Twelve of the 23 Auburn players selected in an NFL Draft with the 221st through 257th selections didn’t appear in a league game. But five other former Tigers picked in what will be the seventh round in the 2024 NFL Draft played in more than 60 games.
Four of those players were on Auburn’s 2004 team, which posted an undefeated record and won the SEC championship and the Sugar Bowl – Devin Aromashodu, King Dunlap, Ben Obomanu and Jay Ratliff.
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The 224th player picked in the 2005 NFL Draft, Ratliff became the Dallas Cowboys’ regular nose tackle in his third season. The next year, he started a run of four Pro Bowl seasons. In 2009, Ratliff was a first-team All-Pro selection. No Auburn player drafted deeper than Ratliff has gone on to become a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro.
Ratliff played in 122 regular-season games with 102 starts, Dunlap had 98 and 65, Obomanu 69 and 13 and Aromashodu 61 and 11.
The other Auburn player drafted in this range with at least 60 NFL games is Keith Uecker, the 243rd selection in 1982.
Ratliff, Dunlap, Obomanu and Aromashodu were seventh-round draft picks. But not all the 23 Auburn players picked from No. 221 through No. 257 were. The seventh-rounders have been chosen as early as No. 85 and as late as No. 259.
Over the decades, the picks comprising the seventh round have changed as the number of teams in the NFL has increased and the league has added compensatory choices as part of its free-agency plan.
The seventh round of the NFL Draft on April 27 in Detroit will consist of the 221st through 257th selections.
The Auburn players who have been picked with the 221st through 257th selections of an NFL Draft include:
No. 224 picks: G.W. Clapp, guard, Philadelphia Eagles, 1961; Jay Ratliff, defensive end, Dallas Cowboys, 2005.
No Auburn player drafted deeper than Ratliff has gone on to become a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro. Ratliff was selected for the Pro Bowl every season from 2008 through 2011 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2009 as the Cowboys’ nose tackle. Ratliff played in 122 regular-season games in 11 seasons.
No. 227 pick: Reggie Ware, running back, Los Angeles Raiders, 1988.
A track and football star at Butler High School, Ware is a member of the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame.
No. 229 pick: Mickey Zofko, running back, Detroit Lions, 1971.
Zofko played in 44 NFL regular-season games – the first 37 with Detroit. He ran for 67 yards on 21 carries, caught seven passes for 45 yards and returned 30 kickoffs for a 21.9-yard average during his career. He also completed his only NFL pass for 35 yards and kicked an extra point.
No. 230 picks: Billy Conn, back, New York Giants, 1951; King Dunlap, tackle, Philadelphia Eagles, 2008.
After Dunlap missed his rookie season because of a preseason injury, he played for eight years – four with Philadelphia and four with the San Diego Chargers. He became a starting left tackle in his fourth season and finished his career with 98 regular-season games and 65 starts on his record.
No. 231 pick: Everett Harwell, end, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1945.
Harwell is among the 12 Auburn players selected from 221st through 257th in the draft who did not play in the NFL.
No. 232 pick: Bob Scarbrough, center, San Francisco 49ers, 1956.
No. 233 picks: Devin Aromashodu, wide receiver, Miami Dolphins, 2006; Chandler Cox, fullback, Miami Dolphins, 2019.
Aromashodu didn’t make it into an NFL regular-season game with Miami, but he played in 61 across five seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings. He caught 78 passes for 1,193 yards and five touchdowns during his career. On Dec. 28, 2009, in the Bears’ 36-30 victory over the Vikings, Aromashodu caught seven passes for 150 yards and one touchdown. The TD came on a 39-yard connection with Jay Cutler and won the game in overtime.
Cox played in 13 games in 2019 and eight in 2020 for Miami. He had two receptions for 9 yards in his career.
No. 234 pick: Lee Hayley, end, Pittsburgh Steelers, 1953.
Hayley was an assistant coach at Auburn during his post-playing career and served as the school’s athletic director from 1972 through 1981.
No. 235 picks: Josh Holsey, cornerback, Washington Redskins, 2017; Dontavius Russell, defensive tackle, Jacksonville Jaguars, 2019.
Holsey played in 12 games as a rookie, but an offseason injury limited him to one game in 2018 for Washington.
Russell played in three games as a rookie, but a hip injury caused him to miss the 2020 season, and Jacksonville released him in 2021.
No. 236 pick: Bill Waddail, back, Baltimore Colts, 1950.
No. 237 pick: Stanley McClover, defensive end, Carolina Panthers, 2006.
McClover played in two games as a rookie and 11 in his second season with Carolina. He tackled Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Luke McCown in the final game of the 2007 season for his only NFL sack. McClover opened 2008 with the Houston Texans but was placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season when he got hurt in the first game and did not play again.
No. 239 pick: Charley Maxime, guard, Chicago Bears, 1956.
After leaving Auburn, Maxime spent 34 years as a teacher and coach at Murphy High School in Mobile.
No. 240 pick: Jim Pharr, center, Cleveland Rams, 1944.
Pharr went into the military for World War II, not the NFL.
No. 243 pick: Keith Uecker, tackle, Denver Broncos, 1982.
Uecker joined Green Bay off the waiver wire in 1984 and had an eventful eight years with the Packers. He won the Ed Block Courage Award in 1987, was in the group of 13 players who were the first to be suspended by the NFL for testing positive for steroids in 1989 and missed the 1986 and 1989 seasons with injuries. Uecker could play every line position. In 1988, he started all 16 games at right offensive tackle for the Packers. He’d played left guard in 1985. In 1990, he was Green Bay’s right guard.
No. 244 pick: Lee Ziemba, offensive tackle, Carolina Panthers, 2011.
Ziemba played in six games as a rookie, but spent most of his second season on injured reserve and never appeared another contest.
No. 249 pick: Ben Obomanu, wide receiver, Seattle Seahawks, 2006.
Obomanu played in six NFL seasons and 69 regular-season games. All but three of the games came with Seattle. He caught 88 passes for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns and averaged 23.8 yards on 16 kickoff returns during his career. Obomanu had two 100-yard receiving games. He caught five passes for 159 yards and one touchdown in a 42-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 28, 2010, and four passes for 107 yards in a 34-12 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 30, 2011. The touchdown against the Chiefs covered 87 yards.
No. 253 pick: Larry Rawson, back, San Francisco 49ers, 1964.
Rawsom played for the Huntsville Rockets of the North American Football League in 1965 and 1966.
No. 255 picks: Jerry Gordon, tackle, Los Angeles Rams, 1969; David Jordan, guard, New York Giants, 1984.
Gordon played for the Indianapolis Capitols of the Continental Football League in 1969.
Jordan played in 30 games in his first two seasons with the New York. He completed his career with three games, all starting assignments, for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1987.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.