Why Undrafted?: Jeff Luc, LB, Cincinnati
By Charlie Campbell, @draftcampbell
Coming out of high school, Luc was one of the most highly sought-after recruits in his class and was one of the top players in the nation. He signed on with Florida State, but things didn’t work out with the Seminoles and he transferred to Cincinnati. Between the two schools, Luc didn’t do much until a massive senior year in 2014 that saw him rack up 134 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, six sacks, six forced fumbles and four passes broken up. The 6-foot, 250-pounder was a huge presence for the Bearcats in 2014. However, no team selected Luc in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Sources say the reason that Luc went undrafted was because they felt that Luc lacked instincts for the NFL and was stiff athletically. A few sources agreed with the sentiment that Luc should move to fullback for the NFL. Perhaps if he had more than one big season, he could have proved to be more instinctive or developed more feel before entering the NFL draft, but he was graduated from Cincinnati and out of eligibility.
After falling undrafted, Luc signed with the Miami Dolphins. That was a good decision on the part of Luc and his agent as the Dolphins needed some young talent at linebacker and did not address the position in the early rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft. Luc will have some competition for a roster spot, including fellow undrafted rookie Mike Hull from Penn State. Koa Misi and Jelani Jenkins are set as Miami’s starters, but they may not be the long-term answers at their positions. The two or three roster spots for backups appear to be a wide-open competition. The Dolphins have some veteran backups in Spencer Paysinger and Kelvin Sheppard along with second-year players like Jordan Tripp and Jake Knott. Luc will have to star on special teams to stick with Miami, but winning a roster spot or a place on the practice squad seems very feasible with the linebacker-needy Dolphins.
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