Does 17 players that had a stint in an NFL roster mean the team was all-time stacked? My guess is no
So I took a look at 2017 Utah, one of their worst seasons in recent memory. The team finished 7-6 with a 3-6 conference record for a 5th place finish in the PAC 12 South. Definitely not a great season. Not absolutely terrible (they did win a bowl game at least...!) but not a season we'd call particularly memorable
And here's a list of players on that team that were signed to an NFL roster at some point (including those who only had a contract in the preseason, same as the BYU list)
- Jordan Agavisa
- Bradlee Anae
- Cody Barton
- Jackson Barton
- Julian Blackmon
- Marquise Bell
- Terrell Burgess
- Darren Carrington III
- Kylie Fitts
- Nick Ford
- Leki Fotu
- Matt Gay
- Javelin Guidry
- Chase Hansen
- Tyler Huntley
- Jaylon Johnson
- Devin Lloyd
- Lowell Lotuleilei
- Siaosi Mariner
- Zack Moss
- Samson Nacua
- Josh Nurse
- Darrin Paulo
- John Penisini
- Hauati Pututau
- Mika Tafua
- Bryan Thompson
- Orlando Umana
- Mitch Wishnowsky
And it may be more as I'm not as familiar with Utah to know which players may have been preseason UDFAs that were quickly cut.
Bottom line, there's a LOT of players that get signed as UDFA, even if they don't really have long careers. And more than anything we need to get away from viewing one or two draft picks and 3 UDFAs as a sign of a stacked team. (multiply that by 4 years and you end up with 18 players eventually touching NFL rosters from any given year)