NFL Draft viewing guide for a USF fan
USF fans may have to wait until the third day of the 2018 NFL to see a Bull selected, if they see one at all.
Only one of six NFL.com analysts project a USF player going in the top-4 rounds of the draft – with Chad Reuter, who predicted earlier this week that Deadrin Senat will be picked late in the fourth round by the Bucs.
Senat, a 6-foot, 314-pound defensive tackle from Immokalee was a staple on the Bulls defense. He received a 5.60 prospect grade out of 10 at the NFL Combine. That ranking marks Senat as a player with “potential to be a starter in the NFL,” according to NFL.com.
CBS Sports, however, projects Senat to go to the New Orleans Saints as the No. 127 overall pick out of 256 total picks, which is in the fourth round.
In the same mock draft, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling and defensive end Mike Love are set to be drafted by the New York Jets at No. 235 and Indianapolis Colts as No. 238, respectively.
The waning picks of the seventh round are especially tough to predict and these players often end up either getting cut or being assigned to practice squads.
Scantling and Love received rankings of 5.20 and 5.15 on the same scale Senat was compared to.
Absent from almost all draft boards is USF prodigy Quinton Flowers. The highly-touted ex-quarterback lands in a draft class with stellar, professional-style quarterbacks who will likely have starting roles and millions of dollars in their pockets tomorrow.
Flowers received a 4.92 when top quarterback prospects Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen scored 7.00 and 6.19.
At the USF Spring Game, Flowers was seen wearing blue athletic shorts and a white Powerade towel draped over his head. He was clearly avoiding fans who were shuffling around outside Corbett Stadium. He declined to comment when asked about the approaching draft.
Flowers excelled at USF, but his comparative small size and concerns about accuracy led analysts to question his ability as a professional quarterback. There has been talk about Flowers changing position to running back or even a punt returner.
Even with the position changes, it is unlikely that Flowers will receive a phone call this weekend announcing him as a draft pick.
For Flowers, Scantling and Love, the possibility of signing as a free-agent immediately following the draft is much more likely. The same goes for the rest of the Bulls entering the draft: Deatrick Nichols, Bruce Hector, D’ernest Johnson and Auggie Sanchez.
Nothing is set in stone for the NFL Draft and each of the Bulls could be selected in the first three rounds, but there is also the possibility that none are drafted at all. As the Draft wears on, the projections are more and more speculation from all the experts and analysts.