NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah has seen the influx of Canadian talent coming into the league and done his NFL Draft homework accordingly.
It’s plausible that a record number number of Canucks could be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. The current mark for a single pick-fest is four, which occurred in 2014.
Jeremiah studies the draft and knows it as well as anybody in the NFL. He sees five players from Canada being selected with the chance for a half dozen total.
The former college scout for the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, and Philadelphia Eagles shared his scouting reports on the top five Canadian prospects in this year’s class.
Name: Jevon Holland
Position: Defensive back
School: University of Oregon
Hometown: Coquitlam, B.C.
Jeremiah’s analysis: “As a nickel, as a safety, can do a lot of things. I think he’s one of the three or four best safeties in this draft class. Didn’t get a chance to see him this year, but somebody that’s well thought of around the league. Takes good angles, he’s a really good tackler, and he’s got good ball skills. He reminded me of a little bit bigger version of Lamarcus Joyner when he was coming out of Florida State. A good football player who I think is probably going to go mid-to-late second round, third round, somewhere in there.”
Name: Josh Palmer
Position: Receiver
School: University of Tennessee
Hometown: Brampton, ON
Jeremiah’s analysis: “I like Josh Palmer. To me, he’s like a third, fourth round receiver who can really get vertical. He’s one of the few guys who actually beat University of Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II down the field this year, he had a touchdown against him. Really good Senior Bowl week — a lot of 50-50-ball wins. Third, fourth round for Josh.”
Name: Chuba Hubbard
Position: Running back
School: Oklahoma State University
Hometown: Sherwood Park, AB
Jeremiah’s analysis: “Ultra productive. Tough, physical — I wrote down that he’s kind of a no-nonsense guy when you watch him run, he runs with a real low pad level. I don’t think he has a tremendous amount of top-end juice, but you can use him in the screen game. Once he gets the ball in his hands he’s tough to get down, breaks a lot of tackles. I think he’s a day three pick. The fifth round would be where I would have him. He could go a little earlier, a little later.”
Name: Benjamin St-Juste
Position: Defensive back
School: University of Minnesota
Hometown: Montreal, QC
Jeremiah’s analysis: “Big, long, athletic corner who showed up at the Senior Bowl, and he was impressive when you see him, just a bigger looking kid. I’ll be curious to see what he runs, that would be the one question mark: just how much pure, top-end juice does he really have? An interesting player. He reminded me of current Green Bay cornerback Kevin King who has been a solid player for the Packers, coming out of Washington. He’s a classic Seattle Seahawk-type corner.”
Name: Alaric Jackson
Position: Offensive line
School: University of Iowa
Hometown: Windsor, ON
Jeremiah’s analysis: “I’m not as high on Alaric Jackson. To me he’s a later pick, somebody that’s going to need some time and some continued development. I have him more of a sixth-round pick. He was on the ground a little bit too much and I thought he had some issues with speed. Those were the two issues I had with him, so he was more of a later round pick for me.”
Name: Amen Ogbongbemiga
Position: Linebacker
School: Oklahoma State University
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Jeremiah’s analysis: “That is the one Canadian that I still have left to do. I’ve got every position done, except I’ve got a couple linebackers and I’ve go a couple safeties, so he’s still on the to-do list.”
