Defense ruling among FCS draft picks

Published Apr. 30, 2016 7:41 p.m. ET

foxsports

(STATS) - North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz may have been the second pick of the 2016 NFL draft, but no team knows defense wins championships quite like his former FCS program - the five-time reigning champion Bison.

On Saturday - the third and final day of the draft - NFL teams continued to look to defenses across the FCS to build their futures.

In a strong season for defensive backs, the first three FCS selections in the fourth round were North Carolina Central cornerback Ryan Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 108th overall selection), Southern Utah strong safety Miles Killebrew (Detroit Lions, 111) and Northern Iowa free safety Deiondre' Hall (Chicago Bears, 127).

That meant the next six FCS selections after Wentz went to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night were defensive players. Friday night's picks were Eastern Kentucky defensive end/outside linebacker Noah Spence (Tampa Bay, 39) and Samford cornerback James Bradberry (Carolina Panthers, 62) in the second round and South Carolina State defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (Pittsburgh Steelers, 89) in the third round.

Also in the fourth round, the Cleveland Browns selected Princeton wide receiver-turned-tight end Seth Devalve (138).