Utah offensive lineman Nick Ford and Bam Olaseni admittedly have complicated NFL draft resumes.
Ford is an all-conference lineman who has started every game since his sophomore year. Yet, his age and his perceived lack of upside have most scouts projecting him as an undrafted free agent.
Olaseni is the opposite. He wasn’t a full-time starter last year and came to Utah after going through junior college. But it’s his potential — standing at 6-foot-8 and 330 pounds — that has him the mix as a late-draft pick.
Even if Ford and Olaseni have taken different paths, they both find themselves in the same uncertain spot in the NFL draft process now.
“Where they are going to go in the draft, I have no idea,” Utah offensive line coach Jim Harding said. “I think both of them [can] do great things once they get to wherever they are. I think both are going to get an opportunity.”
With the draft coming up next week, their schedules have mirrored each other by meeting teams trying to make an impression.
Olaseni met with the Green Bay Packers on Tuesday in a pre-draft meeting. It was one of many he has taken.
Ford has been doing the same. According to the coaching staff, Ford may visit three or four teams over the next week. He spent Tuesday at Utah’s spring practice talking to Harding.
“I think those are good signs,” Harding said. “I text with both of them fairly often.”
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said he could see three or four players from Utah being taken in the draft after the first round. Presumably, Ford and Olaseni would be in that group.
By Olaseni’s estimation, he will hear his name called on the third day of the draft.
“I have been working on my football intelligence,” Olaseni told Sports Illustrated last month. “I want to show people I’m a big athlete. I want to show I am technically sound.”
As for Ford, he has lost 19 pounds to increase his mobility. A major knock, according to scouts, is his “stiffness” as a lineman.
“He needs to be more consistent keeping his hands in the frame,” the NFL Draft Network wrote. “He is not necessarily a vertical mover on single blocks but does a good job holding the point. He can improve at getting good body position on a shaded defender after snapping.”
Right now, neither is projected solidly in the draft. And with life on the edges, anything can happen.
“You always have something to prove,” Ford said on Utah’s pro day. “My biggest thing is being able to move, being able to jump, being able to bend.”
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