Tag: Jay Tufele

3 round 2021 mock draft sees Bills focus on trenches

The Draft Wire three-round 2021 NFL mock draft and the Buffalo Bills | Dillion Radunz.

They’re not the flashiest or sexiest players, but the work in the trenches is important. After focusing on bringing in a big-name playmaker last offseason via wide receiver Stefon Diggs, the Bills could stand to improve on both the offensive line and defensive line in the coming months.

Our friends at Draft Wire predicted exactly that happening at the 2021 NFL Draft. In their latest three-round mock draft via Luke Easterling, the Bills select players for both lines with their top two picks:

30. Buffalo Bills
Dillon Radunz | OT | North Dakota State

61. Buffalo Bills
Jay Tufele | DL | USC

93. Buffalo Bills
Tyson Campbell | CB | Georgia

Radunz impressed recently at the Senior Bowl and was proclaimed as the top non-FBS prospect currently. If Buffalo loses players like Jon Feliciano and Daryl Williams in free agency, getting a top prospect into fold on the O-line would make perfect sense for the Bills.

Jay Tufele is certainly an intriguing prospect for Buffalo based on The Draft Network‘s thoughts on him. He was pegged as a space-eating player in the middle. While the Bills will have Star Lotulelei back in the fold next season after he was their lone COVID-19 opt out, Buffalo’s defense clearly lacked in this department behind him.

In Campbell, the 6-foot-2 corner would bring some size to the position across from Tre’Davious White. He’d likely be in a battle for playing time as it’s expected Dane Jackson and at least Levi Wallace, a restricted free agent, will be back in the fold for the Bills at the No. 2 cornerback spot.

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After Jay Tufele opts out, attention turns to Amon-ra St. Brown

The Trojans are wondering along with everyone else if there’s another opt-out on the horizon.

After USC defensive tackle Jay Tufele made the decision to opt out of college football on Wednesday — essentially making the choice to not risk a winter or spring season if one is played — one has to wonder if other opt-out decisions are coming from high-end Trojan athletes.

At the forefront of the list of potential opt-out candidates is receiver Amon-ra St. Brown. A player who gained over 1,000 receiving yards last year — in an offense with Michael Pittman as a teammate on the other side of the field — has clearly demonstrated the ability to perform as a stand-alone receiver. Pittman did give St. Brown more chances to operate one-on-one, but St. Brown still had to evolve into a strong receiver in his own right and on his own terms. No one could have left the 2019 season thinking St. Brown was merely a beneficiary of having Pittman as a teammate. That certainly helped, but St. Brown set his own high standard.

Given the quality of his 2019 campaign, St. Brown is rightly seen as a receiver who could come close to Pittman’s status, and maybe even exceed it. The idea that St. Brown could be an early second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft is hardly ludicrous, at least from this vantage point. USC creates high-level NFL receivers; St. Brown’s ability to rise to the top of the depth chart on the Trojans’ roster is an achievement which speaks for itself.

Jay Tufele made the entirely understandable calculation that his draft stock won’t be significantly hurt by forgoing a college football season. Not playing in winter or spring ensures that he won’t go to the NFL Scouting Combine as a bruised and banged-up prospect. Many other players are currently arriving at that same conclusion.

Amon-ra St. Brown could be next. No one within the USC football family has to like it, but it is a possibility which has to be considered; there’s no getting around that basic point.

The possibilities of an added year of eligibility

Reaction to Wednesday’s news

The possibility of an added year of eligibility for student-athletes in fall sports is just around the corner, according to new reporting by Nicole Auerbach of the Athletic.

The biggest thing in here is that the athletes will keep that year regardless of whether they end up playing a spring season. It’s a blanket year of eligibility that is going to have long-reaching and unintended consequences. Right now we are seeing some student-athletes opt out and decide to prepare for the NFL Draft, as was the case with USC defensive lineman Jay Tufele.

However, we are also going to see players take advantage of that extra year in a brand new college football world where they can make money off their name, image, and likeness. This will happen while they use the extra year to get ready for the NFL draft. An odd latent function of the new NLI policy is that it may lead to students staying in school and opting to take that extra year because they don’t necessarily need the money right now, the reason being that they would have endorsement deals. Obviously, all this is still to be finalized.

The extra year of eligibility is also going to create a logjam at certain positions, at least for a couple of years, while coaches try to honor the offers they’ve made to underclassmen who still have another year of high school but also have a full scholarship offer from their top school. A perfect example of this is Georgia with former USC blue-chip quarterback J.T. Daniels.

Daniels already has to compete with Jamie Newman and Stetson Bennett, but he also has to compete with the other quarterbacks Georgia will be bringing in who can come in early because of the coronavirus. It’s a perfect blend of chaos: Upperclassmen can’t go anywhere, but early high school graduates can come in and potentially play what would amount to an entire year — early! Players such as Carson Beck and Brock Vandagriff are going to come in and try to keep Daniels from ever seeing the field.

