With the 2017 NFL Draft just days away, our own Matt McGavic looks at the draft eligible Cards.
DeAngelo Brown
Defensive Tackle
6’1″, 317 lbs
Being one of the strongest players in all of college football, Brown has a tremendously strong lower body and can bully his way around an offensive lineman at the point of attack. However, his strong lower body is also his Achilles’ heel, as he can be a bit stiff at times and lack explosiveness.
Projected Draft Position: Round 7, Pick 243 (Texans)
Devonte Fields
Outside Linebacker
6’2, 236 lbs
Fields has incredible agility and tremendous explosiveness, which allows him to close in on a ball carrier extremely fast. Though he doesn’t have a huge stride from being a slightly undersized pass rusher and could be a tad more physical.
Projected Draft Position: Round 3, Pick 96 (Patriots)
Josh Harvey-Clemons
Safety
6’4″, 217 lbs
Harvey-Clemons uses his height and long wingspan to translate into incredible range on the field. While he can play edge to to edge with ease, he does tend to over pursue or take bad angles in the running game.
Projected Draft Position:Round 6, Pick 192 (Panthers)
Cole Hikutini
Tight End
6’4″, 247 lbs
A tight end with wide receiver skills, he can track the ball in the air better than most tight ends and has great acceleration to make for a good short game. As he is a tight end though, he does need to work a bit on his blocking.
Projected Draft Position: Round 6, Pick 193 (Bengals)
Colin Holba
Long Snapper
6’4″, 248 lbs
While he is a deadshot in terms of pure snapping ability, he could benefit from some additional strength training in order to adjust to the NFL game.
Projected Draft Position: Undrafted
Keith Kelsey
Inside Linebacker
6’0″, 233 lbs
An extremely aggressive tackler and has the “play until the whistle blows” mentality, Kelsey can wrap-up with the best of them. While his open field tackles are fine, he is prone to missing a man when diving for a tackle, and his speed is just a little bit below average.
Projected Draft Position: Round 7, Pick 253 (Broncos)
James Quick
Wide Receiver
6’0″, 186 lbs
While Quick can track the ball quite well and is a very good route runner, his stiff hands leave him prone to drops.
Projected Draft Position: Undrafted
Jamari Staples
Wide Receiver
6’3″, 195 lbs
Staples can both climb the ladder to grab the long ball as well as reach out to grab passes that are slightly off target. Unfortunately, he is prone to injury over his career and doesn’t have great route running ability.
Projected Draft Position: Undrafted
All draft projections are made by Fox Sports
