NFL draft or not, Fort Mill alum Rogan Wells just wants a chance at pro football dreams
All Rogan Wells has ever needed is a chance.
The former Fort Mill High School quarterback is hoping he gets that chance in the next few weeks to pursue his NFL dreams.
Wells — a 6-foot-4, 220-pound quarterback who played the 2021 college football season at Western Carolina — told The Herald earlier this week that he doesn’t expect his name to be called in the 2022 NFL Draft, which began Thursday and continues through Saturday.
But Wells also said that he has been working in the offseason with the hope that an NFL team gives him a shot at making its rookie mini-camp in early May.
“I’m just hoping one team, one guy, will say, ‘Hey, let’s look at this guy from Western Carolina and see if he can do anything,’” Wells said in a phone conversation Tuesday. “And then it’s my job to show what I can do.”
Wells has played well everywhere he’s been.
He graduated from Fort Mill High in 2016, and in three years as a Yellow Jacket he accumulated 41 rushing touchdowns, 1,568 rushing yards, 32 passing touchdowns and 5,125 passing yards.
Out of high school, Wells remembers only getting one or two offers. And that gave him a drive that fueled his decorated college career at Division II football power Valdosta State.
In three years there, Wells did pretty much all one can do at that level of football. He won a national championship. He finished his career eighth all-time in school history in rushing yards (1,932), fifth in rushing touchdowns (25), sixth in career completions (543), third in passing touchdowns (69) and second in total offense with 9,026 yards.
He was also a two-time finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy — the most valuable player award of NCAA Division II football — and was named Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Decade in 2020.
Ahead of the 2020 season, Wells transferred to Division II school Tusculum. And then in 2021, thanks to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, he transferred once more to Western Carolina in Cullowhee — where he completed 207 of 356 passes for 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and notched a passer rating of 130.6.
Wells called his time at Western Carolina “a lot of fun,” and said that getting in the portal was “definitely an experience.”
On Tuesday, he compared the feeling of being in the transfer portal to how he feels now — a quarterback who likely won’t be drafted, but who has goals of being invited to a team’s rookie mini camp: “Getting ready for this draft process,” he said, “a lot of things are just up in the air.”
Wells participated in Western Carolina’s Pro Day, which was a combined effort hosted by UNC Charlotte. He also said he was invited to, and participated in, a 30-player camp hosted by the Panthers — where players from the area or area schools got to show out for the team.
The Fort Mill native will get answers on his future soon enough. NFL rookie mini-camps for most teams run either May 6-9 or May 13-16. (It’s worth noting, too, that the Canadian Football League draft is scheduled for May 3, and Wells could begin his pro football career in the CFL.)
According to one report, Wells is rated as the 31st-best quarterback eligible for this year’s NFL draft. That means he has plenty to prove, like he always has.
He just needs a chance to do it, he said.
“It’s all about getting that one opportunity,” Wells said, “and you gotta capitalize on it.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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