Of course, the ideal NFL Draft prospect has tremendous collegiate production and boasts jaw-dropping athletic traits. Obviously, many don't check both boxes. Sometimes you have to trust a prospect's physical capabilities even if he's not a great, finished product football player yet.
This is the second in a two-part series that will examine a pair of unique subsets of every draft class. You can check out the first, my "Trust The Tape" prospects, here. Now we're heading to the other end of the spectrum with "Trust The Traits" prospects.
For this article, my team consists of NFL hopefuls who didn't have extraordinary film and/or production in 2023 (or aren't garnering much buzz) but just give me a feeling that, in time, with the proper coaching, in the right scenario, they can become quality pros because their traits either pop on film or did so at their combine/pro day workout.
These are my "Trust The Traits" prospects in the 2024 class.
Like Nolan Smith a year ago, a member of last year's "Trust The Traits" team, I didn't fall head over heels in love with Turner's film. There were a few supremely productive outings which I mostly believe buoyed his overall production. The wins from Turner in those contests and scattered throughout his 2023 film are jaw-dropping. They just didn't happen with as much regularity as I'd like to see, and the first two years at Alabama did not meet No. 1 edge rusher recruit hype, particularly at Alabama.
This is all to say, I liked Turner's film. I didn't love it. For possibly the first defensive player off the board, a likely top 10-15 pick, I want to go into the draft having been enamored with what that prospect demonstrated on film. I didn't get that sense with Turner.
When it comes to traits, though, Turner is a marvel -- nearly 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds with with an 83-inch wingspan, the latter of which was the fifth-longest among all edge rushers at the 2024 combine. Insane! Then, Turner ran 4.46 with a 40.5-inch vertical and a 10-foot-7 broad jump.
Mitchell is probably the most fascinating receiver prospect in the class. He had 93 receptions for 1,405 yards across three seasons at Georgia and Texas -- not incredibly productive -- but did swell in the touchdown-department with 11 of them in 2023. Minimal yards after the catch on film, and there were high highs and low lows. Mitchell only caught five or more passes in three games this past season at Texas and had under 50 yards in eight contests.
But the traits, whoo boy, they're tantalizing. Over 6-foot-2, 205 pounds with 4.34 speed, and elite-level explosiveness -- 39.5-inch vertical, 11-foot broad. From a qualitative perspective, Mitchell is super-smooth gliding as a route runner. He is the classic "Trust The Traits" candidate.
Hall had 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss in 2023. In 12 games for the Buckeyes, only 24 tackles. All of that -- hardly impressive classic production from the interior defensive tackle position.
But at right under 6-foot-3 and 299 pounds, Hall blew the doors off the Ohio State Pro Day with a 4.75 time in the 40-yard dash, 33-inch vertical, and a 9-foot-5 broad jump. Those are all f-r-e-a-k-y figures for a defensive tackle. And those traits translate on the field. No, he's not Aaron Donald 2.0 but is such a sudden mover off the ball and smoothly changes directions when countering off his initial rush. And this is one of the youngest prospects in the entire draft -- Hall doesn't turn 21 until mid-June. I love Byron Murphy and Johnny Newton but will not be stunned if Hall ultimately becomes the best defensive tackle from this class. He's that physically gifted with functional athlete traits galore.
We are finally feeling the impact of Bret Bielema at Illinois -- the old-school coach who loves jumbo packages and deploying sometimes three tight ends on the field at the same time is sending a large, athletic tight end who's a monster blocker to the NFL in this draft class.
Reiman was a blocking extraordinaire in the Big Ten then turned heads with an equally as impressive workout in Indianapolis, especially at his massive 271 pounds. He ran an impressive 4.64 with a 33.5-inch vertical, a 10-foot-1 broad and a freaky 7.02 time in the three-cone drill. Reiman only caught 19 passes for 203 yards in 2023 and that came after a 19-catch 2022. But being close to 6-foot-5 with serious explosiveness and flexibility indicates he can be a better, more productive part of the pass game in the NFL, and he's unlike the vast majority of the tight ends in this class because he consistently moves people as a blocker.
It's felt like Ulofoshio has been on the draft radar forever because, well he has. This is a sixth-year prospect who'll scare some teams away because of his age. While his production was impressive in 2023 with 94 tackles as a full-time starter, he battled injuries in 2022 and his highest tackling total before this past season was 51 in 2021.
He won't be picked because of how he filled the stat sheet, let's put it that way. At just over 6-foot and 234 pounds, the sleek mover rocked at the combine with a 4.56 in the 40-yard dash along with a 39.5-inch vertical and 10-foot-8 broad jump. It does take him an extra split second to identify the play in front of him, but he has the athletic juice to recover and get to where he needs to be in a flash. For a club looking for a high-floor, highly athletic off-ball linebacker who can cover, Ulofoshio will be a hot commodity in the middle of this draft, and I believe he'll have a long and steady professional career.
