There are two guys worthy of picks in the Supplemental Draft

The supplemental draft gets underway today at 1pm EST

The NFL’s Supplemental Draft gets underway today at 1pm EST. It may be the most unheralded ‘event’ hosted by the league, but it’s another opportunity for teams to add talent. The event provides an opportunity for players whose college circumstances have changed since the draft e.g. the closing of programs or failing academically.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the rules via NFL.com;

Teams do not have to participate in the supplemental draft; if they choose to do so, they may bid for the player by telling the league the round in which they would like to take a specific player. If no other club bids on that player, they are awarded the player and lose a pick in the following year’s NFL Draft that corresponds with the round in which they were awarded the player. If multiple teams submit bids for the player, the highest bidder is awarded that player and loses the corresponding draft pick.

This year’s class features six players, with only one player expected to be selected, but two players I’d suggest are worthy of the gamble.

Ra’Zahn Howard, DT, Purdue

Howard is the only player anticipated to be selected. The heavy-footed nose tackle was kicked out of Purdue for academic reasons, but has value as a one-technique in four-man fronts or a pure nose in three-man fronts.

We saw during the draft the de-valuation of one-dimensional defensive lineman. Talented players like Jarran Reed and A’Shawn Robinson fell out of the first round because of their inability to play on obvious passing downs early in their career.

Howard is a good run defender who is powerful at the point of attack and has good lateral agility and foot speed for someone of his size (325 pounds). He is not a dominant run defender and he won’t have an impact in the passing game, but he can immediately slot into a defensive line rotation on early downs and that is worthy of a sixth or seventh round pick.

Tee Shepard, CB, Ole Miss

Shepard is a really interesting story. Coming out of high school he was a much heralded five-star recruit who committed to Notre Dame. He failed to qualify academically and attended a community college before enrolling at Ole Miss last year.

There’s no denying that Shepard has terrific physical gifts, but he was also dismissed by Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss after disagreements over where Shepard should play; he wanted to line-up outside, while Freeze and his staff wanted Shepard to move inside. The wrinkle here is that Shepard has a hearing impediment which makes pre-snap communication among the defense extremely difficult.

Freeze summed it up with this quote; “If there is any short motion or shift, he has to look back to see it, and when you turn around, all of a sudden, the ball is snapped. So, that has been an issue for us. While all of us hate that, there is part of that to it. It has nothing to do with his physical skills.”

Taking a gamble on Shepard is a huge leap of faith. He has limited playing experience and the hearing issues. But given his physical ability, and with the correct coaching/scheming, I think a seventh round flyer is very much worth it. Teams have taken gambles in recent years on all kinds of gambles, most of which I fully support; Moritz Boehringer and Ebuka Onyemata to name just two from this last draft. Giving up a draft choice for a player who may not be able to get on the field due to communication issues could leave egg on a personnel departments face, but if you know in advance that you’ll be receiving a compensatory pick next season then it makes sense to gamble on a former five-star recruit with a great physical skill-set, rather than risk losing him to another club on the open market.

Other eligible players; Jalen Overstreet (RB, Sam Houston State), Eddie D’Antuono (LS, Virginia Tech), Cameron Walton (DE, Concordia), Rashaun Simonise (WR, Calgary)

Originally published at thereadoptional.com on July 14, 2016.