3 potential NFL starters unlikely to be picked in 1st round

The 2020 NFL Draft kicks off Thursday, with the first round making up the first day of the draft. While the biggest names likely will be called within the first 32 picks, there’s plenty of talent to be had in the later portion of the draft.

Here are three prospects who will be valuable players in the NFL but might not wind up as first-round picks:

Malik Harrison, Ohio State, LB

The draft doesn’t have many great pure linebacker prospects, but Harrison has the potential to turn into a starter in the NFL.

Harrison plays like New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower. He’s a big, extremely physical linebacker who doesn’t always play with great speed but uses angles and leverage to make plays. Even though he wasn’t an edge-defending linebacker, he finished his senior season with 16½ tackles for loss.

Harrison is a jack-of-all-trades linebacker who doesn’t excel at any one area of the game. He’s also a future starter who can be had past the first round of the draft.

Jeff Gladney, TCU, CB

Gladney is a blast to watch on tape. He’s not the biggest cornerback in the draft (5-foot-10, 191 pounds), but he packs a punch. He’s aggressive with his press technique, sticks well in man coverage off the release of wide receivers and isn’t afraid to tackle bigger players on the field. He didn’t blow the doors off the NFL Combine, running a 4.48-second 40-yard dash and a 7.26 in the three-cone drill, which might keep him out of the first round.

However, those numbers shouldn’t doom his NFL career. Gladney is an incredible talent on the field, and Pro Football Focus detailed why in their 2020 NFL Draft guide: “In fact, over the past two years, he has forced tight coverage on 79.5% of his targets 10-plus yards downfield, which was the sixth best rate and nearly 20 percentage points above the FBS average. Gladney has forced the second most contested targets these last two seasons with 46 and he rarely lost on those. On those 46, Gladney allowed just 10 to be caught while forcing 27 incompletions.”

For teams that miss out on Jeffrey Okudah, Kristian Fulton and C.J. Henderson, Gladney wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize at all.

Neville Gallimore, Oklahoma, DL

Gallimore isn’t a finished product, but he’s the perfect type of defensive tackle to thrive in the NFL today. Gallimore is an explosive player who was able to make life tough for opposing offensive lines, but he didn’t always finish the plays he created.

Gallimore only had six tackles for loss last year despite being one of the fastest defensive tackles in college football. At the Scouting Combine in February, Gallimore ran a 4.79 40-yard dash at 304 pounds. Since 2010, only 13 defensive linemen who weighed 285 pounds or more have a faster 40-yard dash time than Gallimore.

The tools are clearly there with Gallimore, so why didn’t he finish with more disruptive plays? He’s not the greatest tackler in the world and sometimes gets too much penetration and runs himself out of plays. Those are things that can be fixed by a competent defensive line coach in the NFL. His physical traits are so rare he should find himself with a team before the end of the second day of the draft.