Van Demark Solidified as NFL Prospect
The UConn Huskies football program does not get much national attention, yet it has still produced more players on NFL rosters than four different Power 5 conference teams. Even so, many players miss out on a career of hype due to the lack of national spotlight. This happened again with a couple of Huskies stars this season.
Travis Jones is a beast and was the anchor of the Huskies' defense. Still, most thought of him as just a gap-filling, run-stuffing nose tackle. It was not until the Senior Bowl that scouts were able to see his versatility collapsing the pocket as a pass-rusher. From the start of the Senior Bowl until now, Jones has skyrocketed up draft boards and is a potential first-round draft pick.
However, the focus here is not on Jones; it is about an offensive lineman that did not receive an invite to the Senior Bowl: Ryan Van Demark. He did play in the Las Vegas Shrine Bowl where was dominant. Here you can see a rep against former four-star recruit Big Kat Bryant who was the AAC Defensive Lineman of the Year where he absolutely stonewalls Bryant causing some noticeable frustration in the pass-rusher:
Bryant was not the first NFL-bound prospect where Van Demark showed dominance. He has shown great mobility as a swing tackle, making huge blocks at the second level like this one of potential Day-2 pick, Chad Muma:
Here he is again, but this time at the Shrine Bowl. The edge rusher uses a nice dip move to get underneath Van Demark, but he keeps his feet moving and uses the edge rusher's momentum to force him to the ground for the pancake:
Plays like these have quietly put Van Demark on the radar of NFL scouts for the draft. The closer we get to the draft, the more he is moving into the later rounds as a value pick. Van Demark did not receive an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine, but looked great at his Pro Day.
Had he gone to the Combine, his bench press of 24 reps would have had him tied for third-best among all offensive tackles that participated. His 30.5-inch vertical would have had him tied for the second-best among the who participated. Plus, his 9-foot, 5-inch broad jump would have landed him as the second-best.
This shows that Van Demark is an explosive athlete. Add the fact that he has tremendous length for a tackle at 6-foot-6 with flexibility throughout his body and the explosion to be a swing tackle while making plays at the second level and that makes him an NFL caliber player. Van Demark was already being noticed, and his Pro Day in Storrs looks like it has solidified him as a legitimate NFL prospect.
