Next in our series of all-college conference rosters are the conferences that make up the Group of 5 (G5), the American Athletic Conference (AAC), Conference USA (C-USA), the Mid-American Conference (MAC), the Mountain West Conference (MW), and the Sun Belt Conference. Each of these conferences individually don’t have the player pools to stick with our criteria, so we’ve combined them into one to make this All G5 roster. Take a look at what the 2017 roster looked like here, Group of 5 NFL Roster 2017. After looking at the pool of players, we decided to go with a gun, spread offense and a 3-4 base defense.

The Criteria

The criteria is very similar to last year with 3 main differences. The addition of a player on their 5th year extension, the spreading of rookie deals throughout different rounds of each draft, and making sure each college in the conference is represented.

The roster must be under the current salary cap of $177.2M

We use an even spread of rookie deals roughly based on league averages: 8 from 2017, 6 from 2016, 5 from 2015, and 1 player from the first round of the 2014 draft that is on their 5th year extension (where applicable)

These rookie deals will also be spread throughout different rounds of that years draft, to better simulate an actual roster

We will include one rookie from each round of the draft (were applicable)

Each college in the conference will be represented

We will have a well rounded roster that includes role players and special team

The Offense

Quarterbacks

QBs Ben Roethlisberger Cooper Rush Taylor Heinicke PIT DAL CAR $23.2M $557K $705K Miami (OH) Central Michigan Old Dominion

As tempting as it was to take Blake Bortles (more like his small $10M cap hit) at the top of this roster, there was one obvious choice, Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger will go down as one of the top 5 greatest NFL players to come out of the MAC on his way to the Hall of Fame. Backing him up will be a pair of UDFA, from 2017 out of Central Michigan, Cooper Rush, and from 2015 out of Old Dominion, Taylor Heinicke.

3 roster spots filled, 50 left

$24.462M Spent | $152.738M Left

Running Backs

RBs Kareem Hunt Jay Ajayi Matt Breida KC PHI SF $778K $1.907M $557K Toledo Boise State Georgia Southern Ito Smith ATL $635K Southern Miss

There are a number of good backs to chose from out the G5, but one stands out, the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt. He exploded onto the scene last year, leading the league in rushing after being a 3rd round pick out of Toledo. Backing him up will be currently Eagles running back, Jay Ajayi. Taking the role of 3rd down/change of pace back is an UDFA from 2017 out of Georgia Southern, Matt Breida. We round out the RBs with our first rookie of the roster, 4th round pick out of Southern Miss, Ito Smith.

4 roster spots filled, 46 left

$3.877M Spent | $148.861M Left

Wide Receivers

WRs Antonio Brown Davante Adams Kenny Golladay PIT GB DET $7.955M $10.538M $766K Central Michigan Fresno State Northern Illinois Michael Gallup Justin Hardy Trey Quinn DAL ATL WAS $702K $840K $480K Colorado State East Carolina SMU

A lot of solid choices at the wide receiver position for this roster. We decided to take advantage of some of our cap savings to splurge on 2 number 1 WRs at the top, Antonio Brown and Devante Adams. We traded back into the 3rd round of the 2017 draft to grab our 3rd WR in this spread offense, out of Northern Illinois, Kenny Golladay. Backing them up, we have our 3rd round pick out of Colorado State, Michael Gallup, and 4th round pick from 2015 out of ECU, Justin Hardy. We wrap things up with our 7th round pick, Mr. Irrelevant, Trey Quinn. Quinn will see a little time in the slot and contribute on special teams.

6 roster spots filled, 40 left

$21.281M Spent | $127.58M Left

Tight Ends

TEs Travis Kelce Antonio Gates Tyler Higbee KC LAC LAR $9.956M $2.5M $775K Cincinnati Kent State Western Kentucky Gerald Everett LAR $1.374M South Alabama

Starting at tight end is arguably the best TE in the league at the moment, from Cincinnati, Jason Kelce. Coming in on 2 TE sets is future Hall of Famer, Antonio Gates. As long as he’s out there doing his thing, we feel he deserves a spot on this roster. We round out the TEs with teammates from the LA Rams, Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett.

4 roster spots filled, 36 left

$14.605M Spent | $112.975M Left

Offensive Line

OL T Joe Staley T Charles Leno G Brandon Brooks SF CHI PHI $10.919M $5.9M $4.768M Central Michigan Boise State Miami (OH) G Will Hernandez C Jason Kelce T Ty Sambrailo NYG PHI ATL $1.355M $7.2M $959K UTEP Cincinnati Colorado State G Wes Schweitzer C Chase Roullier ATL WAS $663K $592K San Jose State Wyoming

Anchoring the offensive line at the left tackle position is former 1st round pick out of Central Michigan, Joe Staley. Starting opposite him is current Bears LT out of Boise State, Charles Leno. Moving down to the guards, we have veteran Brandon Brooks and our 2nd round pick out of UTEP, Will Hernandez. Finally we fill the center position with the other All-Pro Kelce brother, Jason Kelce. We have a pair of teammates from the Falcons backing up the tackles and guards, Ty Sambrailo and Wes Schweitzer. We round out the offensive line with the Redskins starting center, 6th round pick from 2017 out of Wyoming, Chase Roullier.

8 roster spots filled, 28 left

$32.356M Spent | $80.619M Left

Offensive Spending Breakdown

The offense accounted for 54.7% of the total team salary. We had a fairly even spread of money throughout the backfield (QB/RB), the outside (WR/TE), and the offensive line.

