Cowboys exec shares bold response to backlash over lack of drafted HBCU players

Dallas Cowboys vice president of player personnel Will McLay recently shared his response to the outcry over the lack of HBCU players selected in this year's NFL Draft. 

Speaking with Mike Fisher of SI.com, McLay said there's no "conspiracy" against drafting HBCU players, but they must meet one crucial factor. 

"I think the players have to have draftable grades," McLay said.

McLay's take shouldn't be a hot one, but some may view it as such. Simply put, McLay says the Cowboys are looking for talent everywhere, but those players have to be worthy of being drafted ahead of the crowded influx of talent that flies through the draft annually. 

After Jackson State's Isaiah Bolden was the only HBCU player selected last week in Kansas City, Deion Sanders went to bat for his former player and others in his position, saying he was "ashamed" of the 31 teams that went in other directions. 

Sanders has come under fire for being so outspoken about the issue soon after leaving an HBCU school for Colorado, which to some seems like a step backward for programs like Jackson State. Meanwhile, McLay lauded Sanders for his work publicizing HBCU players.

"Deion's doing a great job of promoting HBCUs and Colorado and all those things," McLay said. "And so that's part of what the deal is — he wants to see players drafted. We want to draft good football players and good football players come from everywhere." 

Sanders lifting Jackson State from obscurity has done unimaginable good for HBCU programs and the talent pool of players looking to get noticed by the NFL. While the number of HBCU players drafted dropped from four to one in 2023, they've seen plenty of interest from NFL clubs in free agency. According to SI.com's Kyle T. Mosley, 201 players from HBCU programs have signed with NFL teams this offseason, up from 12 in 2022.