Samuel Zhang is no stranger to being the underdog.
Born in the small town of Mountain Pleasant, Michigan, he grew up being more of a soccer and basketball fanatic than a football fan. In fact, when he first moved to Texas, the first jersey he ever both was a Ginobili Jersey. He dreamed of one day being a great basketball player like Jordan, or the next Pele. He never predicted that he would end up being a wide receiver.
That all changed when his family packed up and moved to Texas when he was in middle school. When he arrived in Texas, he had never heard of football before, much less knew how to play it, but he fell in love with football soon enough, and tried out for the team.
However, he was only able to barely make the team as a JV third string WR since he was a scrawny runt, mostly warming the bench and watching the game from the side. The most action he got was playing as a return man for kicks and punts due to his blazing speed, but the coach never actually put him in for serious plays.
All that changed his junior year, when he had a huge growth spurt, and made the Varsity team as the starting WR. He proceeded to be a 2x All-American and All-State player, leading his team to a state championship his senior year and an upset over the #7 ranked DeSoto and the #12 ranked Allen.
Despite all this, Zhang was ranked as a 1 star recruit, and got only 3 scholarship offers, from Colorado State, Texas State, and Houston. He had decided to attend Texas A&M due to his excellent academics as a Astrophysics Major, and try to walk-on to the Aggies team, when Michigan State came knocking, offering him a last second scholarship.
So, he proceeded to go to Michigan State, but only as a backup, and got nearly no play time, as MSU had excellent veteran WRs and a strong culture of seniority. It was back to the bench with him, and although it seems like there were many moments when he would get a chance to break out, it never happened.
That is, until Week 12 against #13 Northwestern.
Michigan State had lost their best slot WR 2 weeks ago to a torn ACL and their 3rd best WR to a broken foot, and it showed in their offense. They could not keep drives together versus the swarming Northwestern defense, even though their own ferocious secondary kept it close.
With MSU down 5 and pinned at their 25, distater struck, as their #1 WR went down with a non-contact injury, and the MSU HC was suddenly forced to put Zhang, who had played a total of 2 minutes previously.
Suddenly, with Zhang taking over as the primary WR, the Michigan State offense came alive, as the Northwestern defense could not stop Zhang from torching them every possession, and this forced the Wildcats to triple him on every play, leaving the rest of the MSU receiving corps wide open. MSU roared back to win the game by 9, and proceeded carried that momentum for the rest of the season and into their bowl game, where Zhang dominated with 12 catches for 152 yards and 3 TDs. He was awarded the game's MVP, and cemented himself as MSU's #1 WR for the rest of his time at Michigan State.
Zhang has had a great career at MSU, leading their team to 3 straight top 10 appearances, but knows that he is not a highly touted prospect in this draft, and the chances of him in succeeding in the NFL are miniscule. There are countless doubters and pundits who question if he would be able to make a roster, much less be a servicable WR3 or, god forbid, a WR1.
The road ahead will be tough for Samuel Zhang, as he will likely get drafted late or go undrafted, few touches and little play time as a third string WR, or be forced to play in a developmental league.
The odds are stacked against the former JV third string and 1-star recruit.
Still, he's beaten the odds twice.
Whats one more time?
GRADED
Born in the small town of Mountain Pleasant, Michigan, he grew up being more of a soccer and basketball fanatic than a football fan. In fact, when he first moved to Texas, the first jersey he ever both was a Ginobili Jersey. He dreamed of one day being a great basketball player like Jordan, or the next Pele. He never predicted that he would end up being a wide receiver.
That all changed when his family packed up and moved to Texas when he was in middle school. When he arrived in Texas, he had never heard of football before, much less knew how to play it, but he fell in love with football soon enough, and tried out for the team.
However, he was only able to barely make the team as a JV third string WR since he was a scrawny runt, mostly warming the bench and watching the game from the side. The most action he got was playing as a return man for kicks and punts due to his blazing speed, but the coach never actually put him in for serious plays.
All that changed his junior year, when he had a huge growth spurt, and made the Varsity team as the starting WR. He proceeded to be a 2x All-American and All-State player, leading his team to a state championship his senior year and an upset over the #7 ranked DeSoto and the #12 ranked Allen.
Despite all this, Zhang was ranked as a 1 star recruit, and got only 3 scholarship offers, from Colorado State, Texas State, and Houston. He had decided to attend Texas A&M due to his excellent academics as a Astrophysics Major, and try to walk-on to the Aggies team, when Michigan State came knocking, offering him a last second scholarship.
So, he proceeded to go to Michigan State, but only as a backup, and got nearly no play time, as MSU had excellent veteran WRs and a strong culture of seniority. It was back to the bench with him, and although it seems like there were many moments when he would get a chance to break out, it never happened.
That is, until Week 12 against #13 Northwestern.
Michigan State had lost their best slot WR 2 weeks ago to a torn ACL and their 3rd best WR to a broken foot, and it showed in their offense. They could not keep drives together versus the swarming Northwestern defense, even though their own ferocious secondary kept it close.
With MSU down 5 and pinned at their 25, distater struck, as their #1 WR went down with a non-contact injury, and the MSU HC was suddenly forced to put Zhang, who had played a total of 2 minutes previously.
Suddenly, with Zhang taking over as the primary WR, the Michigan State offense came alive, as the Northwestern defense could not stop Zhang from torching them every possession, and this forced the Wildcats to triple him on every play, leaving the rest of the MSU receiving corps wide open. MSU roared back to win the game by 9, and proceeded carried that momentum for the rest of the season and into their bowl game, where Zhang dominated with 12 catches for 152 yards and 3 TDs. He was awarded the game's MVP, and cemented himself as MSU's #1 WR for the rest of his time at Michigan State.
Zhang has had a great career at MSU, leading their team to 3 straight top 10 appearances, but knows that he is not a highly touted prospect in this draft, and the chances of him in succeeding in the NFL are miniscule. There are countless doubters and pundits who question if he would be able to make a roster, much less be a servicable WR3 or, god forbid, a WR1.
The road ahead will be tough for Samuel Zhang, as he will likely get drafted late or go undrafted, few touches and little play time as a third string WR, or be forced to play in a developmental league.
The odds are stacked against the former JV third string and 1-star recruit.
Still, he's beaten the odds twice.
Whats one more time?
GRADED
![[Image: loQeBcF.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/loQeBcF.jpg)
![[Image: TBFYuND.png]](https://i.imgur.com/TBFYuND.png)
