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Jalen Thompson

Supplemental Draft Notes: Thompson, Texans, Clarington

July 8th, 2019 at 6:56pm CST by Rory Parks

With the 2019 Supplemental Draft scheduled to take place on Wednesday, let’s round up the latest notes on this year’s prospects:

  • Washington State safety Jalen Thompson is the most-hyped player in this year’s supplemental class, and he held his workout today. According to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com, 26 teams were on hand for Thompson’s exhibition, and the Texans sent their director of scouting. The Packers have also reportedly shown a great deal of interest in Thompson, who is expected to be taken in the later rounds of the draft.
  • No one from the Redskins‘ front office was physically in attendance for Thompson’s workout, but as John Keim of ESPN.com tweets, the team was repped by the BLESTO scouting service. The service will provide Washington with video of Thompson’s workout and his medicals.
  • Former University of Texas commit Devonaire Clarington also worked out for NFL teams today, and Greg Auman of The Athletic put together an excellent piece detailing Clarington’s long journey to the doorstep of pro football. Clarington never suited up for the Longhorns due to academic issues, but at 6-7 with good hands and good speed from the tight end position, it’s not inconceivable that a team could take a late-round flier on him. Indeed, Clarington said he has fielded calls from at least 20 teams, including five different members of the Browns‘ staff.
  • We recently heard that former West Virginia wideout Marcus Simms is, like Thompson, likely to be selected.

Marcus Simms Works Out For Teams

July 1st, 2019 at 2:56pm CST by Zachary Links

Former West Virginia wide receiver Marcus Simms worked out for half of the NFL’s teams on Monday, according to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com. The Jaguars, Saints, Seahawks, Colts, Jets, Redskins, Chiefs, Browns, Eagles, Lions, Packers, 49ers, Vikings, Ravens, Raiders, and Falcons.

[RELATED: The 2019 NFL Supplemental Draft, So Far]

The 49ers and Vikings both sent directors of scouting while the Ravens had their personnel director on hand. The Raiders, meanwhile, had general manager Mike Mayock on hand, which may be an indicator of strong interest.

Simms’ 40-yard-dash times of 4.49, 4.45 and 4.40 seconds were strong, while his 36 inch vertical showed decent hops for the position. While he’s not considered to be as strong of a pro prospect as Washington State safety Jalen Thompson, Simms has a chance at being selected when the NFL Supplemental Draft takes place later this month.

Extra Points: Redskins, Supplemental Draft, Jets

June 29th, 2019 at 9:47pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Redskins are going to be one of the more interesting teams to monitor during training camp. They have a bunch of interesting storylines, none bigger than the battle between rookie Dwayne Haskins and Case Keenum to be the team’s starting quarterback. Speaking to Steve Wyche of NFL Network recently, Redskins GM Doug Williams indicated that the front office and even ownership would play a role in determining when Haskins starts (Twitter link).

Williams specifically indicated the decision would not be head coach Jay Gruden’s alone, saying that he, Gruden, team president Bruce Allen, and owner Dan Snyder would come together to make a decision. That news is sure to rile up Redskins fans, who have mixed feelings on Snyder, to put it nicely. Williams said he was excited about Haskins’ development, but made sure to emphasize they wouldn’t just throw him out there if he wasn’t ready. That’s the language any team is going to speak, and the part about it being a collaborative process is the real eyebrow-raiser here. Gruden appears to be coaching for his job this season, and Washington won’t be able to keep Haskins on the bench too long unless Keenum looks lights out during the preseason.

Here’s a couple of other notes from around the league on a slow Saturday evening:

  • The supplemental draft got a lot more interesting earlier today when Washington State safety Jalen Thompson announced he’d be entering. The three previous players to enter July’s supplemental draft weren’t too noteworthy, but Thompson is intriguing. Thompson seems like a near-lock to get drafted, and Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com tweets that scouts had given him a 3rd/4th round grade prior to last season. Pauline also notes that the three-year starter has scheduled a July 8th workout for NFL teams in Los Angeles. It’ll likely be heavily attended. While we don’t have the full details yet on why Thompson was ruled ineligible for the 2019 NCAA season and had to declare, Washington State did issue a statement, per Jessamyn McIntyre (Twitter link). In their statement, the Cougars simply said he lost his final season of eligibility “due to a violation of NCAA rules.”
  • The Jets took a gamble by drafting defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd in the third round last year, and so far it hasn’t paid off. Shepherd played at small-school Fort Hays State so he was a bit hard to scout, but the team banked on his upside when they took him 72nd overall. Shepherd played around 30 percent of the team’s defensive snaps as a rookie, but didn’t play particularly well and appears to be falling out of favor with the new coaching staff. While breaking down the team’s depth chart, Matt Stypulkoski of NJ.com writes that Shepherd’s stock has gone down so far this offseason, saying it “sure seems like it only took one season for Shepherd to turn into something of a forgotten man,” and adding that he “hasn’t proven enough.” There’s still a long way to go, so Shepherd could always find himself back in favor with Adam Gase, but right now things aren’t looking great.
  • In case you missed it, the Chiefs could reopen extension talks with Tyreek Hill now that it looks like he’ll emerge from the league’s investigation relatively cleanly.

Washington State S Jalen Thompson Entering Supplemental Draft

June 29th, 2019 at 4:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

The 2019 supplemental draft now has four entrants, and the latest may have a good chance of enticing a team to sacrifice a 2020 draft pick.

Washington State safety Jalen Thompson will enter the July draft, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The three-year Cougars starter learned Friday he would be ineligible for the 2019 season, which would have been his senior year at the Pac-12 program.

Thompson attained freshman All-America status in 2016 and was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection as a sophomore. In 2018, he picked off two passes, made 66 tackles and forced a fumble. Thompson wrapped up his Cougars career with six INTs. The Downey, Calif., native, per Rapoport, has a good chance of being selected next month. Should a team do so, it must forfeit its corresponding pick in next year’s standard draft.

A former three-star recruit as a cornerback, Thompson is the second defender to enter this year’s summer event. He joins less heralded Syracuse linebacker Shyheim Cullen. West Virginia wide receiver Marcus Simms and one-time Texas tight end commit Devonaire Clarington have also put their names in the supplemental pool.