Bills Trade Up To Select DT Deone Walker
The Bills have jumped up in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft in order to draft Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker. Buffalo sent the Nos. 132 and 169 overall picks — their original fourth and first compensatory pick in the fifth — to Chicago in order to swap with the Bears.
Interestingly enough, the selection originally belonged to the Bears in 2024 before being sent to Buffalo in the Ryan Bates trade then being sent back to Chicago so that the Bills could move up in the fifth round last year. The Bills acquired the selection from the Bears for the second time with today’s trade.
Walker adds some extreme size to the Bills defensive line. Ed Oliver is on the smaller side on the interior, and Larry Ogunjobi is facing a suspension to start the season. Buffalo clearly has a focus of adding more size in the trenches next to DaQuan Jones after taking T.J. Sanders (6-foot-4, 290 pounds) out of South Carolina yesterday and adding Walker (6-foot-7, 331 pounds) today.
Walker has a tendency to get erased when stacked up by double teams in the run game, but surprisingly for his size, he plays without stiffness on the pass rush and benefits from his elite size to make plays, collecting 7.5 sacks in 2023 and 10.0 over his three years in Lexington. A Bills defense that finished 12th in run defense and 24th in pass defense in 2024 — as well as 18th in team sacks — adds a big and strong weapon that could develop favorably.
Dolphins Select DT Kenneth Grant At No. 13
The Dolphins are adding along the defensive interior with their top pick. Miami has selected Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant 13th overall. While teammate, and fellow first-round pick Mason Graham got much of the attention in the pre-draft runup, Grant has plenty to offer, as well, and he’ll take his talents to South Beach. 
Unlike Graham, Grant worked more over center as a three-tech or one-tech lineman. Despite the large stature that makes him a perfect fit for such a role, Grant impressed with his mobility all over the field and his ability to chase down runners from sideline to sideline.
He doesn’t get into the quarterback’s lap too much, but he is a stout, immovable force in the middle of the line with quickness to move laterally down the line and stop the play. The Dolphins were connected to Grant earlier this week, having done a lot of work on the former national championship contributor. Miami will add a high-profile interior D-lineman a year after losing Christian Wilkins in free agency.
Miami already has one of the league’s best interior defenders in Zach Sieler, but without Wilkins, there isn’t much help around him on the defensive line. Enter: Grant. Grant should slot in immediately as a starter next to Sieler and, likely, Benito Jones. Grant occupying the middle should concentrate enough of the offensive line to free things up for a pass rush that finished with the sixth-fewest sacks in 2024.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Saints Select T Kelvin Banks Jr. At No. 9
As expected, the Saints have not used the No. 9 pick to select a quarterback. Instead, help up front is coming. New Orleans has drafted Texas left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. While Banks was often projected as a potential interior offensive lineman, the team announced him as a tackle during their selection. 
Despite the inside projections, Banks was a mainstay at left tackle throughout his time in Austin. He’s actually fairly new to the position, though, as he didn’t play offensive line until he was in high school. He can struggle to hold blocks or find his targets in the run game, but he has natural pass blocking abilities, utilizing skilled feet and hand placement to establish leverage against his pass rusher.
The Saints return both starting tackles from last year in left tackle Taliese Fuaga and right tackle Trevor Penning. Neither player was stellar in their roles last year, so it would not be out of the question for Banks to supplant one of them in a starting role. Fuaga stands the best chance at retaining a starting job as he was only a rookie as last year’s first-round pick. Penning was also a first-round pick, but he was selected back in 2022 and has not truly established himself in his three years of play.
Even though the team made a point to call him a tackle in Green Bay, the Saints have a much bigger need at guard. They need to replace their starting left guard and don’t really have many doable options at the moment. Unless they plan on shifting Fuaga in to guard, Banks may need to start his NFL career on the interior.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Jets Draft Armand Membou Seventh Overall
Addressing right tackle has long been seen as a logical draft target for the Jets. To no surprise, then, Missouri tackle Armand Membou has been selected seventh overall. 
While LSU’s Will Campbell was widely seen as the most NFL-ready offensive tackle in the draft, Membou was seen as the tackle prospect with the highest potential ceiling. Membou came to the game of football late but still found his way into Missouri’s starting lineup as a freshman. He would keep the job for the rest of his collegiate career, improving with each start.
