Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers Eye NFL Draft Beginning Tonight
April 27, 2023 11:50 AM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia is expected to have at least two players taken in this year's NFL Draft, which begins tonight outside of Union Station in downtown Kansas City.
Based on a consensus of online rankings, wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton and defensive lineman Dante Stills will most likely hear their names called on Saturday afternoon when rounds four through seven conclude the draft.
However, there is a possibility Ford-Wheaton, rated 113th overall by Bleacher Report, could be taken on Friday night, which ends after round three.
Ford-Wheaton saw his star rise considerably at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine for a player who stands nearly 6-feet-4 inches and weighs almost 225 pounds.
In the 40-yard dash, Ford-Wheaton's time of 4.38 seconds was fourth-fastest among all wide receivers, and his 41-inch vertical jump was only second to SMU's Rashee Rice.
ESPN's Next Gen Stats had Wheaton's 40 time and vertical jump in DK Metcalf category in terms of players weighing more than 220 pounds. Another historical comparison point for Ford-Wheaton is Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
That's elite company.
"Bryce's measurables are off the charts," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said last month. "His numbers at the Combine speak for themselves. You look at historical numbers for guys that size and who he compares to and he's in rare air. What I talk about a lot with Bryce is his growth and maturity as a person and as a player.
"If you saw him in the spring of 2019 compared to where he was in the fall of 2022, or where he is now, it's night and day. It's not even close," Brown continued. "It's not like he got a little better. If I showed you film from the spring of 2019 and told you that was Bryce, you wouldn't believe that was him."
Ford-Wheaton led West Virginia with 62 catches for 675 yards and seven touchdowns and his four-year career totals show 143 catches for 1,867 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Other relevant ratings for Ford-Wheaton include Athlon Sports (#157) and The Athletic (#278). He also adds value as a special teams performer.
Stills, too, has turned heads with his collegiate production and his post-career performances in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine.
Stills set the school record with 52½ tackles for losses and finished fourth in career sacks with 23½ during his 59-game collegiate career. He earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2022 after producing nine TFLs and 4½ sacks for the Mountaineers.
"You can make an argument that he can fit in a four-down front or a three-down front, and that's sometimes where some D-linemen get pigeon-holed because they can only do what's asked of them from a four-down or a three-down," Brown said. "He's got video of playing both. He's changed his body and he's even made improvements to his body since January.
"He's grown in his mental approach, and he's done well when they've gotten to look at him at the all-star game or in Indianapolis. He's been highly productive at the collegiate level," the coach added.
The Bleacher Report has Stills rated No. 229 among all NFL prospects, which places him in the sixth- or seventh-round territory. The Athletic has Stills rated No. 239 while Athlon rates him 250th.
"I'm taking it like I don't have a job right now, so I've got to earn a spot and try and take a spot from somebody who has been in the league for seven or eight years with kids and stuff like that. Now my whole mentality has changed," Stills said last month. "It's a grown man's game."
Both are planning low-key watch parties for this year's draft, Stills at his mother's house in Fairmont and Ford-Wheaton at his uncle's residence in Charlotte.
Other WVU players who are eyeing this year's draft and the free-agent signing period afterward are wide receiver Sam James, safety Jasir Cox, cornerback Wesley McCormick, tight end Brian Polendey, linebacker Exree Loe and place kicker Parker Grothaus.
Former Mountaineer quarterback Jarret Doege returned to campus to compete at WVU's Pro Day late last month as well.
Multiple West Virginia players are expected to go in this year's draft for the first time since 2020 when Colton McKivitz and Kenny Robinson Jr. were taken with consecutive picks in the fifth round.
Since 1936, 198 Mountaineer players have been drafted by NFL teams, including nine taken in the first round. Fifteen of those picks have gone on to become Pro Bowl players.
Round one begins tonight at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. ESPN and NFL Network will continue TV coverage on Friday and Saturday.
Based on a consensus of online rankings, wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton and defensive lineman Dante Stills will most likely hear their names called on Saturday afternoon when rounds four through seven conclude the draft.
However, there is a possibility Ford-Wheaton, rated 113th overall by Bleacher Report, could be taken on Friday night, which ends after round three.
Ford-Wheaton saw his star rise considerably at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine for a player who stands nearly 6-feet-4 inches and weighs almost 225 pounds.
In the 40-yard dash, Ford-Wheaton's time of 4.38 seconds was fourth-fastest among all wide receivers, and his 41-inch vertical jump was only second to SMU's Rashee Rice.
ESPN's Next Gen Stats had Wheaton's 40 time and vertical jump in DK Metcalf category in terms of players weighing more than 220 pounds. Another historical comparison point for Ford-Wheaton is Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
That's elite company.
"Bryce's measurables are off the charts," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said last month. "His numbers at the Combine speak for themselves. You look at historical numbers for guys that size and who he compares to and he's in rare air. What I talk about a lot with Bryce is his growth and maturity as a person and as a player.
"If you saw him in the spring of 2019 compared to where he was in the fall of 2022, or where he is now, it's night and day. It's not even close," Brown continued. "It's not like he got a little better. If I showed you film from the spring of 2019 and told you that was Bryce, you wouldn't believe that was him."
Ford-Wheaton led West Virginia with 62 catches for 675 yards and seven touchdowns and his four-year career totals show 143 catches for 1,867 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Other relevant ratings for Ford-Wheaton include Athlon Sports (#157) and The Athletic (#278). He also adds value as a special teams performer.
Stills, too, has turned heads with his collegiate production and his post-career performances in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine.Stills set the school record with 52½ tackles for losses and finished fourth in career sacks with 23½ during his 59-game collegiate career. He earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2022 after producing nine TFLs and 4½ sacks for the Mountaineers.
"You can make an argument that he can fit in a four-down front or a three-down front, and that's sometimes where some D-linemen get pigeon-holed because they can only do what's asked of them from a four-down or a three-down," Brown said. "He's got video of playing both. He's changed his body and he's even made improvements to his body since January.
"He's grown in his mental approach, and he's done well when they've gotten to look at him at the all-star game or in Indianapolis. He's been highly productive at the collegiate level," the coach added.
The Bleacher Report has Stills rated No. 229 among all NFL prospects, which places him in the sixth- or seventh-round territory. The Athletic has Stills rated No. 239 while Athlon rates him 250th.
"I'm taking it like I don't have a job right now, so I've got to earn a spot and try and take a spot from somebody who has been in the league for seven or eight years with kids and stuff like that. Now my whole mentality has changed," Stills said last month. "It's a grown man's game."
Both are planning low-key watch parties for this year's draft, Stills at his mother's house in Fairmont and Ford-Wheaton at his uncle's residence in Charlotte.
Other WVU players who are eyeing this year's draft and the free-agent signing period afterward are wide receiver Sam James, safety Jasir Cox, cornerback Wesley McCormick, tight end Brian Polendey, linebacker Exree Loe and place kicker Parker Grothaus.
Former Mountaineer quarterback Jarret Doege returned to campus to compete at WVU's Pro Day late last month as well.
Multiple West Virginia players are expected to go in this year's draft for the first time since 2020 when Colton McKivitz and Kenny Robinson Jr. were taken with consecutive picks in the fifth round.
Since 1936, 198 Mountaineer players have been drafted by NFL teams, including nine taken in the first round. Fifteen of those picks have gone on to become Pro Bowl players.
Round one begins tonight at 8 p.m. and will be televised on ABC, ESPN and NFL Network. ESPN and NFL Network will continue TV coverage on Friday and Saturday.
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