J. Jones profile of Duke TE Braxton Deaver

[KB_fan]

Nice article from Jonathan Jones who profiles Duke TE Braxton Deaver, who apparently had an excellent pro day:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article68103872.html
 

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Deaver’s pro day probably couldn’t have gone any better. At 6-foot-4 and 246 pounds, he put up 26 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, had a 31 1/2 inch vertical leap, a 9-foot-2 broad jump and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.76 seconds.

Those numbers, matched with football intelligence and his highlights film, would get someone like him drafted any year. But that’s not all to his story.

Deaver has undergone four surgeries during his college career. He tore his left ACL in 2012 and didn’t play. He tore his right ACL in 2014 and didn’t play. Between those two surgeries, he had minor thumb surgery and one to repair a left patella fracture.

NFL teams usually don’t like drafting damaged goods, so there’s a question of whether he’ll be selected in a late round or sign with a team as an undrafted free agent.

“My health,” Deaver said when asked what scouts want to know about first. “That’s the bottom line. I think my tape speaks for itself. I can catch the football. I can hit people in the mouth.

“I think I’m one of the best tight ends in the draft. My injuries blackballed me a little bit.”

Deaver and those around him say he’s 100 percent healthy, and if an NFL team can be assured of that, he’s still a risk. But he might be a risk worth taking.

 

 

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During his time at Duke, Deaver reached out to one of his football idols. The Charlotte native said he respects the way Panthers tight end Greg Olsen plays, and Deaver contacted the Pro Bowler through Olsen’s HEARTest Yard Foundation.

“I truly try to model my game after him,” Deaver said of Olsen. “We texted a little bit. I wanted to know how he, throughout his college career, prepared and what he did to sharpen his skills as a tight end. We haven’t spoken in a while, but I look up to him as such a role model.”

For Deaver, Wednesday was about showing scouts that he is still the player everyone thought he could be. His 40 time was as good as he could have asked for, and he caught every pass from former Georgia Tech and James Madison quarterback Vad Lee, a Durham native.

“I just want teams to know that I’m that person,” Deaver said. “I have that ‘it’ factor. I have that ‘give me the ball on fourth-and-1’ mentality. I’m here to ball.”

 

 

 

[KB_fan]

Ugh.  I hate autocorrect.  His name, of course is Deaver, not Weaver.

[Murph]

More good stuff from Duke's pro day

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2016/03/mccaffreys-speed-impresses-at-dukes-pro-day

[MHS831]

Gettlemen said that you build a roster from the bottom up.  I never forgot that because that is what he has done.  We are scouting and talking to people who might be undrafted free agents.  This is a great example of a player with injury concerns that impacted his performance but he could be a steal and actually send Dickson packing.  If the knees go, then nothing lost. 

 

 

[Ricky Spanish]

Dude has no info on his draft profile on ESPN. No one there has scouted him.