Membou is a strong run blocker, serving as a lead battering ram for the Tigers throughout his career. He’s an equally menacing pass blocker with impressive balance and quickness off of the line of scrimmage. What he lacks in ideal size, he makes up for with effort and attitude.
Some teams saw Membou as a guard leading up to the draft, but based on the Jets’ O-line configuration, it is fairly clear they view the Mizzou product as a tackle. The team has now chosen tackles in back-to-back first rounds, having added Olu Fashanu to start last year’s draft. New York has also gone O-line in four of the past six first rounds, dating back to its Mekhi Becton and Alijah Vera-Tucker choices. The latter remains on the team at guard.
After working with two extremely experienced veterans, Morgan Moses and Tyron Smith, for most of the year as their bookend starters in 2024, a youth movement will now take over in New York. Last year’s first-round pick, Fashanu, should man the left tackle role. Membou should certainly challenge to start immediately at right tackle, but if he isn’t quite ready for the job, Chukwuma Okorafor should be able to fill in until he is.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
Lions Sign S Kerby Joseph To Record-Setting Extension
Just before last year’s draft, the Lions secured their future by signing both offensive tackle Penei Sewell and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to long-term extensions. This year, they’ve decided to do the same, rewarding a first-team All-Pro season by making Kerby Joseph the highest-paid safety in the NFL. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Joseph and Detroit have agreed to a four-year, $86MM extension. 
We don’t have any guaranteed numbers on the deal yet to stack against the current top deals in the league, but Joseph’s $86MM in total value is more that Antoine Winfield Jr.‘s $84.1MM. Winfield also held the highest average annual value at $21.03MM per year, which will be eclipsed by Joseph’s $21.5MM per annum.
We knew all the way back when the Lions got eliminated from the playoffs that they would be exploring an extension for their All-Pro safety this offseason. They reiterated those intentions earlier this month, as well, adding that star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson‘s expected extension was also on the docket.
The reason Joseph’s extension likely took priority over Hutchinson’s is because, unlike Hutchinson, Joseph was not a first-round pick. As a first-round selection, Hutchinson’s rookie contract includes a fifth-year option that the team can exercise to extend his obligations to the team for a year longer than the standard four-year rookie deal. Because of this, Hutchinson and the Lions will likely have plenty more time to work out an extension. Joesph, on the other hand, was headed into the final year of his rookie contract.
In just three years of play, Joseph has already established himself as one of the league’s best at the position. Not only did he lead the NFL with nine interceptions in 2024, but he also leads the league in interceptions since he entered the NFL in 2022 with 17. Add in 31 passes defensed and 247 tackles and Joseph has proven that he deserved to be awarded with an All-Pro selection and a record-setting extension this year.
The Lions will hope that securing Joseph will give them the league’s top defensive backfield duo in the NFL for years to come. Today’s extension ensures that Joseph will return alongside Brian Branch next year. Branch, a Pro Bowler last year with seven interceptions and 29 passes defensed in his first two seasons, was drafted in the second round a year after Joseph. Both safeties were ranked as top-five safeties per Pro Football Focus (subscription required) with Joseph notching the position’s highest overall and coverage grades and Branch notching the positions best run defense grade. Branch will likely be a target for extension himself in the next offseason.
For now, though, the Lions will rejoice in their securing of Joseph and the elimination of safety as a position of need in the draft. It was never considered a position that needed improvement, but with Joseph on a long-term deal, there’s no danger of needing to draft a safety to eventually take over for a free agent departure.
WR Tyler Lockett To Sign With Titans
On the eve of the draft, the Titans have signed a new, veteran weapon for expected No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. According to a post on X from Tyler Lockett himself, the 10-year veteran will be joining the Titans for the 2025 campaign. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Lockett will play on a one-year, $4MM deal that could be worth up to $6MM with incentives. 
Despite playing in the NFL since 2015, this will be only the second team Lockett has played for during his professional tenure. The 32-year-old entered the league as a third-round pick out of Kansas State for the Seahawks and has been in Seattle ever since. In his early years, Lockett was an effective receiver, usually active as a third receiving option behind Doug Baldwin combined with either Jermaine Kearse, Jimmy Graham, or Paul Richardson, but he made his name (as well as his Pro Bowl and three All-Pro selections) as a top return man.
