RONALD POWELL – DEFENSIVE END
At the top of our list is Ronald Powell, whose name is less recognizable than you would expect for a prospect of his stature. Coming out of Rancho Verde High School in Moreno Valley, California, in 2010, the then-6-foot-4-inch, 230-pound weak-side defensive end earned a five-star rating from 247Sports and was the top-ranked player in his entire class that year across the board. His ostensibly perfect 0.9999 score coming out of the prep ranks remains the best-ever for a Florida Gators recruit.
Meyer’s acquisition of Powell was a major coup for a program that would be torpedoed by Meyer’s health issues into a stretch of unacceptable mediocrity. He played in 13 games making one start during his freshman campaign and became a 12-game starter his sophomore year. He tore his ACL twice his junior year — once in the Orange and Blue game and again during rehab — taking a medical redshirt for the season. In 2013, he started in eight of his 13 appearances before entering the NFL draft.
Originally ranked the No. 15 outside linebacker in the draft and expected to go in the fifth round, Powell met those expectations when the New Orleans Saints took him with the 196th pick in round No. 5. He played just one season in the NFL playing in 14 games as a reserve, recording just one solo and assisted tackle over the course of the 2014-15 schedule before the Saints parted way with him in September of 2015.
Subsequently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks all took a flyer on Powell and signed him to their practice squads, only to release him before every taking the field. In 2018, he signed with the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football for the 2019 season, though he was released in January before the league began play.