ESPN's Adam Schefter Calls Illinois' Jer'Zhan Newton One Of Best Available Players On Second Day Of NFL Draft

The night didn't go as expected for former Illinois Fighting Illini defensive tackle Jer'Zhan Newton but things are supposed to go better Friday.

Newton was not chosen during Thursday's first round of the NFL Draft. He is expected to hear his name called at some point in Friday's second round. ESPN's Adam Schefter listed Newton as one of the best available players left for the second day of the draft, which is taking place in Detroit.

Many mock drafts had Newton as a first-rounder, with the Miami Dolphins being the most popular destination. USA Today, however, did not have Newton going in the first round. According to Pro Football Focus, the Los Angeles Chargers could take him at No. 37.

The website wrote, "The Chargers need to improve almost everywhere on defense. They find a versatile defensive lineman in Newton. He has some physical limitations due to his size and lack of natural flexibility, but his hand usage, pass-rush tools and block-shedding ability allow him to be very productive in any alignment from three-technique to five-technique."

Last year Newton was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and also earned All-American honors. He had 52 tackles (8.5 for loss), 7.5 sacks, nine quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and four blocked kicks on the season.

Among the players available for Friday night:

DT Jer'Zhan Newton
OL Jackson Powers-Johnson
OL Zach Frazier
CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
CB Cooper DeJean
CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
WR Adonai Mitchell
WR Ladd McConkey
WR Keon Coleman
DT Braden Fiske
LB Edgerrin Cooper
LB Junior Colson
QB…
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 26, 2024

Fox Sports draft analyst Joel Klatt recently compared him to NFL three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, a likely future Hall of Famer.

"When I would cover teams in the Big Ten, I always asked them about players around the conference," Klatt said. "Almost every offensive coach would bring up a man we couldn't block was Jer`Zhan Newton. At some point, you call a spade a spade and you say that guy is a football-playing Jesse."