NFL Draft 2019: Top 25 prospects available on Day 3

Just like Deionte Thompson, it’s a surprise to see Iowa’s Amani Hooker still on the board with seven safeties being selected already. I think Hooker has the upside to be a starting strong safety in the NFL. He’s a physical player at the position despite being a little undersized, and he possesses good speed and athleticism.

I like safeties who relish contact, and Hooker loves coming up into the box and putting hits on ball carriers. He’s good at shedding blocks to make plays, too. His coverage skills need some work, and he’s likely to need some coaching before he’s ready to take the field for an NFL defense, but with patience he could develop into a quality asset.

With Oshane Ximines already off the board, Old Dominion’s Travis Fulgham will become the second Monarch selected in this year’s draft when his name is called on Saturday. Fulgham is a bit of an under the radar receiver, but he was very productive during his final collegiate season, eclipsing 1000 yards and scoring a touchdown in nine consecutive games.

He’s got good size at 6-foot-2 and decent speed to go along with a good vertical jump. He’s solid across the board and should be able to make a roster as a No. 4 receiver as a rookie.

Texas’s Kris Boyd is one of the most physical corners in this class, and while his combine numbers were pretty good across the board, he didn’t help himself much during the Senior Bowl week. Boyd constantly looked outclassed in man-to-man coverage situations, and got torched on more than one occasion during practices and the game.

He plays hard, though, and there may not be a better tackler from the corner position in the draft. He doesn’t have great instincts or ball-skills, but it wouldn’t surprise me to ultimately see Boyd moved to safety at the next level.

You don’t have to worry about effort with Notre Dame’s Drue Tranquill. He plays hard from the opening whistle to the final tick of the scoreboard, flying all over the field for the Irish last season at linebacker. He’s got good size at the position and tested better than expected athletically at the combine.

He has a couple of red flags, though, that have caused him to fall to day three. Tranquill tore his ACL twice in college, and will turn 24 before his rookie season in the NFL. That alone limits his upside, but I think Tranquill could be a multi-year starter, or in the very least a key special teams player and locker room presence well worth the third day risk.

Washburn’s Corey Ballentine is another one of the under-the-radar small school players who most fans have never heard of. If you paid any attention to the Senior Bowl, however, then you certainly heard him talked about on several occasions as a player who was making an impact all over the field.

Ballentine has a modest ceiling, but he could be a long-time special teams ace for a variety of teams, while also filling in as the fourth or fifth cornerback on a roster.