When we look at the top LB prospects of the S22 DSFL draft, one name to keep an eye on is Eric Richards. A second generation athlete, he is the son of former Kentucky Wildcats cornerback Dean Richards and Kentucky cheerleader Jane Richards. When we look at the game tape, it's clear he's a completely different kind of athlete then his father. He is 45 more pounds then his father was at Kentucky, but he is 3 inches shorter. He won the Butkus Award for top linebacker twice, and was an All-American all 3 years of his college career. His goal seems to be play hard for whatever he is drafted, and I don't seem him doing any kind of draft holdout.
Pros:
He is a big hitter. He famously once hit a QB in college so hard he immediately quit the next day.
He is decently fast for a linebacker
He's been shown to be a good stripper of the ball having had 15 forced fumbles in his college career.
He doesn't seem to have any kind of chip on his shoulder and coaches tell me that he would be quite a morale booster in the locker room
Cons:
Don't expect him to intercept the ball. He only had 5 interceptions in his college career. He also doesn't have the best hands in the world.
He can occasionally miss tackles while going for the big hit and might need to be weened out of that.
The stress of living up to his father can sometimes get to him and can make him make mistakes.
Conclusion: I feel like Eric would be a fantastic linebacker to draft if he is able to be weened out of his occasional bad habits. I hesitate to call him a project because its seems that he is almost fully ready, but he might need to be worked on just a bit. I ultimately see him going no later then the 4th round, maybe even way earlier since some teams will be focusing hard on defense. Teams like the Dallas Birddogs and the Minnesota Grey Ducks and the London Royals might be the destination for him. He will certainly be on to watch when the draft starts.
(Hope that writing a scouting report on my own player is ok)
Pros:
He is a big hitter. He famously once hit a QB in college so hard he immediately quit the next day.
He is decently fast for a linebacker
He's been shown to be a good stripper of the ball having had 15 forced fumbles in his college career.
He doesn't seem to have any kind of chip on his shoulder and coaches tell me that he would be quite a morale booster in the locker room
Cons:
Don't expect him to intercept the ball. He only had 5 interceptions in his college career. He also doesn't have the best hands in the world.
He can occasionally miss tackles while going for the big hit and might need to be weened out of that.
The stress of living up to his father can sometimes get to him and can make him make mistakes.
Conclusion: I feel like Eric would be a fantastic linebacker to draft if he is able to be weened out of his occasional bad habits. I hesitate to call him a project because its seems that he is almost fully ready, but he might need to be worked on just a bit. I ultimately see him going no later then the 4th round, maybe even way earlier since some teams will be focusing hard on defense. Teams like the Dallas Birddogs and the Minnesota Grey Ducks and the London Royals might be the destination for him. He will certainly be on to watch when the draft starts.
(Hope that writing a scouting report on my own player is ok)
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![[Image: pot1.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/gkK39ckq/pot1.png)
