NFL's Joe Haden -- The New Tyra Banks?! ... I Found America's Next Top Model

Joe Haden must know a good smize when he sees it ... 'cause the NFL superstar is so sure he's found "America's Next Top Model" he's leading a social media campaign to get that man on the show.

Haden, along with fellow pigskin pros Carlos Dunlap and Jason Pierre-Paul have taken to Instagram in support of a Miami model named "Prince" who's trying to score a spot on ANTM's upcoming Season 22.

The three men -- who have over 450k IG followers between them -- each recently posted modeling shots of Prince to their pages along with messages encouraging casting directors to put him on.

We spoke to Prince -- who knows Haden and the other players from partying in Miami -- and he tells TMZ Sports their efforts have sparked some legit interest in him that might otherwise have been hard to come by.

"All those casting directors saw it and it opened the door to conversations with them."

Prince -- who made a mystery trip to L.A. this past weekend -- couldn't tell us whether or not he's made the show yet (sworn to secrecy) but says the NFL love definitely put him on the map.

"1,000% it's helped ... i got tons of new followers because of [the players] and in this business, it's all about exposure."