By Bryan Bloodworth
NORMAL – As many as nine Illinois State football players could be property of professional teams following the three-day NFL draft, which begins Thursday (tonight) in Chicago.
While none of the Redbirds will go in the early rounds, ISU coach Brock Spack believes tight end James O’Shaughnessy and wide receiver Cameron Meredith have the best chance of being drafted.
“Probably Saturday will be the day if you’re an ISU fan that you’ll want to be able to watch,” said Spack. “ There will be a couple of guys who will have a chance to get drafted and actually quite a few guys should be getting free agent calls after the draft on Saturday. It should be interesting.”
The 6-foot-4, 248-pound O’Shaughnessy’s blocking ability has caught the eye of NFL scouts.
“His stock seems to be really rising fast,” Spack continued. “He can block on the second level. Basically, the second level is linebackers. That’s hard to get a guy, who can do that because the linebackers in the NFL are really athletic. James is really good at getting to the second level and really sticking on those guys. Plus, he has ball skills and he has the length to be a receiver or tight end in the passing game.”
O’Shaughnessy, who caught 29 passes for 544 yards and nine touchdowns during his senior season at ISU, is projected in the fourth-to-sixth round category.
Meredith, who started his ISU career as a quarterback before switching to wide receiver during his junior season, snared 66 passes for 1,061 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior.
“Cam is a really good athlete,” added Spack. “He has a really good upside because he hasn’t played receiver very long. His catch radius is really ridiculous.”
Other ISU players with an outside chance of being drafted as offensive linemen Mike Liedtke and Jermaine Barton.
Players likely to get free agent offers are Bloomington native and Central Catholic High School graduate Chris Highland as a long snapper, wide receiver Lechein Neblett, defensive tackle Bradon Prate along with defensive backs Dontae McCoy and Tevin Allen.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