As a rookie, Lockett recorded an impressive 664 yards and six touchdowns receiving, but his return abilities, which resulted in touchdowns both on punt and kickoff returns, were what earned him Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro selections. Similarly, over the next two years, his receiving contributions came second to his return abilities, which garnered second-team All-Pro selections in both seasons. His 2017 campaign saw him lead the NFL with 949 kickoff return yards, as well as another touchdown.
In 2018, Baldwin’s chokehold on the WR1 role finally began to falter, along with his effectiveness, and in the veteran receiver’s final season, Lockett took over the top role as the No. 1 wide receiver for Russell Wilson with 965 yards and 10 touchdowns. This would be the last time Lockett would finish under 1,000 yards receiving until five years later when he would turn 31 years old. It also kicked off a streak of five straight seasons in which he would catch between 8-10 touchdowns. As his receiving role increased, though, his return roles decreased, and by 2020 the veteran was rarely, if ever, returning punts or kickoffs.
In 2023, two years after the departure of Wilson, Lockett’s effectiveness finally began to fall as he recorded a still impressive 894 yards and five touchdowns. Last year, a breakout season by second-year wideout Jaxon Smith-Njigba saw Lockett return to WR3 on the depth chart and record his lowest receiving total (600 yards, two touchdowns) since 2017.
One would think that if Lockett was going to leave Seattle after 10 years and play for a new team, it would be to rejoin his former quarterback in New York or his former head coach in Las Vegas. Instead, he makes his way to Nashville, where he doesn’t appear to have any notable connections (except maybe Dre’Mont Jones?). Instead, it appears that he will join a receiving corps currently manned at the top by Calvin Ridley, Van Jefferson, and Treylon Burks. He’ll add experience, durability, and maturity to a group that will likely be receiving passes from a rookie starter in 2025.
Cowboys Likely To Target Skill Position In First Round
With the 2025 NFL Draft coming tomorrow night, several teams are zoning in on where their draft focus will be in the first round. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, there are “many sources” who expect the Cowboys to target an offensive skill position (quarterback, running back, wide receiver, or tight end) with the No. 12 overall pick. 
Considering the recent extension for quarterback Dak Prescott and the recent trade for backup passer Joe Milton, I believe we can safely dismiss any notions of quarterback being a target. The presence of two tight ends (Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker) still on their rookie deals, one of whom has a Pro Bowl to their name already, likely disqualifies that position, as well.
That leaves running back and wide receiver. Running back was certainly a weakness last year, but Dallas addressed the position in free agency this offseason, signing both Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders. While the two aren’t exactly world-beaters, they’ve each shown an ability to carry the load as a starter in the past, giving the Cowboys a passable duo of rushers for 2025. That being said, if Ashton Jeanty were to fall to 12, it would likely be hard for the team to pass him up. Other options like Omarion Hampton, can’t likely be ruled out but would more likely be targeted in the second round or with a trade back in the first.
With that in mind, we can turn our attention, as Russini did, to wide receiver, specifically, Texas wideout Matthew Golden and Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan. NFL Network’s Jane Slater seconded this notion today, saying that, while the team needs an offensive lineman, they really want a wide receiver.
McMillan appears to be the most desired choice, but Slater reports concerns that he’ll go before Dallas gets a chance to take him (like to the Saints at No. 9 overall). That leaves Golden, whose speed (4.29 40-yard dash at the combine) gives the Cowboys what they’re looking for in a pass catcher to pair with CeeDee Lamb.
In his last second mock draft, ESPN’s Matt Miller also landed on McMillan, though he noted the team’s extensive work done on offensive linemen. This is evidenced by the recent update that Alabama offensive guard Tyler Booker was one of the most recent players to take a top-30 visit to Dallas, per Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News. Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. is another name Slater mentioned for the Cowboys, but there is a presumption that he will get selected before the Cowboys get to pick by the Jets at No. 7 overall.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated did a breakdown yesterday of each team’s biggest draft needs, and after mentioning McMillan and Golden (as well as Michigan cornerback Will Johnson) for the Cowboys, Breer turned his attention to versatile North Dakota State offensive lineman Grey Zabel. Zabel brings plenty of intrigue to the first round. Despite starting games at every position along the offensive line in college except center, Zabel has been projected as the draft class’s best center prospect. Regardless, he is certainly one of the draft’s top interior offensive linemen, and many are connecting him to Dallas.
