That doesn't mean the league's 32 teams aren't looking for those guys, and it certainly doesn't mean that a guy from a smaller school won't eventually become the biggest name on an NFL campus.

Proof of that can be found right here in Philadelphia, where Villanova's Brian Westbrook is the team's star running back and one of eight players from a non-Division I school that finished last season on the Eagles' roster.

"That's a big project for us," Eagles general manager Tom Heckert said last week as the team prepared for the start of tomorrow's draft. "There are a bunch of guys this year from Division I-AA or II schools, and we start double-checking all those guys. You look at some guy who rushed for 1,900 yards at a small school, and if we had a [scout] give him a late-round or free-agent grade, we'll have a couple of other guys look at him to see if maybe he is draftable."

Heckert said a lot of time in the final month before the draft is spent looking at small-school players because the Eagles already have their boards set on the big-school guys. What the general manager and the Eagles' scouts want to see is domination.

"The smaller-school guys, they better dominate and be really good against the guys at their level," Heckert said. "Really, the tape is all that matters, and they have to be dominating."

That's what the Eagles saw from Westbrook, who was the first non-Division I player taken by the team during coach Andy Reid's tenure. Heckert said there was no question that Westbrook could play at the next level, which is why they took him in the third round.

"People talked about his size, but it didn't matter to us," Heckert said. "He wasn't like a midget and he was so productive that we thought for sure he'd make it."

Since the Westbrook selection, the Eagles took seven more non-Division I players, including McNeese State's Bryan Smith, North Dakota State's Joe Mays, and Wheaton College's Andy Studebaker last year. Smith and Mays were from BCS Subdivision schools (formerly I-AA), and Studebaker, who is now with the Kansas City Chiefs, played for a Division III school.

Heckert said it could be difficult to evaluate the small-school players.

"Especially for the guys that don't play in the all-star games," he said. "They're not playing against great players. There is a little bit of guesswork, but I think you can tell if a guy is a good football player. Sometimes you worry about the size of guys. Bryan, for example, isn't the biggest defensive end in the world, so you question how he's going to play against somebody like Tra Thomas. You have to go with your gut and see how he can handle that stuff."

Smith, a third-round pick, did not dress for any of the Eagles' 19 games last season, but Heckert still believes he can play.

"I'd be shocked if he's not a good player," Heckert said.

Mays, a linebacker selected in the sixth round, dressed for two games and played on special teams.

Both Smith and Mays admitted that the NFL wasn't on their minds when they accepted college scholarships.

"I just knew I had an opportunity to go to school for free," Mays said. "After my sophomore year, my coaches told me they thought I had what it takes to play in the NFL, and I just took that and ran with it."

Mays, who played high school football in Chicago, said he ended up at North Dakota State because he didn't start playing the game until his junior year and his grades were suspect.

"I didn't even know they had colleges in North Dakota," he said. "But then I went out and I met with the coaches and the players and it felt like home. If you want to play in the NFL, I don't think you can afford to have a bad game at a smaller school. But to me, the competition thing is overrated. We beat three Division I schools while I was there. We beat Ball State my junior year and Minnesota and Central Michigan my senior year."

Smith said he influenced NFL scouts during the Hula Bowl after registering 31 sacks in 31 games at McNeese State.

"I played linebacker in that game," he said. "I was in a lot of coverage and played a lot of special teams. I think I ended up with three tackles. At that point, I had no idea where I'd end up."

Like a lot of other small-school players in recent years, he landed with the Eagles.

Contact staff writer Bob Brookover at 215-854-2577 or bbrookover@phillynews.com.