It’s going to be very interesting to watch how this extra year of eligibility unfolds. It’s going to be equally interesting to watch schools do a high-wire balancing act bringing these kids along and still finding room for them all. Yet, recruits don’t go to a school such as USC or Georgia because they are scared of a little competition; they go there because they hope to get that type of competition for a spot. They would like to prevail in a battle for a starting spot, but even if they fall short, they get tested and their skills get developed for a potential shot at the pros down the line.

All you can ask for these days as a recruit is a chance. There are going to be a lot of players trying to find their “chance” in a clogged college football environment, but that does not mean the NCAA did the wrong thing. It did exactly what it should have; now it’s up to the member institutions to make it all work.

USC defensive tackle Jay Tufele to opt out and prepare for NFL draft

USC Trojans defensive tackle Jay Tufele opted out of the spring football season, instead declaring early for the 2021 NFL draft.

USC Trojans defensive tackle Jay Tufele is opting out of the potential spring football season, instead choosing to focus on preparing for the NFL draft.

Tufele made the announcement on Twitter Wednesday morning.

Tufele has been on every 2021 mock draft and big board, often showing up as a late first round pick, so it’s no surprise to see him opt out and avoid risking potential injury or underperformance, which would only damage his draft stock and potential future earnings.

The hulking defensive tackle was the No. 39 recruit in the country when he joined the Trojans in 2017, and he’s tallied 7.5 sacks through his first two seasons – demonstrating a lot of success as a run-stuffer up the middle.

Tufele almost left after last season, when he was a first team All-PAC-12 member as a rising sophomore, but he felt he had more to improve upon and chose to come back for another season.

Now, he’ll have to hope he’s done enough for NFL scouts and general managers to take a gamble on him, despite not getting a chance to see him in action in 2020.

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8 Pac-Twelve prospects the Eagles should target in 2021 NFL Draft after the conference cancels season

8 Pac-Twelve prospects the Eagles should target in 2021 NFL Draft after the conference cancels season

Following the lead of the Big Ten Conference, Pac Twelve officials have also announced the cancellation of their 2021 football season.

With a star-packed class of prospects now free to decide if they’ll take their talents to the NFL, here are 11 Pac-12 prospects that the Eagles should do their due diligence on and target in the 2021 NFL Draft.

***

1. AMON-RA ST. BROWN, WR, USC

Coming from a family of stud football players, St. Brown attended famed Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California.

A five-star recruit, St. Brown committed to the University of Southern California (USC) to play college football with former high school teammate JT Daniels.

The junior wide receiver started 12 of the 13 games last season, catching 77 passes for 1,042 yards and six touchdowns. He was expected to be one of the top wideouts in college football next season.

St. Brown is smooth in pretty much everything he does. He’s a crafty route-runner who’s also sneaky good after the catch. He broke 18 tackles last season.

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4 USC Trojans selected in Draft Wire’s latest 3-round mock draft

The latest mock draft from USA TODAY’s Luke Easterling included four USC Trojans among the first three rounds.

Neither the 2020 NFL or NCAA seasons have happened yet, and the COVID-19 pandemic makes it hard to know if either of them will, but that has not stopped the mock draft machine from churning.

The latest is from Luke Easterling at USA TODAY’s Draft Wire, where his recent three-round mock draft included four members of the USC Trojans.

First up was defensive tackle Jay Tufele, who has been mocked in the late first round on multiple occasions. Easterling wasn’t quite that bullish on the budding star, but he did have him going 43rd overall to the Denver Broncos – where he would be united with another former Trojans defensive lineman, Jurrell Casey.

Next up is wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was mocked at No. 58 to the New England Patriots. The Patriots have struggled to develop receivers in recent years, and at this point it is unclear who will be under center in 2021 – but as long as Bill Belichick is still at the helm it wouldn’t be a bad place to end up.

The third round picks include defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu, going 82nd overall to the Los Angeles Chargers, and wide receiver Tyler Vaughns, going 94th to the Washington Football Team.

Former USC quarterback J.T. Daniels, now with Georgia, was included in the mock as well – going 91st to the Dallas Cowboys.

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3 USC Trojans named to Bednarik Award watch list

Three USC Trojans defensive players, Jay Tufele, Drake Jackson and Talanoa Hufanga, were named to the Bednarik Award watch list.

In case you were worried attention was only being paid to USC’s offensive players during the preseason award campaign, never fear – three Trojans defensive players; defensive tackle Jay Tufele, defensive tackle Drake Jackson and safety Talanoa Hufanga, were all named to the Bednarik Award watch list – given to the nation’s top defensive player.

Jackson is entering his sophomore season after making the freshman All-American team last year, when he racked up 46 tackles, 11.5 for loss, and 5.5 sacks.

Hufanga was on the All-PAC-12 second team last year after recording 90 tackles, second on the team, along with 7.5 tackles for loss.

Tufele is likely the best bet, as he is cropping up on a handful of first round mock drafts this offseason – with many expecting a breakout campaign in 2020. He was a PAC-12 first teamer in 2019 when he racked up 41 tackles, including 6.5 for a loss and 3.5 sacks.

USC has had one Bednarik Award winner, linebacker Rey Maualuga, who won the award back in 2008.

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