Ad Disclosure
NFL.com names 2 SEC players who could go from unheralded to top-5 NFL Draft picks this year
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Coming into the 2016 season, North Carolina QB Mitchell Trubisky wasn’t on many NFL teams’ radars.
But, as the season wore on, the Tar Heel skyrocketed up draft boards and was eventually selected by the Chicago Bears with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Heading into this college football season, NFL.com listed five players from around the country who could see their draft stock rise like Trubisky’s did a year ago.
Two rising SEC stars — Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald and Alabama DT Da’Ron Payne — made the list, which can be found here.
Analyst Daniel Jeremiah was particularly high on Fitzgerald, saying he’s heard nothing but good things about the Bulldog:
“I haven’t spent much time studying Fitzgerald, but his name has come up several times in my conversations with NFL scouts,” he writes. “In fact, every single one of them told me the Mississippi State signal-caller is the best quarterback in the SEC.”
Obviously, ascensions like Trubisky’s don’t happen often, but it certainly wouldn’t be wise to count out players as talented as Fitzgerald and Payne.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
