The final cuts are in...

and a slew of Beavers can still proudly call themselves NFL players. Sean Mannion (St. Louis Rams), Terron Ward (Atlanta Falcons), Obum Gwacham (New Orleans Saints), Steven Nelson (Kansas City Chiefs) and DJ Alexander (also Chiefs!) have all made their respective teams' 53-man game day rosters. All five players will be suiting up on Sundays and competing in the most competitive football league on earth.

The spot for Ward is especially impressive considering that he wasn't drafted and had to work that much harder to dig out a spot for himself. This isn't the first OSU running back the Falcons have brought in recently. Last year, the Falcons rostered both JacQuizz Rodgers and Steven Jackson; this year, with Rodgers now with Chicago, they have Ward in the mix to fight for some snaps. Something tells me that somebody on that staff has Mike Riley's phone number.

In addition, Dylan Wynn has made the practice squad for the Cleveland Browns. If the Browns are hit with the injury bug this year, look for Wynn to be the next man up.

NFL teams are currently sorting out their practice squads and there will be more transactions in the coming days. The likes of Ryan Murphy, Tyrequek Zimmerman and Connor Hamlett, among other Beavers with NFL aspirations, still have a fighting chance of latching on. Teams can sign up to 10 players for their practice team, and those players can be signed by any NFL team at any time during the season. If you want to know more about the various rules and loopholes of the practice squad, our friends at Bleeding Green Nation wrote extensively on it here.

While I wouldn't recommend drafting any of these players in your fantasy league at this point (unless you're that guy), it's always nice to hear about former Beaver football players meeting success post-college.  It probably isn't too bad for recruiting, either.