40-Yard Dash: 4.70 (66th) Earlier this summer, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp became one of the most high-profile advocates for it. Hes not always quick to the draw for his own assignments, and this can have him struggling to catch up when receptions are made. He had no FBS offers out of high school but was recruited by Division II North Alabama and FCS member The Citadel. section: | slug: the-chiefs-just-signed-a-player-whos-never-played-football-in-his-life | sport: football | route: article_single.us | Branch played 1,182 snaps in the slot, 300 in the box, 101 at free safety, 59 along the defensive line, and 42 at cornerback. 66 also was terrific. Bench Press: N/A Classic case of a guy who had always been able to "out-athlete" his competition but couldn't rely on that in the pros. Duncan spent most of his career playing left tackle but also played center during his sophomore season. Mauch is feisty as heck, he clearly wants to dominate on the field, and the only things stopping him from doing that are his physical limitations. Vertical Jump: 29 (61st) 40-Yard Dash: 4.48 (63rd) Williams seems like the same kind of player someone who will amplify the efforts of your defense with a lot of great tools. Arm Length: 32 (46th) This he did, while stepping up in the pocket to give himself the needed time for everything to play out. Hand Size: 10 (96th). I love the fit. 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A, Wingspan: N/A Bio: A four-star recruit out of Marshall High in Missouri City, Texas, Achane wasnt just a football star he also helped Marshall to two straight state track championships, was the 2020 Gatorade Texas Track & Field Athlete of the Year, and posted the fastest times in the country in the 200-meter run and the 4100 relay. Not a great thing for the games most important position. Bio: A universal four-star prospect out of East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ika started his collegiate career at LSU, played on the 2019 National Championship team, and moved to Baylor via the transfer portal for the 2021 season. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. Levis, of course, ended up falling out of the first round entirely and endured a long, frustrating night in the Green Room, while the TV cameras from ESPN and the NFL Network were focused on him. He played the run way better this year than a year ago. I love it," Kieras said. The Vikings took ONeill out of Pitt with the 62nd overall pick in the 2018 draft knowing what he had on the ball in an athletic and technical sense, and hoping that the power would come together. He has the power to shut down just about anybody. Kurt played college football for Northern Iowa but didnt become a starter until his senior year. You can extend Achanes exploitation of openings to the passing game; anything open on the edge, and hes gone. Strengths: Porter is a natural in man coverage, and its not just on solo boundary stuff as he showed on this deflection against Northwestern in Week 5, Porter is quite able to break off against a short crosser in Cover-1 and just demolish it. Broad Jump: 138 (99th) While there are reps of drive-blocking on his tape, hes more a dotter of Is than a pure assassin when hes hitting people in space, and thats not going to work at the next level. He was selected by the Jaguars in the third round of the 2009 draft out of William and Mary, and he had three different four-interception seasons in four years for Jacksonville, and he had his hands all over the ball, with 11 pass deflections in both 2009 and 2012. NFL Comparison: Owen Daniels. Bench Press: N/A 1 overall since 1967, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Tom Brady, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Lawrence Taylor are just a few of the greats who didnt play tackle football until high school. But the finishing touches that make great NFL deep-ball throwers are not on display nearly enough. So then, you have to separate the transferable traits from an offense that isnt 100% transferable. Hand Size: 9 924th). He spent 2000 with the Carolina Panthers before retiring. That led to his trade to the Chiefs, in which Brown became a starting left tackle at a size you wouldnt normally expect. Broad Jump: 130 (92nd) These attributes stand out especially for his size; Charbonnet chews up turf from an agility perspective like a guy 2-3 inches shorter. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images), The other draft I loved was the Seahawks, was what happened with Kentucky QB Will Levis, Having gotten to know him a little over the years. But the truth is, one of the most electric backs in recent college football history was, at best, a marginal pro for a handful of years before quietly disappearing from the league. Conclusion: Branch is the very model of the modern versatile safety in that you can play him just about anywhere on the field, but were projecting him as a safety and slot defender here because this is where his best NFL value might lie. ESPN.com senior writer; Reporter for ESPN TV's "E:60" Sports Illustrated senior writer (2000-07) Covered Raiders, 49ers for San Francisco Examiner (1996-1999) NFL Comparison: Jaycee Horn. Bench Press: N/A And those are just a couple of running backs. The old Ducks coach staff raved about his movement skills. Vertical Jump: 35 (63rd) 40-Yard Dash: 4.46 (64th) Maybe the slight drop in his play in 2006 should have been an indicator. Hes already got a lot going for him as a blocker and as a move receiver, and most of the stuff that needs coaching is pretty coachable. Especially when that deep touchdown came on an iced field. Once hes on your track, youll have a tough time shaking him. Broad Jump: N/A Hes comfortable as a receiver ln explosive plays because hes not efforting to get to the ball. Maybe. Duncan did not start playing football until he was a 14-year-old high school freshman, yet by the time he was a senior he was a four-star prospect, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.Along with Maryland, he received scholarship offers from Tennessee, Florida, LSU, Michigan, Conclusion: Im on board with the estimable Mr. Brugler here. NFL Comparison: Orlando Brown Jr. Not bad for a 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver, and Downs could also be that sort of NFL weapon. 