Ohio State Football: Eli Apple Set To Meet With Multiple Teams
By Ryan Rosko
Many NFL teams are interested in former Ohio State football player Eli Apple prior to the 2016 NFL Draft.
NFL teams are now going to school’s pro days, doing extensive background on prospects, as well as meeting with players. As we wait to see who is drafted at the end of April, Eli Apple, who was the starting cornerback for the Ohio State football team, will try to make himself a top-10 pick.
Apple is going to attempt to make that happen by attending the meetings he will have with NFL teams. His film is important, but those meetings are also worth plenty of value. Apple’s teammates who declared for the draft, as well as all of the other players who declared, also will meet with teams, but Apple’s situation is a bit different.
Players such as Ezekiel Elliott and Darron Lee will meet with a certain amount of teams. Those organizations are likely only in the area where they are projected. Apple’s projection has been over the place and that is why he will meet with more than 16 teams (more than half of the NFL) before the draft.
Opinions have certainly varied. Some of the teams he will meet with are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, and Miami Dolphins.
Some mock drafts have had Apple as a top-10 pick, but others have listed him as a late first to second round pick. His athleticism and potential are why he is attracting teams early in the first round.
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Outside of Jacksonville, each of those teams could select Apple in the first round. The preference amongst those teams however is to possibly target him for a selection in day two. Then again, a trade back into the mid to late part of the first round to could also be an option.
Apple is one of the best options at his positions in the draft, but it is very hard to see him being drafted in the first half of the first round. The interesting thing about Apple is although he a top-five corner come April, he arguably was not even the best cornerback on the Ohio State football team during his time in college.
Apple was a talented player for the Ohio State football program. Moving forward, Apple’s talent can transition to the NFL, but he has a lot to work on. Apple has the speed to keep up with some of the quickest wide receivers, having ran a 4.40 40-yard dash, but watching him on the film was often very frustrating.
Despite how fast Apple is able to run, he would regularly commit penalties, resulting in the Ohio State football team being penalized. Apple also struggles to time the ball to defend, has issues turning his head in time, and would get burnt more often than we would like to see downfield.
If teams believe they can work with Apple, while seeing the potential he has, then he will get draft much earlier. Otherwise, the former cornerback for the Ohio State football team could slip out of the first round.