In the draft community, I think we collectively love to hype up a small-school guy. It is always fun, and to see players from non-traditional backgrounds succeed is amazing, and makes you feel you could say, "I knew him before anyone else did." Well, sometimes our hopes do not turn out how we would like, and while the season is long, Desmeal Leigh did not impress in his marquee matchup against Tavion Gadson, Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace, and the rest of the Kentucky Wildcats. Let's get into what I saw from the three draft eligible players after Kentucky's 45-13 handling of Youngstown State.
Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace
Humphrey-Grace, whom I will call MQHG for the rest of the post, had a standout game. Coming into the week ranked 207th on the consensus big board, only registered two tackles, one pressure, and one QB hit, but was constantly a thorn in the side of the Penguins offense. Playing lesser competition, he looked like an absolute athletic freak, and for someone 6'4" and 270 lbs to display the speed he did is enticing. He beat Leigh with a great move across his face, and then later drew a holding call from him when he beat Leigh to his back foot and nearly ran the hoop. When not matched up against Leigh, the reps always challenged the Youngstown State linemen. This game will probably not move his draft stock as you expect dominance against an FCS team, and this performance was not all-world, but looked as he should. The performance does do enough for me to keep tabs on him, especially when it comes time for combine testing.
Stock: Cautiously up
Tavion Gadson
Tavion Gadson had a good game, even if it did not show up on the stat sheet. Finishing with the grand total of one tackle, Gadson battled through a ton of attention on the interior. I only remember a single snap where Gadson did not get double-teamed, but I do not remember a single snap where he was pushed off his spot. That is a major positive for Gadson, who has shown his pass rushing chops previously, but needed to show improvement in the run game. The consensus 69th overall player battled through every rep, and while not singularly disruptive, opened plenty of lanes for his teammates to profit. He sadly only had a few reps against Ismael Leigh, and they were on plays so quick that it is impossible tto draw a conclusion from them.
Stock: Neutral
Ismael Leigh
☹️. Yeah, this was not a good game from Leigh. MQHG gave him fits all day, and so did the rest of the Kentucky D-line. He looked slow, unable to keep up with speed in front of his face or on the outside in pass sets. His ability to re-anchor when a pass rusher tries to go through him has always been a strength, but I wish I did not have to see it on every rep. His balance looked off, and the way he moved his body while trying to block seemed as if all four limbs had a mind of their own and that the coordination amongst them was non-existent. Mis-timed and mis-placed punches left him being dictated to all game long. The few times he could get on the move, you could still see the enticing athletic ability, but that is all there was to see. After watching his tape from last year, I was hoping to see a lot more development in his game, and maybe it is still coming, but that is just hope at this point.
Stock: Down
That's it for the first installment in the series. I am not sure yet who will be the highlight of week two, but with a few more big games on the schedule, there are more options to choose from! See you tomorrow for the schedule, and Friday for the matchup!
