Risk comes with selecting any player in the NFL Draft. Some prospects do not have any issues until becoming a professional. In this article, we take a look at some of the situations teams will be discussing.
A case could be made against essentially every quarterback in this class; Bryce Young's lack of ideal size, Will Levis' less than stellar production, Hendon Hooker's torn ACL, Anthony Richardson's lack of production, etc...The focus of this conversation will be non-quarterbacks.
Clemson DL Bryan Bresee
Bresee was the nation's top high school recruit and he made an immediate impact for the Tigers registering four sacks in 2020. The Maryland native played in just four games before suffering a torn ACL in 2021. In his final season at Clemson, he had other medical setbacks in addition to grieving the tragic loss of his sister. All that he has battled has been out of his control but his lack of development is something that will be discussed in draft rooms. Fortunately, he has had a very good pre-draft process and has been able to remind teams of his athletic potential.
Georgia DL Jalen Carter
There were murmurings of maturity concerns with Carter before his legal matters. Those were amplified by the fact that he gained weight and could not finish his workout at Georgia's Pro Day. Carter has made some bad choices but it had to be stressful going through everything in the national eye. Interviews will be important as teams sit down with him to learn whether this has been a lapse of judgment or a potential problem going forward.
Ohio State OT Dawand Jones
The Ohio State lineman measured 6-foot-8, 374 pounds at the NFL Combine. He is an outlier in essentially every way. Jones did very little at the NFL Combine and the Ohio State Pro Day. In fact, he declined to weigh in at his Pro Day, which was alarming, but not all that surprising, after having dinner with Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin the night before. Jones was a much improved player from 2021 to 2022 so that speaks to his discipline. However, teams will want to sit down with him to make sure that he is motivated to keep his weight in check.
UAB RB DeWayne McBride
McBride is one of my favorite running backs to watch in the class. He has an enjoyable play style as well as the size to be a feature back in the NFL. The concern is that he had five fumbles last season and four the prior year, according to TruMedia. If he is unable to hold onto the football, then he is giving the opposition additional possessions and will not be trusted to be on the field. Jonathan Taylor had eight fumbles over his final two collegiate seasons and three in each of his past two NFL seasons.
Iowa State EDGE Will McDonald IV
McDonald is lauded for his work as an edge rusher, which is valuable in today's game. The fear is that he will not hold up in run support. He has to prove that he can be trusted in early down situations or else a team is investing a first-round pick into a situational pass rusher asked to play 20-25 snaps a game.
Oregon State TE Luke Musgrave
Musgrave has significant talent. He catches the ball well and is a better blocker than which he is given credit. However, he had just 47 career receptions in college. He backed up a lesser talent, Teagan Quitoriano, in 2021 then played in just two games when he finally got his opportunity to start this year. There is a lot for teams to learn about how Musgrave is wired before investing premium draft assets into acquiring his talents.
