2015 NFL Draft Prospects Who Won't Live Up to the Hype

Every year, the hype train seemingly leaves the station for a handful of NFL draft hopefuls, only to derail when those players fail to live up to all that publicity. It’s not their fault they get overdrafted, however. Teams are guilty of buying into the hype just like fans and writers. Nevertheless, there are always those players who looked the part in college but are never able to match it in the NFL.

Oftentimes, just the increase in speed and physicality of the NFL game is more than a player can deal with, which could lead to frequent injuries. In many cases, great college players have simply hit their ceiling in college—physically or skill-wise—and aren’t able to grow in the NFL.

These are five guys on Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller’s newest 50-player big board who are going to be drafted high but will fail to live up to the hype.

Shane Ray, EDGE Missouri

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

In the world of draft analysis, there is a place for numbers, and there is a place for film. And ultimately, when the rubber hits the road, the film will typically win out. Oftentimes, triangle numbers steal all the headlines, but pundits and teams understand that what a player does on the field transcends the stopwatch.

Unfortunately for Missouri DE/LB Shane Ray, he is in a gray area between film and the stopwatch. Ray was unable to perform at the scouting combine due to an injury, so the Missouri pro day was going to be his chance to shine in a crowded group of edge players.

What Ray did was, well, OK. Most of his times were middle of the road for a 249-pound pass-rush specialist, and they put him firmly in the hunt with the other top-tier edge players. Nevertheless, one drill in particular gave teams and the media pause.

Ray checked in with a 7.70-second three-cone drill. This drill is designed to showcase agility and should be a strength of any player who wants to make a living rushing the quarterback off the edge. To offer a bit of perspective, Iowa offensive lineman Brandon Scherff ran a 7.07 second three-cone drill at 319 pounds.

Normally I don’t get too caught up in triangle numbers, but with no reports of Ray slipping or struggling with the drill, it is disconcerting. If I were in a team's front office, I’d be cautious of Ray in this draft.

Randy Gregory, EDGE Nebraska

Eric Francis/Getty Images

Things have not been great for Nebraska DE/LB Randy Gregory. In fact, if you were scripting a predraft season, Gregory’s would have many of the elements of the worst-case scenario. The most recent of his problems came with a failed drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Chalk this one up to just gross irresponsibility and poor judgment, but in today’s NFL, it's hardly a deal-breaker. In fact, with the current state of the country in terms of drug laws, I expect this to be less and less of a concern.

Was it dumb? Yes.

Will some teams move him down because of it? Absolutely.

However, when talking about why Gregory is going to underperform in the NFL, it is all about his game—specifically, how his body type fits the NFL game. He always played lean and long, but when Bleacher Report's Matt Miller reported that he finished the season at around 218 pounds, that set off some serious alerts.

As B/R’s Ty Schalter pointed out, 218 pounds is "skinny for a basketball player," and I completely agree. The league is going to want to see Gregory well above 240 pounds, so the notion that he’s not only going to struggle to add weight but could wither away every season means he’s going to have a tough time staying on the field.

Kevin White, WR West Virginia

David Purdy/Getty Images

Of all the players in the upcoming draft, West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White is one of the most interesting. Some pundits such as Miller have White at No. 4 overall and as their top wide receiver. In fact, it has become almost universal among pundits that White is going to supplant Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper as the top wide receiver off the board.

However, passing on Cooper for White is a tough call. White certainly has a physical advantage as he checks in at 6’3” and 215 pounds. And White did show exceptional timed speed at the combine with a 4.35 40-yard dash. However, there is a trade-off with White that is going to hold him back.

First of all, White doesn’t play anywhere near as fast as his track speed would indicate. Teams that become enamored with that speed will be shocked when the film shows a player who doesn’t do well in gaining separation downfield.

In addition, the team that drafts White needs to understand that his game is far from complete. His route tree isn’t as complete as Cooper’s, and that has to do with the West Virginia system. There is clearly a reason why such a physically imposing player wasn't on the map until his senior season—playing two years for a junior college was a part of that. I just can’t see how early returns on White being drafted so high will be anything but disappointing.

Todd Gurley, RB Georgia

Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

Chalk this pick up to caution. It’s hard to predict whether any player can be what he was prior to an ACL injury. It is harder still to endorse that player as a future star when he is a running back.

Mark me down as one of the few draft pundits who did not have Georgia running back Todd Gurley as the top draft-eligible running back in the country before his injury. He is an impressive player without a doubt. However, his running style makes it difficult to foresee a great NFL future for him.

Some backs do their best to avoid the big hit, but Gurley's 222-pound body just seems to find violent contact more often than most RBs. Now, it’s important to note that he has trimmed down since the injury, so look for him to get back to a more comfortable playing weight once he’s back to full health.

Regardless of that, the odds are against a big back who initiates far too much contact and has a surgically repaired knee. In the second round, Gurley could be a nice value, but the hype around him as a first-round pick is just too much.

Breshad Perriman, WR UCF

Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

Oh boy, let’s all slow down a little. The lead engine on the predraft hype train is for UCF wide receiver Breshad Perriman. There seems to be a player in every draft who captures the hearts and minds of the media and the league, parlaying a massive amount of hype into an inflated draft status.

Perriman wins this award in a landslide like Troy Smith won the 2006 Heisman Trophy.

What is the impetus for this Perriman love? Speed. It’s like everyone is channeling the spirit of the late, great Al Davis. I get that having speed is great. However, if the basis for a move from the mid-second round to the middle of the first round is a stopwatch, you are doing the draft wrong.

Perriman isn’t a terrible player. But there is nothing on his film that says he can live up to the hype of being a mid-first-round pick. Plenty of players can run really fast in a straight line, but that has nothing to do with their ability to play football.

It would be fitting irony if the Oakland Raiders took Perriman after becoming enamored with speed back in 2009 and drafting Darrius Heyward-Bey early in the first round.