Brash and blunt, Boulware disagrees with professional perception
Ben Boulware is the 16th-best inside linebacker prospect in this year’s NFL Draft class, according to CBSSports.com.
Or Ben Boulware is the best inside linebacker prospect in this year’s NFL Draft class. That’s according to Ben Boulware.
“I feel like I have nothing to prove. I feel like I am the most complete linebacker in this draft. I feel like with my stats and everything I have done over the past four years …” Boulware said from a podium at the recent NFL Combine in Indianapolis, before pausing to list those things.
“I have had over 250 tackles, 130 this year. I have been the MVP of three bowl games, including a national championship. I feel like with my leadership and my knowledge of the game and my ability to point out plays and point to where the ball is going before the snap even happens (is unmatched).”
Clearly, Boulware had this answer ready when he walked into the building. It’s that combination of preparation and bluntness that made Boulware the face of the Clemson defense the past two seasons, the fiery counterpoint to the polished presence of quarterback Deshaun Watson as the Tigers won one college football national title and played for another.
“Deshaun led by example,” Boulware said. “I was definitely the guy who would get in guys’ faces and cuss guys out whenever I needed to.”
Former Clemson cornerback Cordrea Tankersley describes Boulware’s leadership style as “vocal” and “loud.”
“He’s going to let his play be known, but he’ll let you know vocally as well,” Tankersley said. “He’s awesome. Great leadership. I couldn’t ask for a more humble guy than Ben or better leadership than Ben. He brought it from practice to off the field to the classroom. He’s just an intense guy.”
And a confident one.
“This is no disrespect to any other linebacker,” he said. “There a lot of other great players in this draft. I know I’m not perfect, but there’s not a linebacker in this draft and probably in drafts before that you can see on film multiple times pointing, ‘This is where the ball is going,’ and waving, ‘Come over here,’ and it happens. All of that being said, you’re not going to draft me because I’m 6-foot? I feel like that’s not someone doing their homework.”
None of the knocks on Boulware are performance-based. He had 131 tackles, including 11.5 for loss, four sacks and another 12 quarterback hurries as the Tigers finished 14-1 and won the national title last season. The reason Boulware isn’t ranked higher as an professional prospect is because of other numbers.
He didn’t run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, but the 4.85 seconds he ran at Clemson’s pro day would have been the third-slowest at the combine at his position. His 29.5-inch combine vertical was the lowest among linebackers. His 111-inch broad jump measured next-to-last and his 4.43 20-yard shuttle was third-from-last.
“First time I put the tape in, I’m writing down how fast he is and all the measurables,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said during television coverage of the Combine, “and then you just notice how often he gets to the football.”
That’s the point Boulware is trying to make, and he believes he’s earned his brashness on the subject.
“I am very confident in my tape. I tell everybody, ‘Just watch the tape,’ ” he said. “I feel like that’s all I really have to say. That confidence comes from how hard I have worked since I was 12 years old. That confidence comes from me doing 500 pushups and 500 sit-ups (daily) from seventh grade to my senior year of high school. That confidence comes from me pulling my dad’s concrete tires across my driveway. That confidence comes from all the blessings the Lord has put in my life.
“I realize where the Lord has blessed me and where he hasn’t, and I have maximized everything that he has placed in my life. Everything he hasn’t, I’ve put aside and I’m not really worried about it.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Brash and blunt, Boulware disagrees with professional perception."