What are projections for Ole Miss players two weeks out from the NFL Draft?
The 2024 NFL Draft is just over two weeks away from getting started in Detroit and another batch of Ole Miss players are hoping see their dreams realized.
With the Ole Miss Pro Day completed two weeks ago and the NFL Scouting Combine done in late February all of the testing and drill running is over and now its is about trying to get meetings and face time with all 32 NFL teams.
Cedric Johnson, Dayton Wade, Deantre Prince and Daijahn Anthony are the focal point of this year’s NFL Draft-eligible class from Ole Miss, but the latest mock drafts predict a long weekend of waiting for some.
Last Friday’s latest mock draft from NFL.com’s Chad Reuter has Johnson going as the 100th overall pick to the Washington Commanders as a compensatory pick to end the third round. The latest ESPN mock draft has Johnson being taken by the in the seventh round by the Minnesota Vikings as the 232nd overall pick.
When Johnson wrapped up his pro day in Oxford last month he had not lined up any official visits nor taken any up to that point.
“(A team) would be getting a great player who they could trust on and off the field,” Johnson said to local media on March 27 when promoting himself to any NFL teams listening. “They’d have no problems with getting me to do whatever need be, whether it be special teams or my position. They’d get a fast, strong, physical player that’s ready to go.”
Anthony is projected by ESPN to be taken off the board five picks after Johnson, being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals as the 237th overall pick.
The latest NFL.com mock draft does not list any other Ole Miss player after Johnson.
Continuing with being potentially overlooked or snubbed throughout this NFL Draft process there is not much buzz around Wade being a NFL Draft selection. This follows after Wade was not invited to participate in this year’s combine in Indianapolis.
Pro Day was the only chance Wade got to perform and showcase his talents in front of NFL scouts and executives, which he described as a “very important day.”
“Today was the day I felt like I could showcase the things that I didn’t get to showcase during the season. I had a lot of question marks. Everyone was wondering how fast I was running and I was like ‘hey, what’s the point in me telling you now? You couldn’t even see me then.’… ‘He’s real fast, but does he have elite speed?’ That was the first question mark. Then there was a lack of size, but everyone was thinking I wasn’t going to bench cause I’m a smaller receiver, and I’m like ‘yeah, I’m benching, and I’m going to go first.”
The 2024 NFL Draft will take place April 25-27 at Campus Martius Park and Hart Plaza in Detroit. ESPN and NFL Network will have coverage.
