The 2024 NFL Draft will conclude on April 27 with its 257th pick, the player who will be dubbed Mr. Irrelevant.

But in the 88 previous NFL drafts, 40 players have been picked from Auburn with selections that had higher numbers than 257.

Eight of those players defied their draft positions and played in the NFL.

Most prominent of those odds-beaters is linebacker Mike Kolen.

Chosen 289th in the 1970 NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, Kolen was a 12th-round pick – five rounds past where the 2024 draft will end.

“Captain Crunch” went right into the Dolphins’ lineup at right outside linebacker, and he stayed there until injuries forced him out.

Kolen played in 84 NFL regular-season games and 11 playoff contests. He went to three consecutive Super Bowls, and when Miami defeated the Washington Redskins 14-7 on Jan. 14, 1973, for its second straight NFL championship, the Dolphins became the only team in league history to complete the regular season and playoffs without a loss.

The other Auburn alumni who entered the NFL as picks that don’t exist in the 2024 draft and played in league games include:

· Chosen 258th in 1985 by the Detroit Lions, wide receiver Clayton Beauford played in one NFL regular-season game.

· Chosen 264th in 1985 by the San Diego Chargers, defensive back David King played in four NFL regular-season games.

· Chosen 294th in 1990 by the Philadelphia Eagles, guard/long snapper John Hudson played in 139 NFL regular-season games.

· Chosen 304th in 1981 by the Oakland Raiders, running back Chester Willis played in 52 NFL regular-season games.

· Chosen 304th in 1984 by the Dallas Cowboys, defensive lineman Dowe Aughtman played in seven NFL regular-season games.

· Chosen 305th in 1987 by the Chicago Bears, running back Tim Jessie played in three NFL regular-season games.

· Chosen 312th in 1988 by the Green Bay Packers, wide receiver Scott Bolton played in four NFL regular-season games.

The Auburn players who have been picked with the 258th selection or later of an NFL Draft include:

No. 258 pick: Clayton Beauford, wide receiver, Detroit Lions, 1985.

Beauford sustained a knee injury in the Senior Bowl and didn’t reach the NFL until 1987. He played in one game for the Cleveland Browns and returned a kickoff 22 yards in a 20-10 victory over the New England Patriots on Oct. 4, 1987.

No. 260 pick: Bill Turnbeaugh, tackle, Green Bay Packers, 1953.

Early in his career at Auburn, Turnbeaugh was billed as “Blind Bill,” who “played by ground vibrations.” While legally blind, Turnbeaugh wore an early version of contact lenses.

No. 261 pick: Steve Taylor, center, Houston Oilers, 1974.

No. 262 picks: Cleve Wester, tackle, New York Giants, 1958; James Owens, running back, Los Angeles Rams, 1973.

Wester played in Canada for the Toronto Argonauts in 1959.

The first African American player at Auburn, Owens did not stick in the NFL after having knee surgery following his senior season with the Tigers. He later became an assistant coach at Auburn and the head coach at Miles College.

No. 264 pick: David King, defensive back, San Diego Chargers, 1985.

King played in one game with San Diego in 1985 and three with the Green Bay Packers in 1987.

No. 266 pick: Jim Thompson, tackle, Indianapolis Colts, 1989.

A prep standout at Enterprise, Thompson became a county commissioner in Coffee County.

No. 267 pick: Danny Sanspree, defensive end, St. Louis Cardinals, 1973.

A prep standout at Escambia County High School, Sanspree is a member of the Atmore Area Hall of Fame.

No. 268 pick: Mailon Kent, back, Minnesota Vikings, 1963.

No. 270 pick: Harold Hallman, linebacker, San Francisco 49ers, 1986.

Hallman played nine seasons in the Canadian Football League, including for the Toronto Argonauts’ Grey Cup championship team in 1991. He was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie and won the Jackie Parker Trophy as the West Division’s best rookie in 1986. Hallman made the All-CFL team four times and recorded 82 sacks in his career.

No. 273 pick: Eric Ramsey, defensive back, Kansas City Chiefs, 1991.

No. 274 pick: Joe Baughan, tackle, Washington Redskins, 1963.

Baughan played for the Gadsden Raiders of the Southern Football League in 1964.

No. 276 pick: Carlo Cheattom, defensive back, Buffalo Bills, 1989.

Cheattom played for the San Antonio Riders of the World League of American Football in 1991.

No. 278 pick: Bob Meeks, center, Denver Broncos, 1992.

After playing eight games with Denver in 1993, Meeks played in the Canadian Football League for the Baltimore Stallions in 1995 and the World League of American Football for the Barcelona Dragons in 1996.

No. 281 pick: Dick Plagge, running back, Buffalo Bills, 1968.

No. 286 pick: Bill Braswell, guard, Kansas City Chiefs, 1967.

No. 289 pick: Mike Kolen, linebacker, Miami Dolphins, 1970.

