NEW ORLEANS – Forty-nine Sun Belt alumni—representing all 10 football programs—earned National Football League (NFL) roster spots entering the 2021 season. Twenty-nine will don NFL uniforms during the league’s opening weekend as part of their team’s 53-man active rosters.
Georgia Southern paces all Sun Belt programs with six alumni on NFL active rosters—Tyler Bass (Buffalo Bills), Matt Breida (Buffalo Bills), Raymond Johnson III (New York Giants), Younghoe Koo (Atlanta Falcons), Jerick McKinnon (Kansas City Chiefs) and Kindle Vildor (Chicago Bears).
App State—Akeem Davis-Gaither (Cincinnati Bengals), Colby Gossett (Atlanta Falcons), Shemar Jean-Charles (Green Bay Packers), Kendall Lamm (Tennessee Titans) and Sam Martin (Denver Broncos)—and Louisiana—Kevin Dotson (Pittsburgh Steelers), Robert Hunt (Miami Dolphins), Elijah Mitchell (San Francisco 49ers), Christian Ringo (New Orleans Saints) and Tracy Walker III (Detroit Lions)—closely follow the Eagles, each boasting five former standouts on NFL opening weekend rosters.