SmashMouth

The 2014 NFL draft was full of impressive receivers.

Of the players who ranked in the top seven in receiving yards in the FBS in 2013, six went in the first two rounds of the draft — Brandin Cooks, Davante Adams, Jordan Matthews, Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson and Mike Evans. Teams deemed six other receivers worthy of first- or second-round picks, too, including LSU's Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry.

Then, there was Willie Snead, a Ball State standout who ranked third in the country with 1,516 yards that year. None of the 32 teams drafted him.

The Cleveland Browns gave Snead his first chance as an undrafted rookie, but cut him after the preseason. He then unsuccessfully tried out for the New York Giants, and a few weeks into September, he joined the Carolina Panthers' practice squad only to be cut in November.



Snead didn't know it at the time, but his experience of looking for a job would end when the New Orleans Saints added him to the practice squad that December. The Saints signed him to a futures contract at the end of the season, and in 2015, he proved that so many teams made a mistake.

"At the end of the day, I think it just came down to my speed," he said Saturday. "I didn't have any film in the NFL. I had a few plays in Cleveland for the preseason, but I don't know if guys wanted to take a risk on a guy that ran a (4.62-second 40-yard dash at the combine).

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