STRONG DRAFTED BY PATRIOTS IN FOURTH ROUND

LAS VEGAS — South Dakota State running back Pierre Strong, Jr. was selected in the fourth round of the National Football League Draft Saturday by the New England Patriots. Strong was the 22^nd pick of the fourth round and the 127^th overall.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong finished his career third on the all-time rushing charts at SDSU with 4,527 yards. He rushed for 1,000 yards in three separate seasons (2018, 2019, 2021), including leading the Football Championship Subdivision with 1,668 yards during the 2021 campaign en route to being named a Walter Payton Award finalist and consensus All-America honoree.

He later was chosen to play in the East-West Shrine Game.

Strong is the third Jackrabbit player to be drafted in the last five seasons and the fourth all-time to be selected in the top four rounds. A complete list of South Dakota State's NFL draftees follows:

SDSU DRAFT HISTORY
1939: Bob Riddell, end, Philadelphia (17)
1951: Harry Gibbons, back, Chicago (20)
1951: Dick Peot, tackle, Detroit (28)
1953: Pete Retzlaff, back, Detroit (22)
1955: Jerry Welch, back, Baltimore (22)
1956: Dick Klawitter, center, Chicago (8)
1957: Harwood Hoeft, end, Baltimore (24)
1958: Wayne Haensel, tackle, New York Giants (25)
1959: LeRoy Bergan, tackle, Baltimore (17)
1961: Leland Bondhus, tackle, Green Bay (19)
1962: Joe Thorne, back, Green Bay (12)
1962: Ron Frank, tackle, San Francisco (16)
1964: Wayne Rasmussen, back, Detroit (9)
1966: Ron Meyer, quarterback, Chicago (7)
1966: Ed Maras, end, Green Bay (20)
1970: Tim Roth, defensive end, Oakland (16)
1973: Phil Engle, tackle, Green Bay (11)
1975: Lynn Boden, tackle, Detroit (1)
1975: Jerry Lawrence, defensive tackle, Houston (8)
1976: Todd Simonson, defensive tackle, Houston (6)
1976: Bob Gissler, defensive end, Miami (14)
1978: Bill Matthews, linebacker, New England (5)
1980: Chuck Loewen, offensive lineman, San Diego (7)
1986: Bruce Klostermann, linebacker, Denver (8)
1993: Doug Miller, linebacker, San Diego (7)
1995: Adam Timmerman, offensive lineman, Green Bay (7)
1999: Steve Heiden, tight end, San Diego (3)
2010: Danny Batten, defensive end, Buffalo (6)
2018: Dallas Goedert, tight end, Philadelphia (2)
2019: Jordan Brown, cornerback,Cincinnati (7)
2022: Pierre Strong, Jr., running back, New England (4)
Note: Round selected in parentheses

-GoJacks.com-

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