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5 NFL Draft Picks You’re Overlooking And Shouldn’t Be

5 NFL Draft Picks You’re Overlooking And Shouldn’t Be

While most are locked in on players like Bradley Chubb, Baker Mayfield and Calvin Ridley, this handful of draftees are flying under the radar.

Apr 30, 2018 by Kolby Paxton
Darius Leonard Proposes On The Field

When Darius Leonard was selected by Indianapolis with the 36th pick of last week's NFL Draft, a whole bunch of folks said, “Who?”

And when Ogbonnia Okoronkwo was inexplicably available at No. 160, more than a few of us said, “How?”

Whether it's unknowing fans—who, perhaps, didn’t watch many MEAC games last year—or NFL front offices that are, predictably, just a little too attached to combine measurables, Leonard and Okoronkwo are flying well beneath some radars right now, and they aren’t alone.

Here’s a handful of 2018 draftees who aren’t getting much attention now but will be later:

Kemoko Turay, DE, Rutgers — Selected 52nd overall by IND

Everyone’s talking about Bradley Chubb, Marcus Davenport, and Harold Landry, but no one outside of Indianapolis and the Garden State is talking about Kemoko Turay.

Turay played just one year of varsity football in high school and his career at Rutgers, through which he battled a handful of injuries, wasn’t exactly what you’d consider as statistically stellar.

At the Senior Bowl, though? Turay looked like much more than a high upside project. In fact, by most accounts, he was the most dominant pass rusher in town that week. He’s a freak athlete who, schematically, was held back in many ways at Rutgers and who will have the chance to succeed wildly at the next level.

If you don’t believe me, just take it from Turay, himself:

”They’re getting a unique pass rusher that's going to dominate the league when I get there," Turay said. "...They're going to get everything out of me. I'm going to be everything.”

Darius Leonard, LB, SC State — Selected 36th overall by IND

Of course, Turay isn’t the only potential second-round home run the Colts hit on Friday. South Carolina State’s Darius Leonard is a spectacularly talented player who landed at SC State thanks to weighing in at just 185 pounds and playing at tiny Lake View (SC) High School.

Darius Leonard Has Gone From Unwanted To Unstoppable

After redshirting his first season in Orangeburg, SC, Leonard started to dominate. And, in 2017, he was one of the most unstoppable players in all of college football. We had the pleasure of streaming three of his games live on FloFootball and, each time, he exploded off the screen.

In the span of little over an hour, Indianapolis—which had the good fortune of snagging the draft’s best offensive lineman, Notre Dame’s Quenton Nelson in round one—transformed its front seven in round two.

Malik Jefferson, LB, Texas — Selected 78th overall by CIN

Entering the 2017 season, Malik Jefferson was almost universally thought to be a first-round-caliber player. All he did is rack up 110 tackles and a second-team AP All-America selection and then show talent evaluators that he’s big (6-foot-2, 236 pounds), strong (27 reps on the bench), and fast (4.52 40-yard dash).

And, then, well, somehow Jefferson fell to the third round, where he was scooped up by Cincinnati with the 78th overall pick. If it’s any consolation to Malik, though, he does get free pizza for a year by virtue of being selected with the 14th pick of the third round because 3.14 = pi and pi sounds like pie and… I don’t know.

I really don’t understand how or why he was available that late in the draft, but I do know that he’s going to be an opening-day starter for the Bengals.

Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado State — Selected 81st overall by DAL

In case you haven’t heard, Dez Bryant is no longer a Cowboy—and the divorce left Dallas with something of a need at wide receiver.

Many had prospects like Courtland Sutton or Calvin Ridley penciled in for the Cowboys in round one. When that didn’t happen, Memphis’ Anthony Miller or Colorado State’s Michael Gallup would’ve appeared to be an option at No. 50, but Dallas took Texas guard Connor Williams in that spot.

Williams at 50 was an excellent choice—one that returned order to the Cowboys’ vaunted offensive line. But, when things fell just right and Gallup was still available at No. 81, the Williams pick became nothing short of spectacular.

Williams is a top 15-caliber talent on the offensive line whose stock dropped due to injuries in what was a disappointing season all around at the University of Texas. Gallup was a consensus All-American with an outside shot to become the top wide receiver from this draft. To land them both was a massive win for America’s Team. 

At 6-foot, 200 pounds, with 4.51 40-yard dash speed, Gallup's measurables are adequate if not excellent across the board. But his polished route-running, excellent hands, and versatility at the position are what really set him apart.

The former Ram could realistically be the Cowboys' best wide receiver by season’s end.

Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, EDGE, Oklahoma — Selected 160th overall by LAR

I might’ve saved the best for last.

Three months ago, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo was being floated as a first-round pick.

But then he measured smaller (6-2, 253 pounds) and slower (4.77 40-yard dash) than teams would’ve liked and he began to slide. With the Rams on the clock at pick No. 87, it sure appeared that the slide would end, but Los Angeles passed.

Incredibly, he was still there at No. 111, but the Rams passed again—and again at 135, and again at 147.

Finally, with Obo still on the board at No. 160—about 140 spots lower than he first appeared on those late-January mock drafts—Los Angeles traded back up into the spot and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips got his man.

Now then, with the former Sooner on a roster—and, not just any roster, but the Rams with Phillips—let me just say this as clearly and concisely as possible: Ogbonnia Okoronkwo is going to destroy some folks in the NFL on his path to becoming one of the most disruptive players on that LA defense.

To somehow run into him in the fifth round after passing four times is all but inconceivable. That’s not a steal. That’s grand theft.

Much like the Connor Williams pick further strengthened the Cowboys’ selection of Gallup a round later, picking Obo at No. 160 looks even more impressive when you consider that the Rams took Virginia linebacker Micah Kiser before him at No. 147.

It is conceivable—and even likely—that two of Los Angeles’ best defenders in 2018 may have been acquired back-to-back in the fifth round of this year’s draft.