The final word on Javon Kinlaw and South Carolina’s NFL Draft hopefuls
The NFL Draft is bearing down, and several South Carolina players are in line to hear their names called.
The draft is Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A look at what’s being said and where projections have Gamecocks such as Javon Kinlaw, Bryan Edwards, D.J. Wonnum and others.
Javon Kinlaw
The word from Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy: “He’s a pretty unique guy from a physical traits perspective. Big, long, explosive, athletic. Really changed his body this past year, dropped a bunch of weight, just reconfigured his body. To me he’s a player that’s just scratching the surface. Our week was kind of custom-made for him: the one-on-one drills where it’s just mono-a-mono and he can just come off and use that explosiveness. It was perfect for him. He did really well the first two days. He was a handful for those guys trying to block him. And then he had some quad tendonitis that I guess he dealt with during the season some. He had to shut himself down. But no, he definitely helped himself a ton, talking to guys in the league. This week really helped him out. He’s got tremendous upside. This guy should be a multiple-Pro Bowl level guy when it’s all said and done.”
Where he’s projected:
▪ 16th to Atlanta (CBS)
▪ 17th to Dallas (NFL.com)
▪ 16th to Atlanta (WalterFootball.com)
▪ 20th to Jacksonville (The Athletic)
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: 1st rounder
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: Ninth
Bryan Edwards
Nagy: “Bryan was one of my favorite guys in this class, so it was a bummer that he couldn’t compete down here. I just love his mindset. I love his physicality. I love just his play strength. To me he’s just an NFL wideout. I was at the Alabama game, and just the aggression that he played with in that game — he’s just a really good football player. The fact that he plays on special teams and all that stuff, now he’s had some injury stuff. Talking to guys in the league, it’s dropped him a little bit, unfortunately. The medical grades are all coming back and whatnot. He might not go where I thought he would go in the fall, but if those injuries don’t play a part, he’s one of the best receivers in this class. And everyone talks about it being such a deep class. He’d be way up there for me.”
Where he’s projected:
▪ 142nd, 4th round, to Washington (CBS)
▪ 108th, 4th round, to Washington (NFL.com)
▪ 118th, 4th round, to Denver (WalterFootball.com)
▪ 99th, 3rd round, to New York Giants (The Athletic)
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: 2nd-3rd rounder
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 101st
D.J. Wonnum
Nagy: “Wonnum is so long. He first was a 3-4 outside linebacker. He knows how to use his length. A lot of long guys are kind of stringy and not very strong, but DJ has got some pop in his hands and he’s physical at the point of attack. And he makes plays with that length.”
Where he’s projected:
▪ 180th, 6th round, to Cincinnati (CBS)
▪ 139th, 4th round, to Tampa Bay (NFL.com)
▪ 205th, 6th round, to Minnesota (WalterFootball.com)
▪ 116th, 4th round, to Jacksonville (The Athletic)
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: 4th-5th rounder
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 231st
Rico Dowdle
Nagy: “He probably would’ve been the next running back in the (Senior Bowl) had someone went down. ... Really like Rico. I think he felt the push from Feaster this year and kind of prepared differently. Talking to the guys there, there was more of a focus this year and it translated on the field. He had that really good game at the Bama game I was at. He’s strong on contact. He breaks tackles. He’s got burst. So Rico was a guy we really liked.”
Where he’s projected:
▪ 255th, 7th round, New York Giants (NFL.com)
▪ 247th, 7th round, New York Giants (The Athletic)
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: 6th-7th rounder
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 349th
Tavien Feaster
Nagy: “We liked Feaster, too. He was down the line a little bit from where Rico was, but he went to the Shrine Game and he deserved that. He’s a good player in his own right.”
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: Undrafted free agent
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 259th
T.J. Brunson
Nagy: “A guy that, out of 122 guys we had here, 120 of them got Combine invites. T.J wasn’t one of them and I was very surprised at that because he’s played Mike linebacker there, he’s played Will linebacker. He’s shown his versatility. He’ll run. He’ll hit. He’s kind of a perfect special teams guy. So I was very surprised he didn’t get a Combine invite. He showed up really well down here.”
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: Undrafted free agent
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 247th
Joseph Charlton
Nagy: “Boomed the ball all week. There was one day it looked like they were shooting the ball out of a JUGS machine during special teams periods. But it was him just hammering the ball. In terms of just leg strength for punters, he’s right there at the top of this class. Usually only a couple of those guys get drafted every year. But I think Joseph has a really good chance of getting drafted.”
Where he’s projected:
▪ 182nd, sixth round, Detroit (NFL.com)
▪ Rating in The Athletic draft guide: 7th round to free agent
▪ Rating in CBS overall prospect rankings: 376th
Other names to watch
Offensive lineman Donell Stanley, tight end Kyle Markway
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 6:13 PM.
