09-02-2021, 12:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-04-2021, 05:22 PM by allbetsonjames. Edited 1 time in total.)
The prospect bowl has come and gone, and we are now looking forward to a painfully long week of silence from GMs as they begin their offline drafting and pick the prospects that hopefully turn into a future key piece of their teams. As GMs sit down and decide who they want, there are a few guys who have stood out, and in this article I want to make the case for one of those guys - Dakota Grossman, the coverage CB out of the university of Louisville.
We need to start our case in Grossman's freshman year, when he set the ACC record for interceptions. With 16 on the season, 2 more than the previous record holder, Grossman was looking like a lock for first round draft pick. The speedy DB had a trademark of being fast and making good returns off the interception. All of that came crashing down when he sustained a hamstring injury the season after in his sophomore year, only playing 7 games. Despite having good stats in those 7 games, there were doubts for many GMS about his ability to play in the pros with an injury history and what may have seemed like a dampening on his trademark ability to play fast. Still, Grossman insisted on entering the draft and not staying another year.
"I learned my lesson," he said, "honestly, if I would've entered the draft a year prior, the injury thing wouldn't even be a concern. I can't go another year and risk it again. I gotta chase the bag."
So Grossman entered the prospect bowl Wednesday night with a giant chip on his shoulder- it was his time to prove the doubters wrong, and prove them wrong he most certainly did.
Going into the first game, there was a little worry for the Grossman truthers- he got burned early, and it really seemed like maybe his speed was on the decline due to injury. That quickly changed when Grossman had a forced fumble late in the third quarter, and even though they lost, it was all the confidence he needed.
Early into the second game, Grossman proved that his speed and record setting ball hawking abilities were still there, when he intercepted a pass from Gunslingers QB Brot and returned it 37 yards for a TD. After high stepping into the end zone, he fell to his knees and raised a hand to the sky. It was a tearful moment, and he yelled as if to say to the doubters and maybe even himself, "you were wrong about me."
That wasn't the last time he performed either. Between days 3 and day 6, Grossman had 9 pass deflections, getting his hands on a couple that could've been interceptions. And on that final day, the day of the Prospect Bowl Championship, Grossman had ANOTHER interception late in the third quarter with his team down 6, with a 37 yard return into the red zone again, although this wasn't a TD. This set the team up to score again and win the Prospect bowl championship.
After the game, Grossman took some questions and had some strong words to say. "I told you guys before the draft, they were gonna let my history affect where they drafted me, and it would be the worst mistake they ever made. I think we all saw what happened tonight, and that statement is still true."
So to any GMs out there who need a DB, you may be looking at the analytics and saying that it may not be worth it to draft a guy with an injury history. But I'll tell you what we saw last night- we saw a guy who put his team's defense on his back when it mattered, and we saw them win a championship they wouldn't have won without his defense play. When you draft Dakota Grossman, you'll be drafting a leader, a locker room presence, and a guy who can never be considered out of the play.
Grossman final Prospect Bowl Statline:
-21 Tackles
-18 Pass Deflections
-1 Forced Fumble
-2 INT
-1 INT TD
We need to start our case in Grossman's freshman year, when he set the ACC record for interceptions. With 16 on the season, 2 more than the previous record holder, Grossman was looking like a lock for first round draft pick. The speedy DB had a trademark of being fast and making good returns off the interception. All of that came crashing down when he sustained a hamstring injury the season after in his sophomore year, only playing 7 games. Despite having good stats in those 7 games, there were doubts for many GMS about his ability to play in the pros with an injury history and what may have seemed like a dampening on his trademark ability to play fast. Still, Grossman insisted on entering the draft and not staying another year.
"I learned my lesson," he said, "honestly, if I would've entered the draft a year prior, the injury thing wouldn't even be a concern. I can't go another year and risk it again. I gotta chase the bag."
So Grossman entered the prospect bowl Wednesday night with a giant chip on his shoulder- it was his time to prove the doubters wrong, and prove them wrong he most certainly did.
Going into the first game, there was a little worry for the Grossman truthers- he got burned early, and it really seemed like maybe his speed was on the decline due to injury. That quickly changed when Grossman had a forced fumble late in the third quarter, and even though they lost, it was all the confidence he needed.
Early into the second game, Grossman proved that his speed and record setting ball hawking abilities were still there, when he intercepted a pass from Gunslingers QB Brot and returned it 37 yards for a TD. After high stepping into the end zone, he fell to his knees and raised a hand to the sky. It was a tearful moment, and he yelled as if to say to the doubters and maybe even himself, "you were wrong about me."
That wasn't the last time he performed either. Between days 3 and day 6, Grossman had 9 pass deflections, getting his hands on a couple that could've been interceptions. And on that final day, the day of the Prospect Bowl Championship, Grossman had ANOTHER interception late in the third quarter with his team down 6, with a 37 yard return into the red zone again, although this wasn't a TD. This set the team up to score again and win the Prospect bowl championship.
After the game, Grossman took some questions and had some strong words to say. "I told you guys before the draft, they were gonna let my history affect where they drafted me, and it would be the worst mistake they ever made. I think we all saw what happened tonight, and that statement is still true."
So to any GMs out there who need a DB, you may be looking at the analytics and saying that it may not be worth it to draft a guy with an injury history. But I'll tell you what we saw last night- we saw a guy who put his team's defense on his back when it mattered, and we saw them win a championship they wouldn't have won without his defense play. When you draft Dakota Grossman, you'll be drafting a leader, a locker room presence, and a guy who can never be considered out of the play.
Grossman final Prospect Bowl Statline:
-21 Tackles
-18 Pass Deflections
-1 Forced Fumble
-2 INT
-1 INT TD