Breer specifically mentions that Zabel won’t make it out of the teens, which Miller’s mock draft reflects, as well, sending him to the Seahawks at No. 18 overall. Per Miller, Zabel and McMillan are the two names that Seattle has focused in on. The team reportedly believes that the guard position is deeper than receiver in this draft, so McMillan would be the preference, but if either player is still around by the 18th pick, they may be headed to Seattle.
That might end up being possible, too, as Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS seems to believe there is no chance of the Cowboys considering an offensive lineman in the first round, despite all the work they’ve done on the position. It seems like the only way they may land on an offensive lineman in the first round is if they trade back, which is certainly also a possibility. According to Jon Machota of The Athletic, Cowboys owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones claimed that the team is “actively looking at potential trades they could do before or after the draft.”
Other players that Slater listed as names the Cowboys are kicking around are Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen, Tennessee pass rusher James Pearce, and Virginia Tech running back Bhayshul Tuten. She notes that the team has character red flags for Pearce, so he shouldn’t be a Day 1 consideration for Dallas. She also believes that some of Jones’ trade ideas could lead the Cowboys into the late-second round, where they would target Tuten. We’re less than 24 hours away from getting to find out just how all of these ideas will finally play out in reality.
QB Will Levis Could Be On The Move During Draft
It’s the 2025 NFL Draft’s worst-kept secret that the Titans are likely to have a new quarterback in the building soon. With Tennessee expected to use their No. 1 overall draft pick on Miami’s Cam Ward, incumbent passer Will Levis could be expendable. In fact, Dianna Russini of The Athletic seems to believe that he could be traded during this weekend’s draft. 
It’s been two years since the Titans drafted Levis out of Kentucky as the first pick in the second round. He took over the starting job in Week 8 of his rookie year, going 3-6 as a starter as he took the job from Ryan Tannehill, though Tannehill continued pushing him for the job near the end of the season.
Levis retained the starting job over Mason Rudolph last year, but a rocky start and a shoulder joint led to Rudolph taking over for a few games. Levis took his job back after recovering, but in the middle of a Week 15 contest with the Bengals, the Titans benched him for Rudolph, who would start the next two games. The two would split time in the team’s season finale.
Levis has shown promise at times in his early career, but ultimately, a 5-16 record over two years, combined with a completion percentage of only 61 percent and 16 interceptions over 21 games, has convinced Tennessee to pursue a quarterback with their top overall pick. That doesn’t mean Levis doesn’t have value in the NFL, though, and plenty have suggested that the 25-year-old holds some trade value as he could contribute to another franchise.
Three and a half weeks ago, Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker refuted reports that trade talks had begun for Levis. With the draft 24 hours away, though, calls — incoming or outgoing — are likely to pick up and could result in a draft-day trade for the former second-rounder.
Prospect Profile: Shedeur Sanders
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, son of Hall of Fame NFL cornerback and current Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, has been one of the 2025 NFL Draft class’s most polarizing prospects. At times trending to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, Sanders’ draft stock has slowly fallen in the last few months, but he still projects as a first-round quarterback and a potential starter in the NFL. 
Sanders grew up just outside of Dallas, where his father spent five years of his career from 1995-99. When he got to high school, attending Trinity Christian School in Cedar Hill, Texas, he was coached by his father, who served as the high school’s offensive coordinator at the time. Between the different recruit ranking services, Sanders was either a three- or four-star recruit, with 247Sports ranking him as the 37th-best passer in the class.
Likely based on his pedigree, plenty of schools were willing to take a chance on Sanders as a prospect, granting him offers from several Division I programs. The schools that recruited him the most were Alabama, Baylor, Louisville, LSU, South Carolina, FAU, UCF, and Utah State. He committed to the Owls in Boca Raton in the July before his senior season, but when his father was hired as the new head coach at Jackson State two months later, the Tigers became the favorite to land him. He eventually decommitted from FAU, flipping and signing with Jackson State, who would also flip five-star, No. 1 overall recruit Travis Hunter from Florida State on Early National Signing Day.