No Auburn player drafted deeper than Kolen has become a regular starter in the NFL. The former Berry High School standout was an immediate starter for Miami and earned two Super Bowl rings as the Dolphins’ right linebacker before an injury ended his career after seven seasons. Kolen played in 84 regular-season and 11 playoff games and started 88 of them.

No. 290 pick: Jim Jeffrey, tackle, Chicago Cardinals, 1959.

Jeffrey compiled a 113-4-2 record as the wrestling coach at Vestavia Hills High School.

No. 294 pick: John Hudson, guard, Philadelphia Eagles, 1990.

Hudson never started a game in his NFL career, but he played in 139 of them. No Auburn player drafted deeper than Hudson can match his longevity in the pros. Hudson played 10 seasons with Philadelphia, the New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens, getting most of his action as a long snapper.

No. 297 pick: Claude Matthews, guard, Houston Oilers, 1981.

Mathews played for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1982 and 1983.

No. 301 pick: Jim Cook, back, Detroit Lions, 1958.

No. 304 picks: Chester Willis, running back, Oakland Raiders, 1981; Dowe Aughtman, defensive tackle, Dallas Cowboys, 1984.

Willis played in 52 regular-season and five playoff games for the Raiders – in 1981 in Oakland and in 1982 through 1984 in Los Angeles. He ran for 73 yards and one touchdown on 32 carries and caught one pass for 24 yards in the regular season. In the Raiders’ 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII, Willis had a 7-yard run. Willis scored his touchdown on a 15-yard run in a 33-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 15, 1981.

Aughtman played in seven games for Dallas in 1984 after being switched from the defensive line to guard. A training-camp injury caused him to miss the 1985 season, and the Cowboys let him go during training camp in 1986.

No. 305 pick: Tim Jessie, running back, Chicago Bears, 1987.

Jessie played in three games for the Washington Redskins in 1987. He ran for 37 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and caught one pass for 8 yards. Jessie scored on a 14-yard run in a 38-12 victory over the New York Giants on Oct. 11, 1987. Jessie played in the NFL while the regular players were on strike. He went on to play three seasons with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. In 1989, he ran for 808 yards and nine touchdowns on 160 carries and caught 18 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 312 picks: Phil Gargis, running back, New York Jets, 1977; Scott Bolton, wide receiver, Green Bay Packers, 1988.

A quarterback at Auburn, Gargis played safety while trying to make the Jets’ roster.

No Auburn player drafted deeper than Bolton has played in an NFL regular-season game. The former Theodore High School standout’s career consisted of four games with Green Bay in 1988, and he caught two passes for 33 yards.

No. 316 pick: Hindman Wall, end, Philadelphia Eagles, 1958.

Once the Auburn record-holder in the javelin, Wall served as the athletic director at Cincinnati, Tulane and Tampa after football.

No. 321 pick: Reggie Slack, quarterback, Houston Oilers, 1990.

After playing for the New York/New Jersey Knights of the World League of American Football in 1992, Slack spent nine seasons in the Canadian Football League. During his pro career, Slack threw for 16,173 yards and 84 touchdowns and ran for 2,578 yards and 48 touchdowns.

No. 326 pick: Leo Sexton, end, Philadelphia Eagles, 1959.

No. 330 pick: Freddy Weygand, wide receiver, Chicago Bears, 1989.

No. 346 pick: Tom Bryan, fullback, Atlanta Falcons, 1967.

Bryan played three seasons with the Alabama Hawks – in 1967 in the Pro Football League of America and in 1968 and 1969 in the Continental Football League. Bryan was the All-PFLA halfback in 1967, when he ran for 670 yards and seven touchdowns on 114 carries and caught 21 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns.

No. 353 picks: John Adcock, tackle, Baltimore Colts, 1950; Thom Gossom, wide receiver, New England Patriots, 1975.

Gossom portrayed Councilman/attorney Ted Marcus on the TV series “In the Heat of the Night.”

No. 361 pick: Bobby Beaird, defensive back, Boston Patriots, 1967.

No. 362 pick: John “Rat” Riley, kicker, Raiders, 1970.

Riley went on to become an inspirational speaker.

No. 371 pick: Wallace Clark, running back, Atlanta Falcons, 1971.

No. 402 pick: Tommy Lunceford, punter, Dallas Cowboys, 1968.

No. 405 pick: Harry Unger, running back, Cincinnati Bengals, 1973.

No. 431 pick: David Langner, defensive back, Kansas City Chiefs, 1974.

After Kansas City chose the “Punt, Bama, Punt,” hero, the 1974 draft had 11 more picks.

No. 440 pick: Dick Schmalz, wide receiver, Minnesota Vikings, 1972.

Two players were selected after Schmalz — Western Michigan defensive back Vern Brown by the Miami Dolphins and Bethune-Cookman defensive tackle Alphonso Crain by the Dallas Cowboys. As with Schmalz, neither Brown nor Crain played in the NFL. But the player picked immediately in front of Schmalz — Mississippi Valley State linebacker Ted Washington — started 117 games in 10 NFL seasons.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.