From Aaron Rodgers’ hometown Niners giving him the cold shoulder in 2005 to Laremy Tunsil being blackmailed (fittingly, his infamous gasmask bong is now being sold as an NFT), draft-night horror stories are a dime a dozen in the NFL, where players are often reduced to numbers on a spreadsheet. But neither of those quite compare to the agonizing wait experienced by Malik Willis and Nakobe Dean, who inexplicably didn’t hear their names called until late Friday night, desperately checking their phones for a call that, at times, felt like it would never come. Watching from our couches at home as Willis and Dean dropped further and further, plummeting into the latter stages of the third round, most of us had the same reaction … why?
In a league where tight-lipped execs share only the bare minimum, protecting their secrets as if they were matters of national security, we may never know precisely what led to Willis and Dean going from likely first-rounders to mid-round value picks barely on the Day-2 radar. Though it wasn’t reflected in most mock drafts, it’s easy to see why teams would be skeptical of Dean (who would ultimately fall to the Eagles at No. 83), considered undersized for his position at 5’11”/229. Dean also faced his share of durability concerns after battling injuries throughout his time at Georgia. Still, it’s hard to justify a unanimous All-American and the captain of college football’s top defense being picked after Montana State linebacker Troy Anderson (58th overall) and Western Kentucky’s DeAngelo Malone (82nd).
Willis’ fall was even more head-scratching with many touting him as a potential top-ten pick. Drawing flattering comparisons to dual threats such as Michael Vick, Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts, Willis was seen as the highest-upside quarterback on the board, earning rave reviews for his character and leadership qualities. But, for whatever reason, teams weren’t in any rush to draft him. Snubbed repeatedly by the Panthers, Saints, Seahawks and Falcons—the latter drafting Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder when Willis was still available at 73—the Liberty product finally found a home in Tennessee, where he’ll presumably begin his career as Ryan Tannehill’s backup.
Experts like Matt Miller tried to warn us that teams weren’t crazy about this year’s quarterback class, pegging it as one of the weakest in recent memory. But even with that pretext, having one signal-caller picked in the top 70 was unprecedented, particularly given the amount of teams with needs at that position.
Friday was a humbling experience for both players, who now have a chance to prove their skeptics wrong, entering the league with giant chips on their shoulders. That “me against the world mentality” has worked well for Tom Brady (famously drafted with the 199th pick), and perhaps it could do the same for Dean and Willis, serving as a driving force in their ascent to NFL stardom.
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