After initially being ineligible to perform in football activities during the spring, Sanders was named the starting quarterback for Jackson State as a true freshman. Starting all 13 games, Sanders completed 65.9 percent of his passes for 3,231 yards, 30 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions, winning 11 games. He won the Jerry Rice Award (given to the most outstanding freshman in the FCS) becoming the first player from a historically black college or university (HBCU) to win the award. As a sophomore, Sanders’ Tigers went 12-1 while he completed 70.6 percent of his passes for 3,732 yards, 40 touchdowns, and only six interceptions. He sophomore campaign was rewarded with the Deacon Jones Trophy (given to the nation’s top HBCU player).
In early-December, near the end of the Tigers’ season, Deion was named the new head coach at Colorado. Two weeks later, both Shedeur and Hunter entered the transfer portal and, eventually, followed their head coach to Boulder. The newcomers in Colorado started off hot with three straight wins over a ranked TCU, Nebraska, and Colorado State, but the Buffaloes would go 1-8 in Pac-12 play to finish the season 4-8 (4-7 with Sanders as the starter). Sanders completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns, and only three interceptions as he and Hunter shined as bright spots on a struggling team that desperately needed improvements on the offensive line and defense.
Coming back for his final year of eligibility, Sanders, Hunter, and company went 9-3 in the regular season, ranking 23rd in the College Football Playoff rankings, missing the playoffs. They would go on to lose to BYU in the Alama Bowl to end 9-4. Overall on the season, Sanders set career highs in completion percentage (74.0) and passing yards (4,134) while throwing 37 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He earned honors as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in the school’s first season in the new conference, and the university would eventually announce that it was retiring both Sanders’ No. 2 jersey and Hunter’s No. 12 jersey.
At times during the 2024 season, Sanders was thought to be a potential No. 1 overall pick in the draft, often with Hunter being his top competition for the top honor in the class. Over time, Miami’s Cam Ward eventually took over the odds as the favorite to land in Nashville as the top overall draft pick, making Sanders a likely second overall pick. As the pre-draft process continued, Sanders continued to slip with Hunter and Penn State’s Abdul Carter becoming favorites to land at Nos. 2 and 3. While it’s always a possibility that a team could trade up to No. 4 overall to secure Sanders, the latest projections see him potentially falling back to No. 9 overall with the Saints or even No. 21 overall with the Steelers. There are some that view him almost as highly as Ward and some who don’t even give him a first-round grade.
The majority of concerns that have caused Sanders to slide have to do with his tape. Sanders ranks as QB2 (sometimes QB3 behind Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart) for a reason. His senior year completion percentage led the NCAA, displaying elite accuracy, and he shows impressive abilities stay cool in clutch situations and avoid turnovers despite excessive pressure from a leaky offensive line. He’s smart, savvy, and tough and plays in a really clean rhythm with Colorado’s offensive system, which he knows well.
Some negatives from his game are actually related to some his strengths. His high completion percentage has been linked to an overreliance on quick throws, screens, and checkdowns as only 23.7 percent of his completions at Colorado were on throws over 10 yards. Much of this has to do with a lack of elite arm strength, forcing him to rely on strong timing to float and arc throws in to his receivers with limited zip. When that elite timing falls apart on him, though, he can roll the snowball down the hill, backpedaling into pressure and holding on to the ball too long while trying to make something out of nothing. When plays fall apart, he has a tendency to get ultra-conservative, which avoids turnovers but doesn’t turn negative plays into positive plays, something Ward excels at. A lot of this stems, as well, from a general lack of mobility, a trait he failed to inherit from his father. 
Further concerns were raised about off-the-field aspects. Though Sanders has kept his nose clean off the field, some organizations came away from interviews with Sanders with concerns about his character, whether warranted or not we can’t necessarily say. There were also concerns about his leadership, mentality, and coachability on a team without his father as a coach, considering Deion has coached his son since their time in high school together.
