1 week Ago
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Former Arkansas wide receiver Andrew Armstrong's name will forever show up in the history books alongside some of the greatest to ever play the game. As the SEC's leading receiver in 2024, he guaranteed that.
However, while Armstrong produced success on the field equivalent to those greats, it didn't translate to similar success in the NFL draft. Instead, scouts looked at this accomplishment and pretended it never happened, leading the conference's top receiver to go scrambling for the best signing bonus and situation as an undrafted free agent. Nevermind Armstrong put up those numbers against the league that has led the world in producing NFL talent for the umpteenth year in a row.
Ignore that many of those yards came against players those same scouts recommended or will soon recommend be drafted. It never happened in their minds, and thus, Armstrong never got picked. Perhaps it was held against him that Armstrong was a bit of a crutch for quarterback Taylen Green in his first season at Arkansas.
Sure, several balls went his way that should have gone to Detroit Lions third round draft pick Isaac TeSlaa instead. However, not only is that not Armstrong's fault, it's even more reason to draft him. Other teams knew the balls were going to him and still couldn't stop him.
So how does Armstrong's unique predicament compare to the previous 10 SEC leading receivers? 2023 Malik Naers, LSU Draft Status: No. 6 overall, First round, New York Giants 2022 Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee Draft Status: No. 73 overall, Third round, New York Giants 2021 Jameson Williams, Alabama Draft Status: No.
12 overall, First round, Detroit Lions 2020 Devonta Smith, Alabama Draft Status: No. 10 overall, First round, Philadelphia Eagles 2019 JaMarr Chase, LSU Draft Status: No.5 overall, First round, Cincinnati Bengals 2018 Jerry Jeudy, Alabama Draft Status: No.
15 overall, First round, Denver Broncos 2017 AJ Brown, Ole Miss Draft Status: No. 51 overall, Second round, Tennessee Titans 2016 Josh Reynolds, Texas A&M Draft Status: No. 117 overall, Fourth round, Los Angeles Rams 2015 Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss Draft Status: No.
23 overall, First round, Minnesota Vikings 2014 Amari Cooper, Alabama Draft Status: No. 4 overall, First round, Oakland Raiders 2013 Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt Draft Status: No. 42 overall, Second round, Philadelphia Eagles As can be seen, Armstrong is the only player not drafted.
More often than not, the SEC's leading receiver is drafted in the first round and falls no further than the fourth at worst. Character wasn't an issue. Armstrong is known to be a team player, is humble, puts in the work, and has had no off field issues It can't be because he came from a lower division.
Not only did he have two seasons to prove himself in the SEC, but TeSlaa came to Arkansas from an even lower division. It can't be because he didn't produce that many yards. His 1,140 yards blows away 2016 leading receiver Josh Reynold's 1,039 receiving yards and is only 13 yards shy of 2015 leader Laquon Treadwell.
It also can't be because Arkansas is a school that doesn't get respect. That's blown out of the water not only by the TeSlaa pick, but also by Jordan Matthews going in the second round out of Vanderbilt, the least respected SEC school by a mile. That can only mean there has to be something in his scouting report that is so overwhelming that NFL executives had to ignore everything that happened on the field.
Whatever it was led a note to be included that Armstrong is special teams status player and not much more. Here's what his NFL scouting report summary said: "Long-limbed, tight-hipped wideout with average feet and a lack of separation talent. Armstrong put together solid catch production during his two seasons at Arkansas but will need to prove it is translatable in the pros.
He doesn’t get in and out of breaks quickly enough to separate and lacks the pure gas to be a field-stretching option, but he has good size and ball skills." His positives included his long body, massive, tight end sized hands, and an ability to block out well on pass routes. He has an extreme arm radius on jump balls, does a great job of catching with his hands away form his body and almost always makes the first guy miss once he catches it.
However, on the negative, scouts suspect he is counting his steps when running routes, which slows him down just a tad. They also think he gets out of press coverage slowly, lacks foot control and agility in tight coverage and really held it against him that he only had one touchdown catch in his 78 receptions. Yet, despite all that, he still dominated the SEC even though defenses knew he was getting the ball.
Something had to be happening right against all those future NFL defensive backs. It's not the chance he probably wanted, nor the odds any SEC receiving leader has had to face, but Armstrong now goes to Miami as an undrafted free agent looking to prove again what he's already proven in front of much larger crowds in the SEC. This will be one case where his humble small school background will play in his favor.
Armstrong doesn't have to be forced to block on plays where he doesn't get the ball, which is a major plus in the philosophy of Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. He also isn't going to have an ego that causes him to bristle at the idea of earning his keep on the roster through special teams. It will be very similar to the same experience he had proving himself out of Texas A&M-Commerce when he had to adjust to the SEC two seasons ago.
Everyone saw how that adjustment went. Now it's up to Armstrong to prove he can do it all over again..
