NFL Draft Profiles: UVA's Other Draft Eligible Players

Earlier this week, we ran profiles on the 3 UVA players who are expected to be drafted this week.

Eli Harold

Anthony Harris

Max Valles

Now, we take a look at the others. The guys who aren't likely to hear their names called. Some of these guys may still have a shot at an NFL career.

Henry Coley

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
6'1"	239 lbs	4.99 sec	29 inches	9' 7"	7.34 sec	4.59 sec	23 reps

Strengths

Instincts

Having played as the QB of the defense for the past 2 years, Coley has really developed his ability to read offenses. He's a film junkie and it shows on the field. He locates the ball quickly on running plays.

Tackling

Has good strength "in the phone booth" and doesn't get pushed around. He wraps up and consistently brings the runner down. He just does it further downfield than a faster LB would.

Pass Rush

For an ILB, 8 sacks is a lot. He shows good instincts for when to come on delayed blitz. His power helps him on blitzes, because he can overpower a blocking RB. He also has a very high motor.

Weaknesses

Speed

LBs in the NFL, and especially ILBs, need to be fast. Henry is not fast. His 40 yard time would've tied for 2^nd slowest at the NFL Combine. And his 20 yd shuttle would've been 2^nd slowest as well.

Pass Coverage

This is largely related to the speed thing, but Coley struggles in pass coverage. He isn't near quick enough to cover NFL TEs or RBs in man coverage, and his lack of foot speed hurts him in zone coverages as well. Tendency to bite too hard on play action, which may be trying to compensate for the lack of speed.

Bottom Line

If Coley were just a hair faster, he'd be an NFL player. As it stands, he has a shot as a 3-4 ILB, where his lack of speed won't hurt as much. He's very good at finding the gap and filling it. He doesn't miss tackles. He's also a very heady player who plays faster than his time, because of his quick (and accurate) reads. Unlikely to be drafted, but has a decent shot at making an NFL team.

Conner Davis

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
6'5"	299 lbs	5.72	22.5 inches	8' 2"	8.37 sec	4.98 sec	17 reps

Bottom Line

Davis' 40 time would've been the slowest at the NFL Combine. It would've been one of the slowest ever. His agility drills weren't any better. This could possibly be ok if he did 40 reps of the bench press. But 17 reps isn't nearly enough for an OG. Davis is a longshot to even garner a camp invite.

D.J. Hill

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
5'11"	239 lbs	4.83 sec	29 inches	9' 2"	7.28 sec	4.54 sec	20 reps

Bottom Line

Hill wasn't particularly effective as a college player, and those guys generate much interest from the NFL. Hill is a bit slow for an NFL ILB, and his athletic profile isn't great either. His football career is likely over.

Drequan Hoskey

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
5'11"	180 lbs	4.56 sec	34 inches	9' 11"	7.11 sec	4.31 sec	9 reps

Bottom Line

Hoskey is another guy who just isn't quite fast enough for the NFL. Hoskey has decent size for a CB, if he were faster. His speed and agility times are middle of the pack for CBs. But that isn't good enough for a 5'11" 180 pound guy. Hoskey is a track guy, and might've done better if the combine tested 100yd dash instead of 40 yd dash. Hoskey would probably be the first to tell you that he was disappointed with his time. He should spend some time in somebody's camp, but he does not have an NFL future.

Darius Jennings

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Long Shuttle
5'10"	169 lbs	4.47 sec	37 inches	10' 3"	6.95 sec	4.29 sec	11.22

Strengths

Speed

Jennings has plenty of speed. One of his runs was timed at under 4.4 and his clocked time of 4.47 is quick. That time would've put him 17^th at the NFL Draft Combine (among WRs). Nobody ever doubted Jennings' speed. This is the thing he most has going for him. And the NFL is all about speed.

Quickness

And Jennings is not just fast, he's quick to. His 3-cone drill time is also very good, and would've been 15^th at the Combine. His 20 yard shuttle would've been 28^th, and his 60 yd shuttle would've tied for 2^nd. Jennings has great speed and athleticism.

Weaknesses

Size

Jennings is small, even for a WR. For a small WR to make it in the NFL, they'd have to have elite speed. Jennings has good speed, but not elite speed. At 169 pounds, Jennings would be one of the smallest players in the NFL.

Hands

As any Wahoo fan knows, Jennings has had far too many drops during his career. Some of this can be explained by the inconsistency at QB. But there have been far too many times when Jennings was open and simply couldn't make the catch.