The Defense

Defensive Line

DL Matt Ioannidis Linval Joseph Muhammad Wilkerson WAS MIN GB $630K $8.05M $4.888M Temple East Carolina Temple Terrell McClain LT Walton Justin Hamilton ATL PIT KC $1.475M $734K $555K South Florida Central Michigan Louisiana–Lafayette Bruce Hector PHI $482K South Florida

Starting on this 3 man front, we have a pair of former Temple Owls, Muhammad Wilkerson and the Redskins’ 5th round pick from 2016, Matt Ioannidis. Starting at the nose is our last Pirate of the roster, Linval Joseph. Serving as primary backup for this defensive line is the Falcons’ Terrell McClain and the Steelers’ LT Walton. We round out the d-line with a pair of UDFA, from 2015 Justin Hamilton, and from this season out of South Florida, Bruce Hector.

7 roster spots filled, 21 left

$16.814M Spent | $63.805M Left

Linebackers

LBs Khalil Mack Bobby Wagner Haason Reddick CHI SEA ARI $13.8M $13.6M $3.063M Buffalo Utah State Temple Marcus Davenport Shaquem Griffin Shaquil Barrett NO SEA DEN $2.499M $559K $2.914M UTSA Central Flordia Colorado State Nick Vigil Eddie Yarbrough CIN BUF $829K $555K Utah State Wyoming

Now we get to the real strength of this roster, the linebacking corps. We’ll start with our primary pass rusher, and only Buffalo Bull, Khalil Mack. Starting opposite him is our 1st round pick out of UTSA, Marcus Davenport. The 2 of them should be able to put some serious pressure on opposing QBs. Moving to the inside, we have our Mike backer, from Utah State, Bobby Wagner. He’ll be joined on the inside by our 1st round pick from 2017, Haason Reddick. Backing up the inside is the Bengals’ Nick Vigil and our 5th round pick out of UCF, Shaquem Griffin. Backing up the outside, we have veteran Shaquil Barrett and 2016 UDFA out of Wyoming, Eddie Yarbrough.

8 roster spots filled, 13 left

$37.819M Spent | $25.986M Left

Cornerbacks

CBs Byron Jones William Jackson III Bryce Callahan DAL CIN CHI $2.736M $2.647M $1.907 Connecticut Houston Rice Phillip Gaines Orlando Scandrick Cornell Armstrong BUF KC MIA $720K $1.259M $510K Rice Boise State Southern Miss

Starting on the outside, we have our only UConn alum, Byron Jones, and our 1st round pick from 2016 out of Houston, William Jackson. Just missing the cut was the Jagaurs’ AJ Bouye. His $15.5M cap hit is more than we ending up spending on the entire group of corners, and would have left us thin at other positions. Starting at nickel is the Bears’ Bryce Callahan. Providing primary depth is the Bills’ Phillips Gaines and the Chiefs’ Orlando Scandrick. Lastly, primarily providing special teams support, we have our 6th round pick from Southern Miss, Cornell Armstrong.

6 roster spots filled, 7 left

$9.779M Spent | $16.207M Left

Safeties

Ss Kevin Byard Andrew Sendejo Glover Quinn TEN MIN DET $1.009M $3.5M $6.517M Middle Tennessee Rice New Mexico George Iloka MIN $880K Boise State

Starting at free dafety for this All G5 roster is All Pro from Middle Tennessee, Kevin Byrd. Starting next to him at strong safety is the Vikings’ Andrew Sendejo. Backing them up are a pair of veterans, Glover quin and George Iloka. There were multiple choices for the safety position, but we felt this gave us the best combination talent, value, and experience.

4 roster spots filled, 3 left

$11.906M Spent | $4.301M Left

Defensive Spending Breakdown

The defense accounted for only 43.2% of the overall team spending. Rookies in key starting positions and cheap veterans kept the defensive spending down. The contracts of Khalil Mack and Bobby Wagner made the linebackers easily the most expensive group, accounting for almost 50% of the defensive spending and 21.4% of the entire roster spending.

Specialists and Head Coach

ST and HC K Jake Elliott P Ryan Allen LS Mike Windt PHI NE LAC $555K $2M $1.07M Memphis Louisiana Tech Cincinnati Head Coach Sean McVay Miami (OH)

A lot of quality kickers to chose from for this G5 roster, Stephen Gostkowski, Will Lutz, Matt Prater, Chris Boswell, Jason Sanders, but we chose to go with the babyfaced 2017 5th round pick out of Memphis, Jake Elliott. We went with the lefty from New England, Ryan Allen, at punter. We finish out the roster with our long snapper from Cincinnati, Mike Windt.

Former wide receiver from Miami University Sean McVay will take over as head coach for this G5 roster. McVay would have caught passes from his starting QB on this roster in college, but his freshman year was the year Big Ben was drafted (2004).

3 roster spots filled, 0 left

$3.625M Spent | $676K Left

The Starting 22

Offense QB Ben Roethlisberger RB Kareem Hunt Z Antonio Brown X Davante Adams Slot Robby Anderson TE Travis Kelce LT Joe Staley LG Will Hernandez C Jason Kelce RG Brandon Brooks RT Charles Leno

Defense DE Muhammad Wilkerson NT Linval Joseph DE Matt Ioannidis Sam Marcus Davenport Mike Bobby Wagner Will Haason Reddick Jack Khalil Mack CB Byron Jones CB William Jackson III SS Andrew Sendejo FS Kevin Byard

2019 Draft

New for this year, we are including a mock draft for each team for the 2019 NFL Draft. Each player is within a round of where we have them projected as of the time of this post.