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Charlie Campbell, Senior Draft Analyst
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2021 NFL MOCK DRAFT - WALT'S | CHARLIE'S ROUND: 1

2020 Players who Jumped Out Part 3 - SEC West

Updated July 18, 2019
By Charlie Campbell. Follow Charlie on Twitter @draftcampbell.

When NFL scouts visit a school or watch tape, they are focused on watching the specific players they are writing reports on for the upcoming draft. Thus, they don't focus on players who aren't eligible for that draft. Sometimes, however, a football player is so good and talented, he is impossible to ignore and scouts can't help but be impressed with how that player impacts the game. WalterFootball.com reached out to scouts to survey them to see who jumped out at them despite not being in the 2019 NFL Draft. We received enough names that this is the third part in at least three entries while we continue continue to reach out to evaluators to hear who has generated some buzz with pro evaluators entering fall training camps.

Recently, we discussed in the Hot Press the number of 2020 prospects by school on NFL team's preseason watch list. Mississippi State had the second-most players on it with 11 prospects. That is a testament to the great work down in Starkville by former head coach Dan Mullen, who is currently the head coach at Florida. Mississippi State has a reputation as tough to recruit to, but Mullen and his staff brought a lot of talent to the Bulldogs. Last year in speaking with area scouts who had just visited the school, they were raving about Jeffery Simmons, Montez Sweat and Johnathan Abram, but they also said the Bulldogs had a lot of good players for the 2020 NFL Draft and maybe even some prospects for 2021 thanks to Mullen. In surveying those sources, they said that outside linebacker Willie Gay Jr., linebacker Erroll Thompson, running back Kylin Hill, and cornerback Cameron Dantzler all jumped out at them in games and practice despite not being eligible for the 2019 NFL Draft.

Staying in the SEC West, LSU had three players who jumped out to evaluators in safety Grant Delpit, defensive tackle Rashard Lawrence and linebacker Michael Divinity. Lawrence had some debate, as some sources thought him as a prospect for the back half of the draft while others had him in the top half. Delpit turned in a massive sophomore season and is in the running to be the top safety prospect for the 2020 NFL Draft. Divinity was able to impress evaluators who were watching linebacker Devin White, the fifth-overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to Tampa Bay.

Another SEC West player who had many sources raving last fall was Auburn defensive tackle Derrick Brown. He could have been a high first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft before deciding to return for his senior year.

Of course, a lot can and will change in the months to come. A year ago at this time, scouts weren't talking about Quinnen Williams, and he ended up being the consensus best player in the 2019 NFL Draft after a dominant 2018 season. However, some other future top-20 picks like Devin White, Nick Bosa, Josh Allen, Clelin Ferrell, Christian Wilkins and Brian Burns had already created a buzz in the scouting community. This is just a starting point of players to watch that have made an early good impression on evaluators.