, which open in early May, give undrafted players and tryout invites their first chance to work directly with NFL coaches in an evaluation setting. For Lehigh, the three invitations are another proof point that the 2025 run was not just about winning in the Patriot League. It produced linemen with size, technique and production that translated to the next level, and that is a message as valuable in recruiting as it is in pro personnel rooms.
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