*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Medical Concerns Could Weigh Down Webster
Updated Dec. 20, 2017By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
During the 2017 college football season, one cornerback prospect who impressed scouts was Ole Miss’ Ken Webster. He went under the radar due to playing for a losing team, but he had a solid season for the Rebels. A few team sources said they saw an early-round talent in Webster, but medical concerns remaining from his 2016 knee injury are having a big impact on his draft stock. As a result, evaluators say grades could be all over the place with Webster. They think that some teams could have him graded in the early rounds while others could easily remove him from their board completely because of the medical concerns.
Webster went down with an ACL tear and other damage to his knee in the 2016 season opener against Florida State. Sources say they have lingering concerns with Webster and how long a career he will be able to have in the NFL because of that knee injury. In 2017, Webster totaled 29 tackles and two passes broken up. He flashed his old form at times with speed and twitchy athleticism, but also had a suspension to open the season after a shoplifting arrest.
The 5-foot-11, 194-pound Webster could return to Ole Miss for 2018. Similar to Georgia running back Nick Chubb, some scouts think that Webster will be better and faster next year as he is another year removed from the injury. If Webster returns to Ole Miss and improves his play while avoiding injury, that could help his chances of being an early-round pick. If he gets injured again, however, that could send him to the late rounds or even undrafted ranks. Whichever draft class he is in, Webster is going to have significant medical redflags, which sources are putting into his scouting report.