Regardless of these concerns, Sanders has shown that he can overcome his shortcomings to find some success at the collegiate level. It remains to be seen whether he can find that same success without a Heisman winner weapon to throw to or his father as a mentor and coach to support him, but Sanders has done enough at this point to warrant a first- or second-round chance. While Sanders’ elite timing and ability to avoid turnovers makes him one of the most pro-ready passers in the class, he may project best on a team with whom he can sit, learn, and develop, a team with a veteran in place that Sanders can either beat out or learn from.
Later this week, we’ll find out which locker room he’ll be joining. And, in May, when the rookies report to camp, we’ll begin to see just how well he fares out from under the shadows of his father and Hunter.
Prospect Profile: Donovan Ezeiruaku
Boston College doesn’t always act as a pipeline of talent into the NFL, but often, the players they do put into the league (e.g. Matt Ryan, Luke Kuechly, Chris Lindstrom) have potential to be some of the best at their respective positions. Premier pass rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has potential to do the same for the Eagles as a possible first-round pick this coming Thursday. 
Originally a Philadelphia native, Ezeiruaku grew up and went to high school just half an hour south of the city at Williamstown HS (NJ). Even after leading his high school to back-to-back state championships, Ezeiruaku didn’t have a rank on most recruiting sites. He ended up being ranked as a three-star athlete, with 247Sports ranking him as the country’s 195th-best linebacker.
After getting his second ring at the high school level, Ezeiruaku started to garner some attention, picking up offers from FCS programs like Holy Cross, Stony Brook, and Wagner. His intelligence was on display, as well, as he saw offers come in from Harvard and Princeton. Eventually, FBS offers would arrive with Northern Illinois, Old Dominion, Temple, Boston College, and Vanderbilt all soliciting his services. Without the availability to take visits because of COVID-19, Ezeiruaku committed to head coach Jeff Hafley and the Eagles sight unseen.
As a true freshman, Ezeiruaku didn’t start but played a huge role off the bench, logging three sacks and four tackles for loss in 10 game appearances. Becoming a full-time starter in 2022, he earned All-ACC second-team honors with a breakout season that saw him lead the team in both sacks (8.5) and tackles for loss (14.5). Despite a down season for the Eagles defense the following year, Ezeiruaku still led the team in both categories while only recording two sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 starts.
Whatever Ezeiruaku lacked in production in 2023, he made up for in his senior season. This past year, Ezeiruaku finished second in the country with 16.5 sacks (behind only Marshall’s Mike Green) and fourth in the country with 20.5 tackles for loss (behind Green, Penn State’s Abdul Carter, and Ohio State’s JT Tuimoloau). Because he played in one fewer game than Green, Ezeiruaku passed him on avergae as first in the country with 1.38 sacks per game (over Green’s 1.33). Similarly, Carter and Tuimoloau both played in 16 games, so Ezeiruaku passed them to finish second in the country with 1.71 tackles for loss per game (behind only Green’s 1.73).
There’s lots to like about Ereizuaku as a pure pass rusher. He has great bend and acceleration during an outside speed rush. He also has a range of pass rushing moves that utilize his lateral mobility and quickness. He also has the flexibility to rush from both sides of the ball. He showed durability throughout his time in Chestnut Hill, starting 36 straight contests after missing three games his freshman year. He also showed leadership characteristics as a team captain in his last two years of school.
Ezeiruaku isn’t a perfect pass rushing prospect, though. Ideally, he needs to add size and strength in order to compete with NFL linemen, particularly since he doesn’t have an effective bullrush move. That lack of muscle moves can limit him if he gets pinned inside on a pass rush. While he’s an elite disruptor, he lacks elite abilities on other parts of the field. He rarely showed an ability to drop into coverage, and if a quarterback or ball carrier slips away from him, he doesn’t have great speed to pursue.
These shortcomings haven’t stopped teams from doing plenty of homework on Ezeiruaku as a potential first-round pick. The reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and consensus All-American (the school’s first since running back Andre Williams in 2013) was a hot topic among scouts at the start of the month and has only seen his stock rise from there. While some view him as an early-Day 2 prospect, a run on pass rushers could help Ezeiruaku slip into some first-round money, and with how deep this year’s pass rushing group is, a run is likely to occur.