2017 NFL Draft: 10 Most underrated prospects heading into offseason
By Tyler Brooke
With the college football offseason officially underway, a handful of 2017 NFL draft prospects are still flying under the radar before the combine.
After a thrilling national championship game between the Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide, draft season is officially upon us. While some college players have started to generate a ton of hype from scouts and media members, others are have gone relatively under the radar, or at least aren’t getting the full attention they deserve.
Active followers of NFL draft coverage know the big names like Myles Garrett, Jonathan Allen and Leonard Fournette. There are a handful of names that have consistently been displayed on mock drafts everywhere, and even some of those guys could wind up going higher in the draft come late April.
In all honesty, I’m not a huge fan of California quarterback Davis Webb. Although he put up some solid numbers and has great size at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, I thought that he was really inconsistent with his ball placement and footwork.
However, whenever I watched the tape on Webb, Golden Bears wide receiver Chad Hansen would stand out. In his first full season of work, Hansen caught 92 passes for 1,249 yards and 11 touchdowns. Those numbers are hard to ignore, but he stands out even more when you actually watch him play.
Hansen has the size for an NFL receiver a 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds. He’s also a tremendous athlete who attacks 50-50 jump balls in the air, consistently hauling in contested catches.
I still see Hansen as a Round 3 or Round 4 prospect due to his average top-end speed and difficulty creating separation. Speed can’t be coached, but footwork can, and that could help a lot with the latter problem. He may not be a WR1 at the next level, but he could be a valuable contributor to almost any NFL offense.