USF 2015 NFL Draft Preview

Normally USF has a couple sure-fire NFL draft picks. This year... not so much. But there are still a handful of candidates to land on an NFL roster, and you never know what might happen in the late rounds-- remember, B.J. Daniels not only got drafted, but is now a Super Bowl champion. Weird things happen late in the draft when no one's watching, and there are more than a few worthy Bulls. Usually we run an in-depth profile for each player we think will get drafted. Since we don't have any this year, we'll settle for a quick player-by-player rundown of each former Bulls' NFL chances.

Andre Davis - Davis is a wonderful receiver and one of USF's best skill position players of all time, but his measurables don't really jump off the page. It's easy to forget because he plays so much larger than his frame, but Davis is only 6'1" and doesn't have lightning speed-- he clocked in somewhere around a 4.6 on the 40 at his Pro Day. He also struggled with injuries and rarely put together a full season's work, or else he'd have one fine stat line: extrapolate his senior year over a full twelve games, and he's somewhere around 900 yards and 10 touchdowns. He had a chance to impress on his Pro Day, but most of his times and jumps fell somewhere below the 25th percentile for receivers that were invited to the Combine.

Add all this up and Davis is more than likely on the outside looking in this weekend, but I imagine he'll get picked up as a free agent pretty quickly. Most people seem to agree on this, and NFL.com has a scouting report up on him that pretty much nails it: he's got great hands and plays tremendously along the sideline, but doesn't have the physical tools other receivers do and has never been a consistent threat over the middle. But Dre is a great receiver who can make plays that very, very few receivers can make (and, I daresay, might improve further with a better quarterback throwing to him). That alone will give him a chance to make a roster.

Reshard Cliett - Cliett is a very intriguing NFL prospect, and may actually be the Bull with the best chance of getting drafted. It's tough to remember because he's played linebacker for so long, but Reshard actually came to USF as a safety. As such, his physical tools are off the charts for a linebacker: he opened a lot of eyes with a 4.4 wind-aided 40 on Pro Day, and his 38.5 inch vertical jump is a whole half foot higher than Davis' (think about that!) and is far above the average for linebackers.

Unfortunately, he's also quite small for a linebacker at around 225 pounds, and will likely need to beef up a bit if he wants to make a roster. But that's very doable, and there are definitely more than a few teams out there who'll want a linebacker who's got the speed, athleticism and cover skills to take on tight ends and slot receivers. I'm not sure Reshard is ever going to be an NFL starter, but there's a niche for him on a roster somewhere. Someone's going to give him a long, hard look this weekend, and that might merit a late-round flyer pick.

Quinterrius Eatmon - I was surprised to see that Eatmon was the highest-ranked USF prospect at a number of sites, including CBS. He's got very tempting size (6'6", 320 lbs.) and the ability to play both guard and tackle, which is certainly valuable. But Q didn't show himself to be a capable enough blocker at USF to convince me that he's a serious contender to make a roster. You can't teach his size and versatility, though.

Marvin Kloss - Kloss is probably the best bet of any Bull to make a roster. Barring a miracle, he's not going to get drafted-- he's consistently ranked outside of the top three or four kickers-- but given his tremendous college career and stellar offseason performances (he was the MVP of the Shrine Game after making four field goals, and had a strong Pro Day), someone is going to give him a chance. For better or for worse, past history matters very little with NFL kickers. Marvin's going to have a chance to be someone's kicker if he performs well enough in camp.

Mike McFarland - A very interesting prospect. As you might expect, McFarland is getting a little bit of pre-draft buzz because his measurables are off the chart. He might have been the biggest star of USF's Pro Day, clocking in somewhere between 4.6 and 4.7 in the 40, which with his size (6'6", 250 lbs.) is really impressive. Teams could definitely do worse than giving Mike a late-round look, but if he wants to make a roster, he's got to improve on a couple of glaring weaknesses: his hands, which were too often a problem at USF, and his blocking.

Chris Dunkley - Chris has got one of the strangest college resumes you'll ever see, coming to USF as a highly-touted transfer receiver and leaving as a pretty solid cornerback. There's no denying his speed; he ran around a 4.4 wind-aided 40 at his Pro Day. But his versatility might end up working against him-- he never really established himself at receiver, and he's only got one year of college experience playing corner. Still, he's athletic as heck, if raw, and has been receiving a fair amount of pre-draft attention from NFL teams. Dunk will almost certainly get a shot with someone over the summer; I'm not sure he makes it further than that.

Other former Bulls to keep an eye out this weekend include Elkino Watson, who will get a look as an extremely athletic defensive tackle thanks in part to his time at end in 2014, and Austin Reiter, who was probably USF's best offensive lineman last season and is a decent bet to find a free agent deal. Darrell Williams' name has popped up a few times, though I wouldn't bank on him signing a deal, and I was surprised to not see Todd Chandler mentioned more. I'd think that Chandler's size and run-clogging ability would be tempting to more than a few teams.