Montana State stands alone with NFL Draft picks in every FCS decade

Tommy Mellott’s jump to the Las Vegas Raiders in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, 213th overall, did more than send the Bobcats’ quarterback to the league. It pushed Montana State’s pro pipeline into another decade and left the Bozeman program standing alone in FCS history.

Opta Analyst’s count shows Montana State as the only current FCS program with at least one NFL Draft selection in every decade since the subdivision began. The Bobcats’ run reaches back to the 1979 NFL Draft and runs through 2025, with draft names scattered across every era of the modern game: Mark Fellows and Kirk Timmer in the 1980s, Corey Widmer and Sean Hill in the 1990s, Johnathan Taylor, Joey Thomas and Mike Person in the 2000s, Beau Sandland in the 2010s, and Troy Andersen, Daniel Hardy and Mellott in the 2020s.

That kind of continuity is rare because it has survived changes in offensive fashion, scouting priorities and what NFL teams ask FCS prospects to do. Montana State has kept producing players who fit different pro molds, from linemen and linebackers to skill players and quarterbacks, and the list stretches across multiple generations rather than a single golden run.

Mellott’s draft stock was built on a 2024 season that made him the first Montana State player to win the Walter Payton Award, FCS football’s top offensive honor. He followed that by helping deliver one of the biggest wins in school history, then took the next step when the Raiders called his name in Green Bay. For a program that has long sold itself on making players better, Mellott became the latest proof point.

The championship backdrop only sharpened the picture. Montana State beat Illinois State 35-34 in overtime on January 5, 2026, to win the 2025 FCS national title, its second in school history and first since 1984. The Bobcats had already reached the championship game in 2021 and 2024, then finally broke through in Frisco, Texas, to pair a national crown with another NFL draft pick.

That combination is what separates Montana State from other FCS powers that have flashed and faded. The Bobcats have kept winning at the highest level in the subdivision while also sending players to Sundays, decade after decade. In a landscape where hot streaks come and go, Montana State’s pipeline has endured.