Undrafted FAs

[ReasonablySober]

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STRENGTHS: Good-sized athlete and continues to pack muscle onto his frame…field-fast with the range and recovery speed to make plays…fluid in his transition to open his hips and immediately accelerate…carries slot receivers vertically…aggressive in the alleys and as a blitzer off the edge…long arms to play through the receiver’s hands and rake the ball out…trusts the quarterback’s eyes to lead him to passing lanes…promising ball skills…experienced on special teams, averaging 27.1 yards per kick return with one touchdown (34/920/1)…experienced split safety, single-high and over the slot in man coverage.

WEAKNESSES: Below-average anticipation and needs to quicken his diagnostic skills to get a head start…late to identify route combinations…hyper-focused on the quarterback and loses sight of his coverage assignment…too many fly-by missed tackles and he struggles to settle his feet, balance himself and finish…poor technique as a wrap tackler, throwing his shoulder to cut down ball carriers instead of engulfing his target…late to locate blocks and must streamline his pursuit angles to find the quickest route from A to B…only one season as a starter with most of his experience coming versus FCS-level competition.

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Illinois State, Uphoff lined up at field safety in head coach Brock Spack’s scheme. He put himself on the NFL radar with his productive junior season and entered 2020 as one of the top FCS NFL prospects on defense, but he was unable to play due to the cancelation of the fall season. Uphoff flies around the field with outstanding range and smooth hips to stay attached in coverage or attack alleys downhill. He has a quick trigger once he sees it but struggles to anticipate, and he is a 50/50 tackler due to wild pursuit angles and poor form. Overall, Uphoff must continue developing his instincts and tackling technique to stick in the NFL, but he offers intriguing tools with his length, speed and fluidity. He projects as a late-round developmental prospect with specialteams ability.

GRADE: 6th-7th Round

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[ReasonablySober]

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SUMMARY: Jackson “Jack” Heflin grew up on a farm in western Illinois and combined for 249 career tackles at Erie-Prophetstown High School, earning All-State honors on both sides of the ball. A two-star recruit, he went underrecruited and received only Division III offers. He chose to walk on at Northern Illinois where he earned a scholarship. Heflin graduated after four seasons and transferred to Iowa for his final season where he started all eight games as the one-technique tackle. He doesn’t play with much burst or range, which limits his opportunities to make plays in the backfield. But Heflin is strong at the point of attack to control his man or
create movement when he stays low and drives his legs. He needs to play with better leverage and contact balance to turn blocking stalemates into blocking wins. Overall, Heflin is a short-area player and there isn’t much that differentiates him on film, but he stacks blocks with brute strength and helps close down run lanes.

GRADE: Priority Free Agent

Overview
Self-made interior lineman who began his career as a walk-on and finished as a four-year starter with his final chapter at a Power Five program. Heflin is low-cut and country strong with a wide frame carrying short arms. He's capable of handling himself in one-on-one scraps with his quick hands and strength at the point of attack, but doesn't have the technique to deal with double-teams just yet. He can bend and move, but struggles to make plays through block engagements. He is going to play hard as a rusher, but lacks NFL traits to make much of a difference in that category. His size and strength give him a puncher's chance, but it's tough finding a clean positional fit for him.

Strengths
Four-year starter at Northern Illinois and Iowa.
Self-made as former walk-on at Northern Illinois.
Split low with sturdy, strong base beneath him.
Lands hands quickly while playing under blocker's pads.
Desired power to battle through single block.
Lower body flexion for quality change of direction.
Strength to discard when needed.
Effective use of hands for wrist control as pass rusher.

Weaknesses
More block-eater than playmaker.
Better when the battle is in front of him than moving.
Lingers rather than playing quickly off the block.
Miscalculates angles to the football.
Lack of length hinders tackle success.
Below-average explosiveness into the gap.
Upfield pass rush is lumbering.

[Ryan5UW]

Interesting, looks like they signed Jon Dietzen too.

[HKPackFan]

Nice we rebuilding the Oline. Two Wisconsin guys and an Ohio state guy.

[ReasonablySober]

Uphoff sounds like an interesting prospect.

At the start of the college scouting year, reports and grades are handed out by scouts for the National Football Scouting and BLESTO combines in the spring before a player’s senior year.

