2022 NFL Draft Profiles: Best Of The Rest From The Mountain West

These players may be long shots to hear their name called in the draft, but here’s what you need to know about what they bring to the pros.

2022 NFL Draft: The Best of the Rest of the Mountain West Prospects By School

Air Force | Boise State | Colorado State | Fresno State | Hawaii | Nevada | New Mexico | San Diego State | San Jose State | UNLV | Utah State | Wyoming

Hawaii

Many of the Warriors’ prospects this year come from their defensive backfield, not just Cortez Davis but also Eugene Ford, Colby Burton, Quentin Frazier, and Chima Azunna.

Frazier is an interesting prospect in that he spent his time as a starter in a linebacker/safety hybrid role, which gave him plenty of opportunity to step up as a run stopper (14 tackles for loss in the last two seasons) and play back in coverage. However, PFF saddled him with a 44.4 grade in that latter element of the game, suggesting there’s work left to be done, but with surprising athleticism (1.61 10-yard split, 34-inch vertical, 17 bench press reps) for his size (5-11, 196 pounds), someone could easily dream on his abilities as a safety for the long term.

Ford earned playing time right away as a freshman and ended up making seeing lots of reps on special teams and at both cornerback and safety, playing inside and outside over four years with the Warriors while becoming a team captain in the process. He may have underperformed a bit at Hawaii’s pro day by running a 4.9 40-yard dash, but any NFL team could use his intangibles and versatility.

Burton and Azunna, meanwhile, were role players who transferred to Hawaii from McNeese State and Iowa State, respectively. Burton didn’t run the 40-yard dash at Hawaii’s pro day but may be maxed out athletically (28.5-inch vertical, 8′ 10″ broad jump) already, but Azunna has an intriguing athletic profile (36.5-inch vertical at 5-11 and 211 pounds) that could get him a tryout as an undrafted free agent.

Hawaii also has a pair of offensive line prospects in this year’s draft class, Kohl Levao and Gene Pryor. Levao thrived as a starter in 2018 in Nick Rolovich’s run-and-shoot offense, but injuries shortened his 2019 season and derailed 2020 entirely. He stayed healthy last fall, however, and got back to demonstrating just what his 6-5, 326-pound frame was capable of by starting all but one game at center (he started at guard against Wyoming). In all, he made 31 starts at tackle, guard and center for the Warriors and has the kind of length (33 1/4-inch arms, 10 1/4-inch hands) that a savvy coach can build upon, so if he can pick up the pace of the NFL game, watch out.

Pryor, on the other hand, provided Hawaii with a different kind of stability by making more than 30 starts at right tackle. According to Pro Football Focus, he improved his overall grade in each of his four seasons with the Warriors, topping out at 74.9 in 2021, the fifth-best figure in the Mountain West. At 6-2 and 299 pounds, he may undersized as a tackle in the NFL, but as a self-defined hard worker with a quick first step and experience in pass protection, it isn’t out of the question that he could work out as a guard or center in the pros.

Finally, Djuan Matthews made six starts at defensive end for Hawaii last year, but also spent plenty of time on the interior, as well, over the past two seasons. At 5-10 and 250 pounds, however, he might be undersized at both positions for NFL scouts.

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