ESPN NFL

The fourth round of the NFL draft is an important one, as teams have gotten through the first day and are reevaluating their strategies based on what happened on Day 1.

This year is no differenct as small-school prospects (Northern Colorado wide receiver Vincent Jackson) and underrated major-college players (Georgia quarterback David Greene) get a lot of notice in the fourth round as teams look for hidden gems, and history says they can be found.

The roster of current NFL players taken in recent fourth rounds contains plenty of productive players on both sides of the ball (most recent selections listed first): Mewelde Moore, Domanick Davis, Onterrio Smith, Quentin Griffin, Lee Suggs, Asante Samuel, Alex Brown, Randy McMichael, Larry Foote, Najeh Davenport, Rudi Johnson, Justin McCareins, Na'il Diggs, Brandon Stokley, Roosevelt Colvin, Aaron Brooks, Az-Zahir Hakim, Michael Pittman and Lance Schulters.

The number of running backs on that list should be a nice confidence-booster for guys like Brandon Jacobs of Southern Illinois, Marion Barber III of Minnesota, Eric Shelton of Louisville and Ciatrick Fason of Florida, all of whom I project as fourth-rounders this year.

There are seven wideouts (two from UCLA) in my projection and six defensive backs, as well as small-school guys from places like Southern Miss, Cal Poly-SLO, Southeast Missouri State and San Diego State.

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