NEW YORK, N.Y. - Former Saginaw Valley State University wide receiver Jeff Janis (Tawas City, Mich. / East Tawas HS), who recently graduated from SVSU after rewriting the receiving record books for the Cardinals, was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2014 National Football League Draft.
Janis went to the Packers with the 236th overall pick and was the fourth Division II player selected in the draft. He was the 30th receiver taken, a position that was regarded by many as the deepest position in the draft.
As a junior, the two-time All-American led all of Division II in receiving with 1,635 yards. His 4,305 career receiving yards and 46 touchdowns made Janis one of the top receiving prospects in the country.
Janis was named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference "Offensive Back of the Year" the past two years and set several school and conference records along the way.
The highlight of his senior season was when he hauled-in 15 catches for a school record 331 yards and four touchdowns in SVSU's 47-34 victory over Hillsdale College on October 26th.
The 6-foot-3, 219-pounder impressed scouts at the NFL combine with a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash. He also had high marks with 20 reps in the bench press, a 37.5 vertical jump and a time of 6.64 seconds in the 3-cone drill.
Janis is only the fourth player out of Saginaw Valley State University to be drafted.
Offensive lineman Todd Herremans was the last Cardinal to go in the draft when the Philadelphia Eagles used its fourth round pick on him in 2005.
Former SVSU defensive lineman Lamar King went in the first round in 1999 to the Seattle Seahawks while Linebacker Eugene Marve went in the third round to the Buffalo Bills in the 1982 draft.
If Janis makes Packers' roster in the fall, he will join Herremans and Dallas Cowboys safety Jeff Heath as the only SVSU alum in the NFL. Heath signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent after last year's draft.
Click here for the complete Jeff Janis 2014 NFL Draft Profile
Information from mlive.com's Mike Niziolek was used in this release