30, its even more jaw-dropping. People tend to expect more of Jones than hes displayed through his NFL career, but hes been a consistent provider of pressure and run stops. But his talent was undeniable, and by time he was selected second in the 2012 NFL draft, he seemed destined for stardom. But he added: When he wants to be, he is unblockable. Height: 6 3 (81st percentile) Weight: 213 (77th) Vertical Jump: 32 (42nd) At his size, Spears wont always make the killer block, but when I asked him to name his favorite play from last season, he immediately brought up this block against Memphis. The story of the first day of the draft was what happened with Kentucky QB Will Levis, who prior to the draft emerged as the betting favorite to go second overall. This despite missing three games in 2020 with a sprained knee, and six games in 2022 with an ankle injury. In fact, let's hear it for the entire quarterback draft class of 2007: In addition to Russell and Quinn, there's Kevin Kolb of Houston, John Beck of BYU, Drew Stanton of Michigan State, Trent Edwards of Stanford, Heisman winner Troy Smith of Ohio State, Jordan Palmer of UTEP and Tyler Thigpen of Coastal Carolina. Carter was the most talented player in this draft. As much as his burner speed will put him on the field, that might take him right off. The move to Florida was an unqualified success in 2022 Torrence was a Consensus All-American and First Team All-SEC. 17 Star Athletes Who Didn't Start Until Their Senior Year Hes probably the best interior lineman Ive ever evaluated. Iowa had four players picked in the first three rounds, including three in the top 34. This means a player who graduates in 2009 cannot be drafted until 2012 so it is usually only juniors and seniors who are drafted. I still think that if he could go back and show up for the start of his first training camp instead holding out for a couple of weeks (his agent and the Redskins struggled with navigating the new salary-cap rules) that it would change the entire experience. He made the NFL All-Pro team just once. Broad Jump: 129 (87th) Apr 29, 2023 3 Welcome to The Athletic s pick-by-pick grades for Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2023 NFL Draft. Stroud and Bryce Young, the consensus top two quarterbacks in this class, fare on such passes in 2022? WebNew York Yankees David Cone & Brandon Nimmo didnt play in high school 38 aweinschenker 3 yr. ago I thought that was weird, so I checked Nimmos Wikipedia page: Nimmo attended Cheyenne East High School in Cheyenne. Most NFL defenses would be able to take him in the first round the find first-round value for him sooner than later, because he does so many things so well from multiple positions. He is instinctive, competitive and athletic and will be a great fit for how the Seahawks DBs play. As was the case for Simmons when he was selected eighth overall in the 2020 draft by the Arizona Cardinals, the challenge for his NFL coaches (which is still in place for Simmons and the Cardinals) will be to understand which parts of that amazing versatility transfers to the NFL, and which stuff is best left on the cutting room floor. Which leads me to Darren McFadden, who was probably the best running back I've covered at the college level, and I was absolutely certain he was going to be a superstar. More experienced defensive linemen at the NFL level, whose entire job is based on identifying and exploiting obvious weaknesses, will absolutely eat his lunch with this stuff. After three seasons on the field with the Hokies, Hooker graduated in December 2020 with a degree in public relations, and went looking for a new home in the transfer portal. NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/reg/free/stories, at Move him all the way inside, go through whatever growing pains there might be, and there you are. While that is usually the case, there are notable examples of players that skipped the classroom before reaching the pros. Here, Levis started off reading Dingle on a similar route taking the linebacker up the seam and before that progressed, Levis threw to his outside read, the aforementioned Mr. Brown. Bench Press: N/A 20-Yard Shuttle: N/A, Wingspan: 75 (69th) In those regards, hes a modern linebacker who absolutely fits the profile. Over four seasons with the Fighting Tigers and Bears, Ika totaled seven sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 40 quarterback hurries, 53 tackles, and 45 stops. Youre not going to get an excessive amount of bend and edge athleticism from Whites game, but hell surprise you once in a while, and with some technique refinement, he could be well on his way to status as an indispensable cog in a professional defensive front. NFL Comparison: Darren Waller. 3. He played tight end at a small California high school and walked on at Fresno State in 2000. This sack at the Georgia 16-yard line with 4:51 left in the fourth quarter of that game was notable because cornerback Javon Bullard got the takedown with a blitz from the slot. In 2022, he allowed 24 catches on 51 targets for 366 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 45.1 when in single-high coverage (Cover-1 and Cover-3). Michael Lewis technically did attend college. Disney made a movie about Papale's story called "Invincible" and stars Mark Wahlberg. With Duncan anchoring the line, quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa broke program records in passing yards (3,860),passing touchdowns(26), completions (328), completion percentage (69.2%) and 300-yard passing games (seven) in 2021. The five-star recruit chose Georgia over just about every major college in the country. Bio: Washington grew up one of eight children with his mother in the Las Vegas area, and the family moved often, homeless at times. Achane started with a bang, winning the Most Valuable Player award in A&Ms Cotton Bowl win over North Carolina at the end of his freshman season. But this fall, he looked like a different player. Tuipulotu made The Athletics Freshman All-American second team and Pro Football Focus All-Pac-12 honorable mention, and became more productive and effective in each of his three seasons with the Trojans. Musgrave missed all but two games in the 2022 season due to a knee injury. Vertical Jump: 37 (80th) Strengths: Brents uses his size as an advantage in that if the balls anywhere near him, its as much his as it is yours. You dont want to miss on a prospect because your evaluation started out on the wrong foot. LaPorta is an after-catch demon, who has the wherewithal to find openings in space on short passes, and an impressive determination to beat people up when their uniforms look different than his. Sorsdal has really good initial quickness, and even though, he played at the FCS level, he has the talent to have played in the SEC or Big Ten if he had entered the transfer portal. WebWednesday is National Signing Day, when the nation's top high school recruits sign a binding letter of intent with their college football programs of choice. 2. He was a walk-on at USC and didnt earn a scholarship for two years in Running back Devon Achane wound up being the first Texas A&M player selected and surprisingly ahead of safety Antonio Johnson.
