*Walt taking 2014 and 2018 |
Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst |
Some Grade Marvin Wilson in Mid-Rounds of 2021 NFL Draft
Updated Oct. 23, 2020By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.
Entering the 2020 college football season, one of the consensus top interior defensive linemen was Florida State’s Marvin Wilson. Wilson decided to return for his senior year after having two solid seasons for the Seminoles, and that track record led to a lot of media hype, including some projections of Wilson being a top-20 pick for the 2021 NFL Draft. This draft analyst has not been impressed with Wilson’s play this year, and in my eyes, he has looked like a third-round pick. That does not jibe with the media hype, so I surveyed six teams to see where they were grading Wilson. Five teams came back as saying they saw Wilson as a mid-rounder, with none of those teams grading him higher than Round 3 of the 2021 NFL Draft, and one team said they thought he could still be an early-rounder.
“I agree with a third-round grade; Wilson has been awful this year,” said one director of college scouting. “He’s overrated by name and a locker room lawyer too.”
Thus far in 2020, Wilson has 15 tackles with one sack, and that sack came against Jacksonville State. Wilson has been anemic in high-profile games, notching only one tackle against Notre Dame and one solo tackle against Miami in a blowout of the Seminoles by an in-state rival. He was better in Florida State’s upset over North Carolina, but the Fighting Irish offensive line with future NFL competitors shut him down. Here’s how one executive summarized Wilson, “I don’t see it. I definitely don’t see a great player. He’s a tight [sic] wound guy.”
A few of the evaluators said they feel that Wilson is more of a nose tackle for the NFL and not a player who can offer much in the pass rush at the pro level. His pass-rush production and pressures have not been impressive this season through five games, which is really hurting him with NFL evaluators.
Wilson has six more regular-season games, and he must get red hot as a pass rusher to help his falling draft stock. All six team sources said they thought Wilson was disappointing this year. Perhaps there are more teams out there that are higher on Wilson, but halfway through his senior year, his draft stock is falling with a lot of teams.
