While purging some old files from my trusty Commodore 64, I came across a list of players from the 2017 IMG Academy football team. Finding such a large number of players from one team signing with FBS teams to be an anomaly, I used the list in my 2017 National Signing Day Recap.
Upon renewed inspection of the spreadsheet, it made me wonder: Whatever happened to those fellas? As most Crimson Tide fans know, two of them came to Tuscaloosa and one of them was drafted into the NFL. It just wasn’t the one we expected.
Of the 20 players listed, ten are in the NFL. For you that played high school football, can you imagine playing against ten future NFLers? Seven are still in the FBS with four at Power 5 schools.
Below is that original list with updated bios.
| Name | Pos | Stars | Rank | Ht | Wt | School | Status |
| Josh Kaindoh | DE | 5 | 10 | 6'5" | 241 | Florida State | CHIEFS 4th round 2021 |
| Dylan Moses | LB | 5 | 13 | 6'2" | 225 | Alabama | JAGUARS undrafted free agent 2021 |
| Cesar Ruiz | OL | 4 | 47 | 6'3" | 313 | Michigan | SAINTS 1st round 2020; nine starts |
| Isaiah Pryor | DB | 4 | 63 | 6'2" | 195 | Ohio State>Notre Dame | Still at ND as a regular contributor/non-starter |
| Grant Delpit | DB | 4 | 66 | 6'1" | 180 | LSU | BROWNS 2nd round 2020; suffered an Achilles tendon tear, missed the season |
| Jhamon Ausbon | WR | 4 | 73 | 6'4" | 214 | Texas A&M | EAGLES; opted out of the 2020 season to prep for the 2021 NFL draft. Went undrafted. #LifeChoices |
| Robert Hainsey | OL | 4 | 85 | 6'5" | 276 | Notre Dame | BUCCANEERS 3rd round 2021 |
| Jordan Anthony | LB | 4 | 108 | 6'1" | 220 | Michigan>Troy | After a year out of football, transferred to Troy. |
| Kellen Mond | QB | 4 | 110 | 6'3" | 199 | Texas A&M | VIKINGS 3rd round 2021 |
| Marcus Williamson | DB | 4 | 185 | 5'10" | 175 | Ohio State | Still at OSU; became a first time starter in 2020. |
| Santino Marchiol | LB | 4 | 337 | 6'3" | 223 | Texas A&M>Arizona | Left the A&M and made some wild uncorroborrated accusations about Jimbo Fisher's staff on his way out. Dismissed from Arizona after a racist video surfaced. Arrested for assault. |
| Kahlee "KJ" Hamler | WR | 4 | 338 | 5'9" | 152 | Penn State | BRONCOS 2nd round 2020; 30 catches for 381 yards and three touchdowns. |
| Tre McKitty | TE | 3 | 415 | 6'4" | 225 | Florida State>UGA | CHARGERS 3rd round 2021 |
| Emmanuel Greene | WR | 3 | 488 | 5'9" | 170 | UCF>New Mexico | starter at UNM |
| Jack Camper | TE | 3 | 760 | 6'4" | 225 | Michigan State | starter at Sparty |
| Dante Sparaco | DE | 3 | 881 | 6'5" | 265 | Colorado>Montana State>Colorado | Transferred from CU to MSU and back to CU. Out of football. |
| Broc Bando | OL | 3 | 1081 | 6'4" | 279 | Nebraska | starter at Nebraska |
| Elvis Hines | DB | 3 | 1682 | 5'10" | 172 | Kent State | starter at KSU |
| Elijah Watson | DT | 2 | 2257 | 6'4" | 275 | Miami(OH)>Juco>S.Illinois>Valdosta State | Four schools in four years pretty much tells the story. |
| Thomas Fletcher | ATH | 2 | 2527 | 6'1" | 215 | Alabama | PANTHERS 6th round |
Comments
None of the above
Thomas Fletcher
By dietcokeaddict on 07.18.21 11:22am
You...
…beat me to it, dc.
He’ll definitely have the long(est) snapping career…
By NiceLittleSaturday on 07.18.21 1:12pm
Fletcher will get a well-deserved pay hike
By dietcokeaddict on 07.18.21 1:38pm
This is probably the accurate answer.
By Law Abiding Citizen on 07.18.21 1:47pm
Flagged
Fuck Grant Delpit
Also, raise your hand if you knew Kellen Mond went to IMG. Now slap yourself, you didn’t know that.
By CrimsonRon on 07.18.21 12:52pm
That’s wild
I was feeling nostalgic so I decided to take a trip to eBay. Looked for vintage NES games and commodore 64’s right before I clicked on this post. That’s the universe telling me something.
By cbdavis on 07.18.21 1:31pm
I voted for Kellen Mond because
As the self proclaimed best QB in the SEC last year I'm positive he will have a long career holding that clipboard. All while using the skills the QB whisperer Jumbo taught him.
By bornbama1 on 07.18.21 5:02pm
Not gonna lie
Backup QB might be the best gig in the NFL.
By bamadan72 on 07.18.21 8:22pm
Mrs. McCarron agrees
By Juggerott on 07.19.21 8:05am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTJSLO0h6vU
By PiperTJ on 07.19.21 9:07am
Brent Musberger approves
By StablerRaider on 07.19.21 6:29pm
He's shallow...
…but he ain’t stupid…
By NiceLittleSaturday on 07.19.21 11:04pm
I disagree with Riley
https://247sports.com/Article/Lincoln-Riley-Oklahoma-Sooners-says-the-Big-12-is-the-most-innovative-league-in-the-country-2021-NCAA-Football-season—167935042/
By MeltdownThreadsAreNotReal on 07.18.21 5:12pm
I mean...
They innovate new ways to give up 700+ yards.
By OatsAndHoes on 07.18.21 7:58pm
And to prove Rileys statement the Big 12-2 has all those Golden Beer Tap Trophies to show for their innovation.
By bornbama1 on 07.19.21 7:12am
Santino Marchiol
Wow. Whatta maroon. Denied a walk-on spot at Colorado for being a turd.
By Drewy on 07.19.21 8:47am
By cecil.honeychurch on 07.19.21 9:07am
That’s an insane amount of talent on a high school team
I still hate it that Dylan went I undrafted. We all know he is much better than that, I think the NCAA should let these guys return to school if they are unhappy with their draft number. It was obvious Dylan wasn’t himself this year. He never passed that mental hurdle.
By cbdavis on 07.19.21 11:50am
I don't know...
…about this…
…but he definitely didn’t get the chance to pass that physical hurdle…
From the article (emphases mine):
Many people seem to overlook the fact that the "quarterback" of our defense, who played 10 games after getting his knee damaged, still went out and put up excellent numbers as our number one tackler while leading the team to a perfect record. If his injury-plagued days are over, he should have a long and productive professional career…
By NiceLittleSaturday on 07.19.21 2:12pm
I'm not great at evaluating LB play but I thought Moses and Dont'a Hightower had similar seasons coming off their injury. IIRC, Hightower didn't get reinjured the next year back.
I think Moses is going to have a good NFL career if he can get healthy.
By dietcokeaddict on 07.19.21 3:08pm
IIRC...
…we haven’t had a player overcome exactly what Dylan Moses did last season. To me he’s as much a 2020 hero as Smitty, Mac, Najee, Leatherwood, et al.
By NiceLittleSaturday on 07.19.21 11:07pm