Where Are They Now: Jon McGraw

A walk-on at Kansas State, Jon McGraw began as a fourth-string quarterback, was moved to wide receiver, and wound up finding a home at safety, where he was a starter his last two seasons.

And after being chosen by the Jets in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft, he’d find a new home in New York.

“My agent gave some indicators of what teams were looking for safeties and might be looking about the time that I was projected to go. And so I had an idea,” McGraw said. “But the Jets weren’t on my or his radar at all. I was pretty shocked when I got the call.

“I’d never been to New York before, hadn’t been much out of the Midwest. And New York seemed like a really obviously big place and very different from where I had grown up. But once I talked with Terry Bradway, the GM, and Herm Edwards, the head coach, I was super excited to capture a little bit of their vision for where the team was going and my potential role.”

Playing mainly as a nickelback and on special teams as a rookie, McGraw collected his first interception in Week 14 against Denver, when with less than two minutes left, he intercepted Brian Griese’s pass at the 2-yard line, and helped preserve a 19-13 win.

“The Broncos got the ball for the final possession and drove all the way down, and we had a certain call covered,” McGraw said. “I got credit for the play, but we had a really great re-route from a linebacker, James Darling, on the slot receiver that I was in a zone coverage over the top of.

“And we got great pressure from the D-line that forced Griese to throw the ball a little early, and he ended up throwing it almost right to me. I was able to make the catch and seal the game. It was a tremendous feeling to be able to get the first interception in a really meaningful game and at a crucial part in the game, as well.”

McGraw opened the following season as the starting free safety. And while the Jets began with a disappointing 0-4 start, things unfortunately got worse for him in the fifth game, against…