Ex-college football star Diego Pavia hit with ‘brutal reality’ during NFL Draft, sportscaster says

Heisman Trophy finalist Diego Pavia faced the “brutal reality” of being undrafted over the weekend and only receiving an invite to Baltimore Ravens camp, sports reporter Dan Patrick said Monday.

Pavia became the first Heisman Trophy finalist not selected in the NFLNFL Draft in more than 10 years.

Patrick claimed on his show that this was a “really clear” message from the NFL.

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“Diego Pavia was an undrafted Heisman Trophy finalist. There are a few reasons for that. He was very, very good in the SEC; that has to stand out and that has to make you eligible for the draft. You have to be drafted just for what you do. You did that for Vandy in the SEC. You can have personality at other positions. You can get carried away, you can get embraced, but you can’t be at the backup quarterback because the quarterback is evaluated differently. You can be an elite talent and get away with it.”

“The message from the NFL was very clear that unless you’re a can’t-miss prospect, professionalism is not only valued, it’s required, and that hurts Diego Pavia. Also, he’s not a big guy. If you check, most of your backup quarterbacks aren’t short quarterbacks. Diego Pavia might be 5-10, but you start looking at what you do in pre-draft meetings with teams. … (Tim) Tebow, Cam Newton, (Colin) Kaepernick, other examples of backup quarterbacks making a lot of headlines or not being headlines.” It has potential.”

Patrick pointed to Pavia’s friendship with Johnny Manziel and his sarcastic comments about Fernando Mendoza on Heisman night as other reasons why Pavia was not drafted.

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Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia runs the ball during the game against Louisiana State University at FirstBank Stadium on October 18, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Nicole Hester/ Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK, via Imagn Images)

“Football moves fast. He moves fast, just like Johnny Manziel. … But Diego Pavia has a personality, but he doesn’t have the personality that I would want as a backup quarterback. I don’t think he’s good enough to be a starter in the NFL. He’s not Doug Flutie. I mean, Doug Flutie was 5-9, won the Heisman Trophy, but he had the ideal personality to be a backup quarterback and was ready to step in when needed. Flutie was actually ahead of his time.”

“But Diego Pavia, the personality, that’s who you are. You sell that personality. But I don’t believe that. Teams don’t buy that. Teams didn’t buy Shedeur Sanders.”

NFL coaches have a hard enough time trying to win games without their personalities making headlines, Patrick said.

Patrick added that NFL teams often want a quarterback who is seen and not heard from, or a player who doesn’t draw too much attention to himself.

“You probably have to have a backup quarterback that you don’t see a lot of, and that’s a good thing. If you’re one of the McDown brothers and you’ve been there for 15 years, Chase Daniel, you’ve had a good college career, you want to make sure that guy is there too, just in case,” he said.

Patrick said Pavia’s reality check was that teams didn’t want him to be the star, they just wanted him to help at point guard.

“And that was the brutal truth that Diego Pavia was handed over at the weekend. He was not drafted.”

Pavia was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and caught 3,539 passes and 29 touchdowns while helping the Commodores get back on the map.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia talks with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza as the quarterbacks run a drill at the NFL scouting facility in Indianapolis on Feb. 28, 2026. (Michael Conroy/AP)

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Vanderbilt was 10-3 last season and nearly made the College Football Playoff.