Flutie was part of the 1984 Supplemental Draft, his class had graduated but had signed with the USFL
Dupree left for the USFL and was not eligible for the NFL draft until 1986 when his
freshman class was eligible and then the Rams took him in the normal draft.
He just couldn't play until later because his knee was demolished in the USFL and was on the mend.
Rams "future" draft picks were guys like Dick Bass and Roy Hord-guys in the 50s and 60s
that were taken while they still were playing college ball, but were eligible to play in the NFL
because their freshman class had graduated.
Rams took Bass in the 1959 draft and joined the team in 1960-Bass missed a year of college ball
because he broke a leg . .. but wanted to play his senior year of 1959
Another example was Donnie Anderson of the Packers, he was a junior when Packers drafted him
but was eligible for the draft-same as Bass was.
A technical thing---Staubach was not a future pick, he played all 4 years, and was eligible for the draft
was taken by Dallas and remained their property but he had to fulfill his military service..
he was like DuPree and Flutie--they were not so-called "future" picks, they were seniors but
chose or had to do different things. In DuPree's case, there was doubt that he'd ever play or if he'd want to.
But if he did, he'd have been Rams for a year--after that it gets even more technical
But "future" picks was a specific thing...a draft rule that didn't happen to my knowledge after the common
draft.
