2018 NFL Draft: First round prospects who could entice the Chiefs
By Kody Latham
Sam Hubbard DE/OLB, Ohio State
Sam Hubbard’s journey to the NFL almost didn’t happen. Hubbard’s football career started at Archbishop Moeller high school. There he played safety and during his senior season racked up 109 tackles and five interceptions. As good as Hubbard was at football, he also loved to play lacrosse and ended up committing to play lacrosse for Notre Dame.
If it were not for a chance meeting when Urban Myer stopped by practice one day and convinced Hubbard to come play football at Ohio State instead we may not even be talking about Hubbard and his potential as a first round selection.
Hubbard went through a transition period once he became a buck eye. He originally started out as a linebacker for the team. Hubbard soon grew too large to be a linebacker and transitioned again to become a defensive end. Even though he changed positions twice it did not hurt his production, he finished his career with 116 tackles, 30 of those being for loss. Add in the 17 sacks, one interception, three forced fumbles, and three passes defended and you have yourself a very disruptive football player.
The former Archbishop high schoolers time as a safety showed up when he was at the combine. Hubbard posted the best times for defensive linemen in the three-cone drill (6.84), and the 20-yard shuttle (4.32). He also placed top five in the vertical jump (35 inches).
The thing that could see Hubbard drop to the bottom of the first round of the draft is the fact that he is not great at any one thing. He is very good at a lot of things and because of this has been deemed a safe pick. A team like the Chiefs who are in desperate need of someone to help generate a pass rush outside of Justin Houston could possibly be valuing Hubbard a bit higher than other teams and that could be what makes them make the jump into the first round for him.