Five underrated defensive prospects in the 2020 NFL Draft

Markus Bailey – Linebacker – Purdue

A factor(s) that hasn’t been touched on up to this point has been injuries. It’s an unfortunate part of the game of football and the bug will sometimes affect some players more often than others, thus hampering their career and livelihood. Some cases of the injury bug are more predictable than others, sometimes players will beat while others won’t.

Purdue linebacker Markus Bailey is an example of a player who has been bitten by the injury bug in college. Suffering a season knee injury in 2015 and another in his redshirt season in 2019, Bailey comes into the 2020 NFL Draft with some considerable health concerns. However, if we look at what Bailey can do when he’s healthy, he becomes an awfully enticing prospect.

Off the bat, Bailey shows the quality instincts that NFL teams desire in a linebacker, displaying a quick processor that allows him to diagnose plays fairly quickly. Additionally, Bailey has flashed instances of solid short-area coverage abilities, enough to put him in consideration to become a more consistent three-down player in the NFL.

As previously mentioned, the injury history is what scares most media analysts and will more than likely scare NFL teams. As such, in the eyes of many Bailey is a day three type of player despite the talent he displays on film.