2021 NFL Draft: Do not sleep on Mizzou safety Tyree Gillespie

Every year, NFL scouts have to review thousands of college athletes in the lead-up to the draft. There are over 356 college football programs (not including JUCO) in the country and each roster can have up to 125 players. It’d be impossible for any front office to evaluate every single eligible draftee.

Draft coverage also has a tendency to hyperfocus on the future first-rounders and treat the hundreds of college athletes drafted afterward as “also-rans”. But plenty of players drafted on Day 2 go on to become meaningful contributors in their rookie seasons. The 2021 NFL Draft will not be an exception to the rule, as a chaotic 2020 college football season has muddied the waters even more so.

Most “underrated” players in the past have one or more of the following traits in common: They were likely underestimated at the time of their recruiting, largely ignored by the national programs. Next, the player showed a linear progression of improvement from year-to-year in college, demonstrably improving both their on-field performance and stat production.

Finally, they must come into the draft to underwhelming acclaim despite playing against some of the best players in all of college football. In retrospect, these players should have had big flashing lights around their name on most team’s draft boards but for one reason or another, they were largely ignored in the draft evaluation cycle.

Missouri safety Tyree Gillespie may not be one of the most recognizable safeties available in the 2021 NFL Draft class. Playing in the talent-stacked SEC on a middling team, it’s easy to see why some analysts may have overlooked him. After all, there are plenty of talented defensive backs available this year: It would be impossible to highlight them all.

This past week, a video introducing underrated players in the 2021 NFL Draft by Brett Kollmann featured Gillespie as one of those players. When the draft process gets this far along, how much more is there really to say about the first-round receivers or the top five quarterbacks? It’s better to explore the more niche players available, the guys who might not be getting the recognition they deserve and who could surprise everyone when they get to the NFL. A big thank you to Brett Kollmann for bringing these underrated players to the attention of the NFL draft community.

When watching Gillespie’s 2020 film, it becomes clear that this is a player who deserves a deeper look. Although nominally a free safety, the 6-foot, 210-pound Mizzou senior is more of a secondary swiss army knife than a run-of-the-mill post defender. His speed and intensity jump off of the film, defending against some of the best playmakers in college football as efficiently as he did.

Gillespie shows a level of toughness and tenacity not typically seen outside the top-five of a given position group. And while his stats aren’t anything to write home about, he has shown enough on-field consistency and yearly improvement to be intriguing as a developmental safety in the NFL.

In this article, we’ll explore Gillespie’s high school and college background and the path he took from being a multi-use high school footballer from Ocala, Florida to one of Mizzou’s most efficient downfield defenders. We’ll explore the games and big plays that defined Gillespie’s college career and why they show he has a future in the NFL. Lastly, we’ll explore three teams that should be watching his film for the 2021 NFL Draft and how he could become a full-time starter on these teams by 2023. Click below to begin this review of Mizzou safety Tyree Gillespie.