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Could a Michigan player be making his way to broadway? One NFL mock draft sure thinks so.
The Wolverines don’t have many players projected to go in the top end of the NFL Draft this April, at least not according to mock drafts in the pre-combine period. Once the NFL Scouting Combine starts later this month, that could certainly change, but different prognosticators are all across the board as to what Michigan player will go first, and when. Though Josh Uche has drawn a lot of praise after standing out at the Reese’s Senior Bowl last month, another is starting to get more and more consistent praise.
We’ve now seen some mock drafts with departing junior center Cesar Ruiz going as high as the late first-round. While scouting site Pro Football Focus hasn’t been quite as high on him, they’ve been high on him in general, as one of the site’s top 50 draft eligible players. That’s continued into PFF’s second NFL mock draft, with Ruiz going to the NY Jets in the second-round.
48. NEW YORK JETS – C CESAR RUIZ, MICHIGAN
Ruiz has been Michigan’s starting center ever since he was a true sophomore in 2018. He’s been one of the best pass-protecting centers in the country over that span with only 19 pressures allowed on 895 pass-blocking snaps.
Should Ruiz’s seeming emergence into a late-first/second-round pick hold, then he’ll assuredly have made the right decision leaving Michigan a year early.