Bottom Line

Jennings is unlikely to be drafted. However, his speed and athleticism make him a possible special teams player in the NFL. He could return kicks (something he was very good at in college) and he could be a solid gunner as well.

Kevin Parks

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
5'7"	207 lbs	4.86 sec	39.5 inches	9' 4"	7.31 sec	4.59 sec	21 reps

Strengths

Size

NFL teams want short, thick RBs. A shorter RB has a lower center of gravity and therefore is harder to bring down. The average NFL RB is only about 5'10". Of course, 207 pounds is a bit small for NFL RBs (who average 215 pounds). But nobody is looking at Parks as an every down back.

Pass Receiving

Parks has shown good hands throughout his career and a good feel for the screen game. He's not going to run downfield routes, but he's been solid on underneath routes. He caught 103 passes over his UVA career.

Vision

Parks does a good job of finding the hole. At Virginia, he ran a lot of traps and daylight plays, where it was his job to wait until he saw an opening and then hit it.

Weaknesses

Speed

Simply put, Parks is slow for an NFL RB. Painfully slow. This is, by far, the biggest drawback to his potential NFL career. His time would've been 3^rd slowest at the Combine (among RBs).

Lateral Quickness

NFL teams want their RBs to be able to make defenders miss. Parks isn't going to do that. He'll lower his head and run through a guy, but he isn't going to break many tackles. His shuttle time would've been dead last at the Combine and his 3-cone time would've been 4^th slowest.

Bottom Line

Parks has a shot as an NFL short yardage specialist. He's stout, which makes it hard to bring him down. He's also a very high effort guy. He'll keep moving his feet, fighting through the hole. And his nearly 40" vertical leap means he could be a "jump over the pile at the goalline" guy.

Parks isn't likely to be drafted, but it isn't impossible. He could be one of the last few guys drafted. Most likely, he's a training camp invite. It would behoove him to find a team with smaller RBs that might need a short yardage guy.

Daquan Romero

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
6'0"	241 lbs	5.11 sec	28.5 inches	9' 0"	7.45 sec	4.74 sec	16 reps

Bottom Line

Romero was a solid college LB, but simply isn't athletic enough for the NFL. His 40 time, his agility drills and his lack of strength make him an afterthought for NFL teams. He may garner a camp invite, but he won't make an NFL roster.

Khalek Shepherd

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT	40 YARD DASH	VERTICAL JUMP	BROAD JUMP	3-CONE	SHORT SHUTTLE	Bench press
5'7"	189 lbs	4.75 sec	29.5 inches	8' 11"	6.9 sec	4.44 sec	14 reps

Bottom Line

Shepherd is too small and too slow for an NFL RB. If he'd run faster, he might've had a shot at making a roster as a special teams player. But 4.75 is much too slow for a small guy. He'll get a shot at somebody's camp, if nothing else because his father still has NFL ties. But Khalek isn't going to follow his dad's footsteps in the NFL.

Zachary Swanson

Pro Day Results

HEIGHT	WEIGHT
6'5"	260 lbs

Swanson did not participate in the Pro Day because of January foot surgery.

Strengths

Size

At 6'5" and 260, Swanson is pretty good size for a TE. Swanson may not be the strongest of TEs, but the size gives him an edge.

Speed

Swanson didn't participate in the Pro Day, but his expected 40 time is around 4.8, which is right about average for a TE. That combination of size and speed is rare.

Weaknesses

Routes

There's a reason why a big, fast TE only caught 41 passes in his career. Actually, there are several reasons. One is inconsistency at QB. Another is a need to use him as a blocker. But another is his lack of understanding of how to get open. He's simply not good at running routes. This may be what keeps him out of the NFL.

Run Blocking

While Swanson is pretty solid as a pass blocker, he struggles to fire out against opposing DEs. He simply isn't strong enough to move them much. He is better in space, so he would work for a team that likes to run outside the tackles.

Bottom Line

Because of Swanson's foot injury, Scouts did not get to see him work out. This likely removes any chance he had of being drafted. He has good size for an NFL TE, and enough speed. He isn't a great receiver, but he's good enough. And he isn't a great blocker, but he's good enough. Teams are going to want to see him healthy and work out. If he's healthy, he'll make somebody camp's and have a chance to make somebody's roster.

It is possible that Swanson makes an NFL roster, if he's healthy. There aren't too many guys his size who can run like him.