[ By STEVE CARPENTER ]
[ HCC SPORTS INFORMATION ]
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson Community College football team saw six former players head for the National Football League this past weekend.
A program record three players were selected as draft picks in this weekend’s NFL Draft in Philadelphia. Then late Saturday and into Sunday, three more former Dragons signed undrafted free agent deals.
This was the first time in Blue Dragon football history to have more than one player drafted in a single NFL Draft. Six former Blue Dragons have now been selected in the NFL Draft in the Rion Rhoades era.
With the 2017 NFL Rookie Class, Blue Dragons football has now had 31 players on NFL rosters, 14 in the Rhoades’ era.
Here is a list of the former Blue Dragon players in the 2017 NFL Rookie Class:
Gerald Everett – Los Angeles Rams (2nd round, 44th overall pick)
The highest drafted Blue Dragon came in the second round when the Los Angeles Rams drafted tight end Gerald Everett with the 44th overall pick on Friday. That made him the second-highest drafted Blue Dragon in history.
Everett never appeared in a game with the Blue Dragons in 2012 or 2013. The 6-foot-3, 239-pound tight end played only one year of high school football. Then after his time in Hutchinson, he moved onto Alabama-Birmingham where he caught 17 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown in 2014.
UAB dropped football, which forced Everett to transfer to South Alabama. He earned first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors in 2015 and 2016 with a combined 90 receptions for 1,292 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Everett is the first Blue Dragon ever selected by the Rams organization.
Alvin Kamara – New Orleans Saints (3rd round, 44th overall pick)
Many draft experts think the Saints got an absolute steal by getting Alvin Kamara in the third round. The 2014 Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Year and first-team NJCAA All-American made the most of his one season with the Blue Dragons.
A native of Norcross, Georgia and transfer from the University of Alabama, Kamara’s 65-yard touchdown against Coffeyville on Oct. 4, 2014 will be remembered for years, but he had a four-game stretch against Iowa Central, Dodge City, Coffeyville and Garden City that was as good as any HCC running back in history. Over those four games, Kamara produced 688 rushing yards, 817 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns.
But it was a late-game sequence against Coffeyville where Kamara earned his nickname and a spot in Blue Dragon football lore.
With Hutchinson trailing 35-28 with less than 3 minutes remaining and facing third-and-12 from its own 35, Kamara took a swing pass from Kylen Binn and despite being surrounded by four Coffeyville defenders, broke numerous tackles and found a seem to a 65-yard game-tying touchdown with 2:28 remaining.
Then with HCC on its own 2 with 40 seconds left, Kamara took a pitch to the right side and ran all the way to the HCC 38. After a long pass to the Dragon 17, Kamara again broke to the right side and scored the game-winning touchdown with 7 seconds left in the game.
Kamara became the 17th HCC running back to reach 1,000 yards for the season. Kamara finished 10th on the HCC single-season rushing list with 1,211 yards on 172 carries. He’s averaged 7.0 yards per carry, which ranks second in team history. With 21 total touchdowns, Kamara tied for second place on HCC’s single-season list. His 126 points are also tied for second place with Mack Herron.
Kamara returned to the SEC with the Tennessee Volunteers where he played for two seasons in an impressive running-back rotation.
Jeremiah Ledbetter – Detroit Lions (6th round, 205th overall pick)
Jeremiah Ledbetter was a two-year starters who was a two-time All-Jayhawk Conference performer and second-team NJCAA All-American in 2014.
Ledbetter finished the 2014 season with 78 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss and 15.5 quarterback sacks, the second most in single-season Blue Dragon history. Ledbetter also had seven quarterback hurries, two fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks on special teams.
Ledbetter closed his Blue Dragon career with a flourish as he had three quarterback sacks and 10 total tackles in a Defensive MVP performance in the 2014 Salt City Bowl.
For his career, Ledbetter finished with 144 total tackles and his 22.5 career quarterback sacks tied Adam Davis for No. 2 on the Blue Dragon career charts.
Ledbetter then transferred to Arkansas where he was a two-year starter who amassed 104 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss and eight quarterback sacks.
Marquavius Lewis – Buffalo Bills (undrafted free agent)
A defensive end from Greenwood, South Carolina, Marquavius Lewis was also the 2014 Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2014, Lewis racked up 63 total tackles, including 23 solo tackles. He has had 20.5 tackles for loss for 112 yards. Lewis was second on the team with 11 quarterback sacks. As a relentless pass rusher, Lewis also has 21 quarterback hurries this season.
Lewis also tallied three passes broken up, two forced fumbled and a fumble recovery. Lewis had quarterback sacks in 6 of 13 games played this season.
But it was in Hutchinson’s huge 35-26 road victory at No. 6 Butler on Sept. 13 where Lewis was simply dominant. Against the Grizzlies, Lewis had a season-high 13 tackles with four tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks in helping the Blue Dragons snap a 23-game losing streak to the Grizzlies.
Two weeks after that, Lewis earned NJCAA National Player of the Week honors with a dominant performance against Dodge City. He had eight total tackles, but 3.5 tackles for loss for 16 yards. He had two quarterback sacks, including a sack/fumble, one of three Blue Dragon takeaways.
Lewis 11 quarterback sacks this season were eight most in program history. His 18.5 career sacks rank No. 6 on that statistical list.
Lewis completed his Blue Dragon career with 132 total tackles, 39.5 tackles for loss and 40 quarterback hurries.
Lewis then transferred to South Carolina where he started every game for the Gamecocks in 2015 and 2016, finishing with 93 tackles, 4.5 quarterback sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.
Claude George – Seattle Seahawks (undrafted free agent)
Relentless was perhaps the best way to describe George, the Lafayette, Louisiana, native in his two seasons with the Blue Dragons. In earning second-team All-America honors in 2014, George finished the season with 69 takes, 14 tackles for loss and 4.5 quarterback sacks. There were times it seemed like George was all over the field as he also had one interception, four passes broken up 10 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles and two blocked kicks.
George finished his career with 125 total tackles, two interceptions and 27 quarterback hurries.
George transferred to Texas A&M University where he registered 51 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and an interception in his senior season with the Aggies.
Eddie Gordon – Carolina Panthers (undrafted free agent)
Eddie Gordon played only one season at Hutchinson in 2013 as a starting offensive lineman. The 2013 Blue Dragons went 8-4 where he earned honorable mention all-Jayhawk Conference honors. With Gordon on the offensive line, the 2013 Blue Dragons ranked eighth in the NJCAA in total offense and 10th in the nation in scoring at 37.5 points per game. He also earned a Blue Dragon Athletic/Academic Achievement award.
After Hutch, Gordon went to Louisiana-Lafayette. After appearing in only six games in 2014, Gordon anchored the Ragin’ Cajuns’ offensive line with 25 total starts, 24 at center.