NFL Rookies Guaranteed to Prove Experts Wrong in 2015
It seems that every time the NFL draft comes around, there are players who slide inexplicably and are then forced to prove to the world that they should have been drafted sooner. The 2015 incarnation was no different, and multiple players who took tumbles down draft boards are now fighting their ways back up.
Obviously, no matter how connected one is to the media and the league, there will always be players who unexpectedly drop on draft day, leaving us all to scratch our heads. In some cases, those players are left scratching their heads as well. This usually sends these players into the league with chips on their shoulders and something to prove.
A thorough run through all the picks as well as the undrafted-free-agent signings reveals that there are some players who slid a little and others who slid a great deal. And while the following players might not have been drafted as early as they would have liked, all of them fell into situations that will allow them to prove their doubters wrong.
Randy Gregory, DE/LB, Dallas Cowboys
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Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory is first up on this list. His spot in the draft was a huge mystery as things got started. Gregory’s offseason was tumultuous, to say the least. After withering away to a reported 218 pounds, per B/R's Matt Miller, before the NFL Scouting Combine, Gregory had to work his way back up to weight.
Gregory then failed a drug test at the combine, per NFL.com's Kimberly Jones. This opened a can of worms, as reports came out suggesting that this was not Gregory’s only problem. ESPN's Adam Schefter later reported (via ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio) that Gregory missed meetings with potential NFL teams, and you have to wonder what was going on.
Gregory's slide stopped at the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. Dallas felt like, for all his reported issues, his immense talent was worth the risk. Taking him on is a calculated risk, and the Cowboys must be confident that the character concerns and apparent poor decision-making are things he will grow out of in the NFL.
Perhaps more troubling is his weight. Even if he keeps his nose clean, he must be able to maintain his playing weight if he wants to see the field. A player with his explosion can get by at 218 pounds in college but not in the NFL.
Michael Bennett, DT, Jacksonville Jaguars
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Ohio State defensive tackle Michael Bennett is another player who was thought to be a first-round selection heading into the draft. Multiple sources considered the Ohio State star to be a top prospect. CBS Sports had Bennett as its No. 67 overall prospect, and Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller had Bennett going at No. 88 overall in his final mock draft.
Yet even with all this, Bennett slid all the way to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round at pick No. 180. Bennett is a solid penetrating interior defensive lineman with a good burst and violent hands. He is an excellent fit for the Jaguars in that aggressive, attacking defense and should find himself in a rotation inside and at left defensive end.
Rory Anderson, TE, San Francisco 49ers
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The San Francisco 49ers had the luxury of 10 picks in the 2015 NFL draft, and they used most of them wisely. In particular, the 49ers spent their final pick on a fascinating and athletic tight end prospect. Rory Anderson, formerly of the University of South Carolina, was a luxury selection for San Francisco.
There’s no doubt that Anderson is a project, as he is currently more of an athlete than a football player. However, when you consider that the bulk of the tight ends out of this class have some significant faults, including athleticism, a player like Anderson, who can attack defenses vertically, is exactly what the NFL wants from a tight end.
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Antwan Goodley, WR, Dallas Cowboys
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How former Baylor wide receiver Antwan Goodley went undrafted is a mystery to me. However, the rest of the league’s loss is the Dallas Cowboys' gain. Of all the wide receivers who were drafted, few are more explosive with the football in their hands.
Goodley lacks ideal height, but he is fast, powerful and lethal in the open field. When you see him run, you could easily mistake him for a running back with his forward rushing style and lateral agility. The fact that Goodley played in a simplified college offense and lacks height hurt him, but even if he does nothing but dominate the return game, he’ll prove the doubters wrong.
Jaelen Strong, WR, Houston Texans
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Following the trend of Gregory and Bennett, former Arizona State wide receiver Jaelen Strong falls firmly into the category of prospects who were heralded as high picks, only to tumble on draft day. There was plenty of discord between experts about which wide receivers would come off the board after the Big Three of Amari Cooper, Kevin White and DeVante Parker. With his strength and production, Strong made a case.
Instead, he found himself still on the board in the third round when the Houston Texans went on the clock with the No. 70 pick. A total of seven wide receivers came off the board after Parker went at No. 14 to the Miami Dolphins. Nevertheless, Strong landed in a near-ideal situation to get reps early as the second or third wide receiver for Houston. When you consider how much passion he exhibits, you can bet that he is going to come to play.
Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, CB, Cleveland Browns
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One of the most disheartening stories of the 2015 NFL draft was that of former Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. Going into the season, he was easily one of the top cornerbacks in the country. He was physical in coverage and stout in run support with tremendous ball skills. Unfortunately, everything went wrong when he tore his ACL in practice preparing for the College Football Playoff.
On the surface, that wasn't the end of the world. Medical technology has advanced to the point that such injuries aren’t the career death sentences they were in the past. Unfortunately for Ekpre-Olomu, the league was more concerned. I am not privy to any of his medical checks by the league, but considering that he fell all the way to the Cleveland Browns in the seventh round, things must be worse than they appear.
It was hard to watch the TV broadcast of the draft and see him with a noticeable limp as he went around to be congratulated by his family after being picked. However, if there was ever a player who could come back from this and prove the doubters wrong, it is Ekpre-Olomu.
B.J. Finney, C, Pittsburgh Steelers
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In the case of former Kansas State center B.J. Finney, all he wanted was a shot. Should he have been drafted? Without a doubt, but it didn’t happen.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the Pittsburgh Steelers to lock him up. How did Finney feel about that? Check out this video for yourself.
There’s nothing about Finney’s game that doesn’t scream NFL starter. We’re talking about a kid who arrived at Manhattan as a walk-on, with one year to prove himself. His father had passed away, and his mom told him that they could afford to send him to school for only one year and he had to earn a scholarship to continue.
Fifty-two starts later, the new school record for starts, and he is in line to make the Steelers roster.
Pittsburgh needs depth on its offensive line desperately. Only one of Finney’s 52 starts was at guard, but there’s nothing about his game that says he can't fill in anywhere along the interior. Finney is a young man who wants to succeed, has the talent to succeed and is in a great spot to succeed.
La'el Collins, OT, Free Agent
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One day, ESPN might do a 30 for 30 about the story of former LSU offensive tackle La’el Collins. For now, we all have more questions than answers about what is going on. All we know for certain is that one of the top offensive linemen in the entire draft went undrafted and, as of now, does not have a team.
What happened with Collins? The facts are still murky, but as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, just two days before the draft, the police wanted to question Collins following the shooting death of a woman thought to be his former girlfriend. Keep in mind that at no point has law enforcement intimated that Collins is a suspect. Nevertheless, the idea that a team could have a potential Aaron Hernandez situation on its hands was enough to make him undraftable.
First off, assuming he's cleared, some team is going to sign Collins as an undrafted free agent and get a steal. In the end, he may have been too much of a risk to draft but won’t be too much of a risk to sign as an undrafted free agent. Regardless, if Collins is exonerated in all of this, he’s going to have a lot to prove to the entire league.
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