It didn’t go down exactly the way folks in Aggie Nation thought this weekend’s NFL draft might. But in the end, two unchosen UC Davis standouts — wide receiver Keelan Doss (Oakland Raiders) and linebacker Mason Moe (Philadelphia Eagles) have signed professional contracts.

Entering this year’s pro seven-round selection process, all local fans’ eyes were glued on Doss.

Twenty-seven wide receivers came and went during the three-day event in Nashville, Tenn.

More than 250 of the nation’s top football players were taken by 32 pro teams.

Doss often was ranked among the top 130 or so — at any position. But when UCLA tight end Caleb Wilson was taken by the Arizona Cardinals as the so-called “Mr. Irrelevant,” the last pick in the draft, UC Davis football fans were left rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

The former Walter Payton Award finalist and all-time great UCD wideout was still sitting with family and friends in his hometown of Alameda … undrafted.

So what happened?

“Who knows?” Davis head coach Dan Hawkins told The Enterprise on Saturday night. “It’s always so hard (to evaluate players correctly). I talked to a ton of scouts and people had him from the second round all the way down to sixth round. I thought a conservative pick was between fourth and fifth.”

Surely, somebody knows talent when they see it …

Or don’t NFL scouts get enough exposure to FCS schools, especially from the West Coast?

Hawkins says that’s not it, adding: “It’s funny. You get to the middle down (in the draft picks), you still have to make the team. No guarantee on that. Sometimes it is a little more flash (that gets noticed).”

Hawkins, who was head coach at Boise State and Colorado before getting the UCD gig two years ago, was also an ESPN analyst. Having been intimately around NFL drafts in the past, the coach says there’s nothing for Doss to worry about.

First, almost immediately after the seventh round ended Saturday, Doss’ childhood-hero Raiders called and offered a rookie contract. Plus, as Hawkins points out, the guy who arrives at next month’s camp is still Keelan Doss: “Keelan will be fine. He’s going to outwork, out-think, out-hustle and out-dedicate everyone else. That’s just who he is.”

Hawkins chatted with Doss and his mother, Tammie Chambless, before the draft. The coach said he explained, “Hey, you might get taken early, so don’t lose your mind; you might get taken later … all you need is a shot. Truthfully, when you get down to the those later rounds, you’re dealing with NFL minimum salaries. Your bonus can be a little bit more, but it’s not significant.”

The so-called media experts like Bucky Brooks of NFL.com and SBNation.com’s Dan Kadar ranked Doss mid-pack among all NCAA football standouts.

Wasn’t it Doss who wowed scouts and a national television audience with four catches for 55 yards in the talent-laden Senior Bowl earlier this year? Didn’t representatives of 18 NFL teams show up to watch the 6-3, 211-pound All-American go through his paces at UCD’s Pro Day on April 6?

“There were lots of eyes out there, and we were on television,” Doss said of his Senior Bowl appearance. “It was just fun for me to go out there and compete against the top guys in the country.”

Was Doss a little too laid back for scouts? Doss always let his numbers do his talking. His Davis school records include career receptions (321), receiving yards (4,069) and 100-yard games (19). Doss ended his college career with other UCD Big Sky-era program records like receiving touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (29) and all-purpose yards (4,218).

Ranked No. 3 in the nation last fall with a conference-high 9.1 receptions per game, last season’s Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year also ranked No. 13 nationally in receiving yards with his 102.6 yards-per-game figure. His nine receiving touchdowns were another top 25 total.

Of the 254 players locked into professional teams since Thursday, only 10 came from FCS teams. The Big Sky Conference’s lone representative was Idaho’s Kaden Elliss (LB), who went to New Orleans with pick 244.

Notes: Moe, the Hawaiian native by way of West Hills College, was part of that April Pro Day in Davis. Moe led the Aggies with 83 tackles, three interceptions, a forced fumble and a recovered fumble. In breaking up six other passes, scouts were impressed by the linebacker’s mobility. …Meanwhile, Aggie secondary members Vincent White and Isaiah Olave are in negotiation to get NFL camp invites, too, according to Hawkins. …In addition to Doss, two other standout Big Sky receivers went undrafted: Northern Colorado’s Alex Wesley and Emanuel Butler of Northern Arizona.

— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at [email protected] or 530-320-4456.