NFL Draft: Tyreek Hill points out a sleeper pick in D’vonta Derricott

Tyreek Hill knows a thing or two about being a late-round find in the NFL Draft, so maybe we should pay attention when he has a sleeper pick.

When the Kansas City Chiefs selected wide receiver Tyreek Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, no one knew exactly what they had on their hands. The speed was obvious, but the Chiefs had picked several lean, quick players in recent drafts—from Javier Arenas to Devon Wylie—and none of them showcased the kind of skills that would make Dante Hall sit up and pay attention.

As a late round sleeper pick himself, Hill might have a feel for this sort of category, which means maybe we should be paying attention to D’Vonta Derricott, a 6’1, 225 lb. outside linebacker from Arkansas Tech.

We’re unsure of the nature of any friendship between the two, but clearly Derricott would be a sleeper pick by all counts. He was a JuCo standout and came to Kansas State ranked as one of the top JuCo linebackers available in the country. However, some legal and financial issues kept Derricott from ever seeing the field and he transferred from there to Eastern Kentucky for the 2015 season and Arkansas Tech in 2016.

In 9 games last season, against the likes of Arkansas-Monticello and Ouachita Baptist, Derricott had 98 total tackles, including 6 for a loss, 2 sacks and 1 forced fumble. The numbers don’t leap off the page to signal a dominating presence among inferior competition, but maybe that’s what makes this pick even more of a sleeper. Hard to tell.

That said, john Dorsey has a nose for these things, whether drafting a medical student from McGill  University in Montreal or taking Hill himself. If Derricott has the chops to try out at the pro level, Dorsey will give him an invite. If not, at least he can say he had a late round sleeper calling him the same at one point.

Check out some highlights below: