NFL Draft: Damarious Randall Profile
The Arizona State football prospect that has gained the most steam as the NFL Draft has approached has been safety Damarious Randall.
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Randall was selected to be a member of the first-team All-PAC-12 in 2014 after racking up 100+ tackles. He had a pick-six in 2014 as well against Notre Dame to help seal a victory for Arizona State in a match-up of two top-10 ranked teams.
He stands at 5’11”, 196 pounds and ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine which was good for third among safeties in the draft. His 38-inch vertical jump was also good enough for third place between safeties.
NFL.com has his comparison to San Francisco 49ers’ safety Jimmie Ward. Ward played in just eight games last year before suffering a season-ending foot injury. In those eight games he racked up 20 tackles and had two pass deflections.
NFL.com also has Randall projected to be selected in the second round. Randall joins Jaelen Strong, Taylor Kelly, Marcus Hardison, and Jamil Douglas as potential Sun Devils to be drafted.
Good luck to #SunDevils4Life @RandallTime @JaelenStrong @Taylor_Kelly10 @JamilDouglas74 and @13igDuke in the #NFLDraft!
— Arizona State Sun Devils (@TheSunDevils) April 30, 2015
To me, I could personally see Randall being taken at the back-end of the first round, but with the possibility of even falling through the second round and taken in the mid-to-late third round. He is considered to be a top-three safety in the draft, but part of that high ranking is due to the lack of NFL-ready safeties in this year’s class.
Mike Mayock, NFL Network, even said this about Randall, “It’s become a pass-first league and he’s by far the best cover safety in college football. He’s gone from third-or-fourth-round Senior Bowl oddity to, I think, a first-round draft pick.”
It will truly come down to certain team’s needs and whether or not they think that Randall will satisfy their need at safety more than a free agent or someone from their own team already.
Some teams that could possibly be looking at taking a player like Randall include: Tampa Bay, Detroit, Minnesota, Indianapolis, New York (Giants), Dallas, Philadelphia, and Atlanta.
Be sure to tune into the NFL Draft tonight as you may just happen to hear the Arizona State safety’s name called during the first round.
Prediction: 2nd round, 52nd overall to the Philadelphia Eagles.