Name To Remember: Chris Greenwood, CB, Albion

We’re definitely in the dog days of draft prep and if you’re like me, talking about the Top 15 gets a little boring.  Same teams, same names, pridictable rumors and sand-bagging.  What I enjoy most in these last days leading up to the event….. is looking deeper at the sleepers.

A few days ago I profiled a group of small-school cornerbacks who figure to go in the mid rounds or higher, but one name that I included as a later round possibility has become more intriguing the more I’ve looked at him:

Chris Greenwood, Albion: 6′ 1.25″, 196 lbs.

Playing at a Division III school usually isn’t a ticket to the NFL but Greenwood has a chance.  He was productive, with 13 INT’s including 4 returned for TD’s in his career.  But it’s his elite-level athletisicm that has NFL scouts so intrigued.  Participating at Michgan’s Pro Day, Greenwood ran a 4.34 second 40, and a 43 inch vertical jump.

Here’s how Albion Head Coach Craig Rundle describes him:

"Chris has a high football IQ,He has great speed and size, long arms and leverage to be a good cover guy, especially in press-man. I talked to guys at Michigan and they said he had the best pro day.  He’s a great athlete, great player, and an impressive young man."

Surprisingly for a D3 player, there’s quite a few highlight reels on You Tube and the quality is good enough to see the potential Greenwood posesses.  He has long arms and looks instinctive, anticipating the throw and breaking on the ball.  When he gets there he has good ball skills and can make the play.  What impressed me the most was his willingness to come up and tackle.

I could see Greenwood appealing to the Packers or Seahawks, two teams who covet bigger corners.  But with the success those two teams have had recently, and with the proliferation of bigger receivers becoming weapons in today’s NFL, a player with the raw talent that Greenwood posesses could make him attractive to a number of teams when the third day of the draft rolls around.