Another year, and another former James Madison star has become the prized necessity for an NFL club.

On Saturday, the Dallas Cowboys selected Dukes quarterback Ben DiNucci in the seventh round with pick No. 231 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

“I’m proud for Ben and happy for him,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti told the Daily News-Record shortly after DiNucci was chosen. “It’s well deserved, and I think it’s a really good match for him going down to Dallas with [coach] Mike McCarthy, who is a western Pennsylvania guy. He knows Ben. He knows Ben’s background. He has a good reputation for developing quarterbacks.”

DiNucci, the Colonial Athletic Association Offensive Player of the Year this past fall, is the second JMU alum to be chosen during the NFL Draft in as many years. Last April, cornerback Jimmy Moreland was picked by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round.

It’s the first time since 1999 (Tony Booth by the Carolina) and 2000 (Curtis Keaton by the Cincinnati Bengals) that the Dukes have produced draft picks in consecutive years.

DiNucci is the second quarterback ever to be drafted from Madison, joining Mike Cawley who was a sixth-round selection of the Indianapolis Colts in 1996.

“Just to go out there and show what I can do is all I can ask for,” DiNucci said to the DN-R leading into the draft, “and I’m going to hit the ground running with whatever team that is with and I’ll be excited as heck.”

After transferring from Pittsburgh, DiNucci spent his final two seasons with the Dukes and led the squad to an FCS championship game appearance as a senior. During his JMU career, he completed 70 percent of his throws for 5,716 yards. He rushed 1,002 yards and accounted for 61 total touchdowns (45 passing and 16 rushing) compared to throwing only 18 interceptions.

“He’s a pretty accurate passer and he spreads the wealth,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., said of DiNucci during the telecast of the NFL Draft. “He’s got real good vision in the pocket. He sees the field. He’s one of those overachieving quarterbacks because and you wouldn’t bet against him in the seventh round. He’s a guy that came out of a football program that knows how to win football games, James Madison a power at that [FCS] level, and he was a heck of a quarterback for that football team.”

Earlier this week, DiNucci said he had heard from some teams had him graded as a sixth- or seventh-round selection with the worst-possible scenario beings he signs immediately after the draft as a free agent.

The level of interest for DiNucci started rising over the last month. In the pre-draft process, he spoke with 15 teams and met virtually with six or seven.

DiNucci is the 16th player ever to be drafted from JMU.

He was the fifth of six FCS players selected in the 2020 NFL Draft, and the second of two from the CAA after Rhode Island’s Isaiah Coulter, who was selected in the fifth round by the Houston Texans.