Summertime is a great chance to gain some perspective on the talent pool in college football. So every year, I take some time to ask NFL scouts how draft-eligible college players are viewed as prospects by those in the NFL space.
In the coming weeks, I’ll share different pieces of feedback that have come from those conversations. Yesterday, we covered 12 under-the-radar draft prospects on offense generating buzz among NFL scouts. Now, here are 12 defensive players (listed alphabetically):
Syracuse S Alijah Clark
School measurements: 6-foot-1, 186 pounds
A former top-150 overall recruit, Clark has been a starter for Syracuse for the last two years. At least some scouts see the Rutgers transfer coming off the board in the first few rounds of next year’s draft. He has limited ball production (with no interceptions and just five pass breakups the last two seasons) but recorded 120 total tackles during that time and helped Syracuse rank 14th nationally in pass defense in 2022.
Pro Football Focus gave him the fourth-best pass defense grade among ACC safeties last season.
“Really talented and gifted player,” a coach who worked at Syracuse in 2022 and 2023 told CBS Sports. “Physical and athletic. Can lose focus and attention at times, but looks the part.”
UTSA DL Joe Evans
Official measurements:…
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