As the NFL goes thru its first full week of training camp, all of the seventh round draft picks are signed and still on rosters. I will look at ten seventh round picks that stood out pre-draft and could be steals for seventh rounders. The ten players are listed here.
| Player | Position | School | Team | Proj Round |
| Dane Jackson | CB | Pittsburgh | BUF | 3.3 |
| Thakarius Keyes | CB | Tulane | KAN | 6.2 |
| Kenny Willekes | DE | Michigan State | MIN | 4.3 |
| Derrek Tuszka | DE | North Dakota State | DEN | UDFA |
| Jashon Cornell | DT | Ohio State | DET | 6.2 |
| Carter Coughlin | LB | Minnesota | NYG | 6 |
| Dustin Woodward | OC | Memphis | NWE | 6 |
| Eno Benjamin | RB | Arizona State | ARI | 4.1 |
| Jauan Jennings | WR | Tennessee | SFO | 6.3 |
| Malcolm Perry | WR/RB/QB | Navy | MIA | 7.6 |
The only developments related to these ten players are that Dane Jackson has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list and Thakarius Keyes has been placed on the active/non-football injury list.
Dane Jackson (CB – BUF) was a Senior Bowl standout. He may have been the best corner in Mobile. He was composed and had sticky coverage. He had three pass breakups and just one completion allowed during the one-on-one practice portion. On the first day of practice he did a great job shutting down receivers. In 2018 Jackson allowed only a 50.7% completion rate and 1.45 yards per cover snap. He could have issues with penalties. He is also strong against the run. PFF rated him as 89.8 against the run which was one of the highest marks for DBs. He has a high football IQ and makes smart plays in coverage. Jackson has 26 passes defended over the last two seasons. His 39 career passes defended is 10th in NCAA since 2005. High character player.
Thakarius Keyes (CB – KAN) was a 2019 All AAC Honorable Mention. Keyes was tie at the combine for having the second longest arm measurement. He is a physical corner that plays good man coverage and is good at jamming and disrupting receivers. Yet he does not get too wild or out of control. Keyes will engulf receivers and makes 50-50 balls tough to catch. Keyes’ timing and hand placement are superb. He did not have great ball production in 2019 but they threw to him less.
Kenny Willekes (DE – MIN) was a preferred walk-on that has a great work ethic and gives an all-out effort from whistle to whistle. He was the 2019 Burlsworth Trophy winner given to the nations most outstanding walk-on. Willekes has had high production the last two seasons meeting team market share percents for edge rushers indicative of potential All-Pro to Pro Bowl players. He has a quick first step, high motor and a great second effort.
Derrek Tuszka (DE – DEN) was named to the 2019 FCS All American Second Team. Tuszka had a great combine ranking first among defensive linemen in the three cone and third in the 20 yard shuttle. He was in the top ten for the 40 yard dash, vertical jump and the broad jump. Production wise he had a combined 40.5 tackles for loss and 28.5 sacks in his final three seasons as part of a rotating DE group. The knock will be that it was at the FCS level. His length and weight is undersized. Tuszka plays with a awesome motor and is relentless. PFF graded his 2019 season, and his pass-rushing potential truly jumped off the tape. He produced an elite 91.8 pass-rush grade and generated pressure on 22% of his reps, a rate that would have ranked third among FBS edge defenders.
Jashon Cornell (DT – DET) made the 2019 PFF All Big-Ten First Team. He earned grades over 80.0 in both run-defense and pass-rushing on the season. Cornell has played both DT and DE at Ohio State. In 2019 at DT he had 16 solo tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks. Jashon Cornell ranks inside the top-25 players at the position in terms of PFF grade. Cornell is versatile, quick, agile and strong.
Carter Coughlin (LB – NYG) had 34 solo tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 2018. His team market share percents that season were indicative of potential All-Pro to Pro Bowl players. He is driven with a strong work ethic to be the best. It shows in in his high effort play, good motor and hustle from snap to whistle. Carter is very quick off the snap. He has a good repertoire of pass rush moves. He has eight career forced fumbles. Carter dropped into coverage at times and looked comfortable doing so. He had 4 passes defended in 2019. Carter was All Big-Ten Second Team the last two seasons and won his team’s Defensive Trench Award both years. In addition he won the Team Outstanding Defensive Player Award in 2018.
Dustin Woodward (OC – NWE) , a four year starter, has played in 40 games, making 38 starts. He has played 2,612-of-2,942 snaps (.888) and played every snap in 27 games. He played guard his first three seasons playing both left and right. In 2018 he made AAC All Conference First Team at right guard. In 2019 he switched to a new position at center and still made AAC All Conference Second Team at center. Memphis made number 20 on PFF’s top offensive lines in 2019 and Dustin Woodward was the line’s highest graded player. He only allowed three total QB pressures and is also their highest-graded run-blocker.
In 2018 Eno Benjamin (RB – ARI) was sixth in the FBS in scrimmage plays of 10+ yards with 56 over 13 games. He is a three down back that runs with elusiveness and toughnesss. He can make sharp cuts and juke out defenders as shown here.
His combine reinforces that with a 6.97 in the 3-cone which was second best among backs. He did well in the drills that test explosiveness and leg strength. His vertical jump of 39″ was fifth best among backs. His long speed is okay and he had a 4.57 forty which just falls out of back target number of 4.55. However his 10 yard split was good at 1.53. So maybe his short distance speed is better. That matches up with the production in that while his 2018 10+ yard plays was sixth the 20+ yard plays dropped to 42nd. He has good change of direction ability. Benjamin seems to always finish runs falling forward for extra yards. He is good in short yardage situations. Benjamin made 75% of his 2019 third down and 1-3 yards to go attempts. That was second best among draft prospects. He has good vision to see the holes and quickly get thru. He needs more patience to let his blocking develop as he often crashed into his own linemen. Also his pass catching needs to tighten up as he has focus drops on easy passes. Mostly positive reviews on Benjamin with not glaring deficiencies.
No receiver broke more tackles after the catch than Jauan Jennings (WR – SFO) in 2019, as the Tennessee receiver broke 30 tackles on just 59 receptions. Nearly half of his yards came after the catch on every reception, as he saw a total average of 16.4 yards per catch but gained 8.0 of those after hauling in the pass. He comes thru in the clutch. Seventy one percent of his receptions made first down. On third down receptions he made first down on 18 of 19 receptions. In the red zone he was targeted 19 times, made 10 receptions and seven were touchdowns.
Malcolm Perry (WR – MIA) was an option quarterback at Navy. In 2019 he led the FBS in rushing plays of 10+ and 20+ yards. He was second in 30+ yard rushing plays and tie for 1st in 40+ yards. At the combine he worked out at a new position of wide receiver and reaffirmed thoughts that he could play the position. Perry is a hands catcher and is tough and highly competitive. At 5’9” and change Perry is a smaller receiver but he offers a lot of potential like a Taysom Hill utility type.
I will revisit this list as the preseason proceeds and at the finalization of the team rosters in September.
