2020 NFL Draft Sleepers by Michael Kelley

Summary:

If someone told me ten years ago that today I would still be spending nights alone playing Call of
Duty and arguing with internet strangers on YouTube about NFL prospects, I wouldn’t be all that
surprised. But instead of voluntarily distancing from society in 2010 to watch grainy Tebow
footage, I’m on mandated lockdown (which I choose to spend watching Justin Herbert’s junior
year highlights and to yell at my “friends” for not reviving me in Warzone).

In that light, this year’s “Draft Sleepers” write-up is going to be a bit different; I’ll cover a few
uncut gems for sure, but I also want to dive into how two positions on offense could shape the
first round of the draft.

2019 Review:

Last year, I discussed a few deep value guys that could have some impact on an NFL roster. Wes
Hills (RB, Slippery Rock) went undrafted but ultimately found a spot on the Lions’ roster (and
scored one TD) after a brief stint in Arizona. Like Hills, David Sills (WR, West Virginia) went
undrafted and was signed by the Giants after being cut by the Bills. Despite the Giants porous
receiver situation late in the year, Sills never saw game action despite being on the active roster.
Tyree Jackson (QB, Buffalo) signed as an undrafted FA with the Bills and did hear his name called
in the XFL draft. Chris Slayton (DE, Syracuse) was the only one drafted out of the group, however,
he failed to compile any stats for the Giants in 2019.

My Grade: D+

Some 2020 Draft Thoughts:

There is a strong possibility that five, even six receivers could hear their names called in the first
round—similar to what materialized 15 years ago.

In 2005, three highly regarded prospects (akin to this year’s trio of CeeDee Lamb, Henry Ruggs,
and Jerry Jeudy) came off the board early in the first—followed by three additional receivers later
that round:

• Braylon Edwards (3), Troy Williamson (7), Mike Williams (10) followed by
• Matt Jones (21), Mark Clayton (22), and Roddy White (27)

Other than Edwards’ lone-1,000 season in 2007, only Roddie White—the last WR picked that
round—had anything other than an unremarkable NFL career.
This time around, Lamb, Jeudy, and Ruggs are expected to the first three plucked (my expectation
is that none of them will as early as 10 as there are teams with more pressing needs in the first
1/3rd). Following them, Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins, and a combo of Michael Pittman,
Jr./Brandon Aiyuk/Denzel Mims could round out the end of the first round. To my eye, Ruggs is
the most polarizing prospect here; while his speed garners comparisons to Tyreek Hill, he only
had fewer than 800 years each of the last two seasons, albeit sharing the field with Jeudy (in 2019,
Ruggs averaged a pedestrian 62 ypg).

Now, could this first-day WR draft class shape up to be like 2014’s—where we had future Pro
Bowlers Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, OBJ, and Brandon Cooks all selected within the first 32
picks? Probably not.

Chances are that we will look back on this draft a few years from now and wonder why someone
like Lavishka Shenault (Colorado) wasn’t taken earlier despite his recent core surgery. Or maybe,
we will realize that the best WR from Alabama’s 2019 team chose to stay in school for another
year (Devonta Smith).

Along with the loaded receiving crop, we have an exceedingly intriguing storyline on the QB front.
After Joe Burrow, there is incredible uncertainty as far as how the rest of the signal callers will
shake out for the remainder of the first round. My guesses:

• Miami should not pass on Tua Tagovailoa. They should take him and have him sit out all
the 2019 season, with the opportunity to learn behind a vet playcaller in Ryan Fitzpatrick.
In fact, If I’m a team in need of a QB—I’m certainly calling Washington to see what it
would take to move to #2.
• The smoke from the Dan Marino “blessing” of Justin Herbert seems to be exactly that and
nothing more—and I would expect LA Chargers to take the QB from Oregon with the next
pick.
• I would expect the Pats to try and move up to take Jordan Love from Utah State. While
Love did lead the NCAA in interceptions last year with 17, he has an incredible arm, which
was on full display last year in this game against Wake Forest (click the picture below for
the highlights).

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2020 Sleepers:

Two things I cannot wait to see this weekend: NFL GMs search history populating on live tv—and
which teams select my favorite sleepers listed below:

1. Kenny Robinson, Jr. (CB, West Virginia). Robinson, an all-Big XII selection as a
sophomore, was kicked out of WVU after academic fraud. He then said fongool to the
transfer portal to live out his lifelong dream of suiting up for the St. Louis Battlehawks of
the XFL—where he tacked on two INTs to his career total (9 in two + years) before the
league was shut down. Robinson is my favorite corner to watch in this draft, other than
Antoine Winfield, Jr, of Minnesota and has the size (6’1, 200) to match up well in the
secondary. His selection could be a perfect example of how this draft process has been
forced to change: teams may be forced to allocate much more time to watching his film
rather than questioning him on decisions that led to his dismissal from school.

2. Lynn Bowden (WR/ATH, Kentucky). Hooooo boy did this guy cost me a lot of money at
the end of last year. While he’s not expected to be an early pick per se, he’s not exactly
a “sleeper” here, either. He did win the Hornung Award as college football’s most
versatile player after stepping up to be the team’s QB the last eight games of the past
season—leading the Wildcats to bowl eligibility (and a surprising come-from-behind win
against Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl. Ugh that one hurt). Bowden can really do it all and
can be a force on special teams too, as he was tied for first nationally with two punt
returns for TDs.

3. Shaq Quarterman (LB, Miami). Quarterman was such a productive cog the last four years
in Miami and became the only Hurricane to ever start 52 games of his career—and not
miss a single start. The knock on him is his lack of lateral speed/agility to play in anything
other than a 3-4, however, he should be a productive special teams player and even be a
gap-stopping fit in the right defense.

4. Amik Robertson (CB, Louisiana Tech). Robertson was one of the strong suits on a “bend,
but don’t break” defense. He earned Freshman All-America honors three years ago. And
last year, his season was cut short after undergoing groin surgery back in December. But
he still managed to haul in five picks last year and eight tackles for losses. He is the
definition of a plug-and-play corner who really can cover all sides of the field.

Enjoy the draft—and stay home!!