In 2019, Illinois State running back James Robinson received a 5.4 grade from NFS and Jeremy Chinn, a safety from Southern Illinois, got a 5.2.

In 2020, another player from Illinois State, safety Christian Uphoff, was given a 5.5.

Robinson, a 1,000-yard rusher last season after signing as a free agent for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Chinn, the Carolina Panthers’ second-round draft choice, both made the All-Rookie team.

Like Robinson, Uphoff wasn’t drafted, and on Saturday night he agreed to a free-agent contract with the Green Bay Packers. If Uphoff’s impact can in any way approximate his Missouri Valley Conference brethren, the Packers would be ecstatic.

“I’m trying to be like Jeremy Chinn,” Uphoff said late Saturday from his parent’s home in Washington, Ill. “I look up to that guy a lot. He’s a great player. Obviously, we come from the same conference. That’s who I am really trying to be like.”

Neither Chinn nor Uphoff had any stars attached to their recruiting resumes. Chinn wasn’t all that highly regarded until the combine in February 2020 when, at 6-foot-3 and 222 pounds, he ran a blistering 4.40 40 to go with a 41-inch vertical jump and a broad jump of 11-6. Carolina drafted Chinn with the final pick of the second round.

Uphoff (6-foot-2, 210) never had a combine. He also didn’t have a senior season. The Missouri Valley postponed its fall campaign until spring, but when Uphoff was invited to the Senior Bowl, he declared for the draft.

There were strong indications that Uphoff would be drafted. In the last month, an NFC scout predicted his landing spot would be the fourth or fifth round, an AFC scout guessed sixth or seventh round and another AFC evaluator said simply on Day 3. Another NFC personnel man saw Uphoff as a free agent.

Uphoff took his cell phone to the golf course Saturday, not ready to watch his fate play out on live TV. His phone never rang until late, and that was from his agent informing him that 10 teams hoped to procure his services as a free agent.

It was a thin year at safety. Discounting the four safeties that were drafted as linebackers, just 17 pure safeties were selected.

Uphoff made a solid impression as an FCS player at the Senior Bowl. He was chosen as the top safety on the National team for the entire week, besting Virginia Tech’s Divine Deablo, Pittsburgh’s Damar Hamlin and Oklahoma’s Tre Norwood.

Those three players all were drafted, in the third, sixth and seventh rounds, respectively.

So why wasn’t Uphoff, who had that substantial grade from NFS the last time he played?

“I just didn’t have my senior-year tape,” Uphoff said. “If I would have had that, I would have been fine.”


Uphoff probably still would have heard his name called if his pro day in Normal, Ill., an event on March 17 attended by representatives of 23 NFL teams, hadn’t been so detrimental to his chances.

After the Senior Bowl, Uphoff was training at EXOS facility in Frisco, Texas, when he pulled his hamstring running a 40 during a simulated combine. That was three weeks before his pro day.

“I couldn’t even run for two weeks,” he said. “They were, like, ‘Take it easy, take it easy.’ I was, like, ‘I need to do something.’ The last week before pro day, I would jog. I would practice drills, but I couldn’t go full-speed until pro day.”

The weather that day was 35 degrees, it was raining and the winds swirled at 15 to 20 mph. On a less than ideal surface, he clocked 4.65 on the first 40 and 4.63 on the second.

“That’s horrible,” Uphoff said. “Before I pulled my hamstring, I was running like 4.4s consistently. It was just a **** show.”

His other testing results were equally unimpressive. Said an AFC scout: “After the 4.64, I’ll forget the guy.”

Pro football can be a cruel endeavor.

“It happened,” Uphoff said. “If I would have had better numbers, I’m sure I would have been drafted. You’ve got to deal with it.”

Last year, safety Daniel Thomas of Auburn received a signing bonus of $317,116 from the Jaguars after being selected in the middle of the fifth round. Uphoff’s signing bonus from Green Bay was $310,116 less than Thomas’.

“It’s going to give me more motivation to come in there and kick somebody’s ass,” said Uphoff. “I’m telling you, I’m fast. My hamstring is 100 percent now. I can’t wait to get there and show these guys.”

[Reddeye]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/this-packers-rookie-may-be-steal-of-college-free-agency/ar-BB1gzd09?ocid=ientp