PSU’s Reid draws praise from draft analysts
Yetur Gross-Matos and KJ Hamler likely will be the first two Penn State players taken this week in the NFL draft.
But the player who might be the Nittany Lions’ draft sleeper is cornerback John Reid, who played high school ball at St. Joseph’s Prep.
“Reid is a guy who is often just forgotten about,” ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Monday during a conference call. “In that fourth, fifth or sixth round, somebody’s going to get a really talented, physical, competitive dude.”
The 5-10, 181-pound Reid was a three-year starter at Penn State who received AllBig Ten honorable mention three times. He had an outstanding game in the Cotton Bowl win over Memphis, which rarely threw to his side in the final three quarters.
“If you really look at the teams that make it to the playoffs, it’s teams that do well in the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds,” said Herbstreit, who will be part of ABC’s draft coverage. “They find guys like John Reid. He’s coming out of a great program and played for a great system.
“He has a chance to eventually become that DB that you forget where he’s from. The next thing you know, he’s out there making a ton of plays. I love his upside and what he can do.”
Reid made 37 tackles last season as a fifth-year senior, broke up eight passes and intercepted two, returning one for a touchdown. He was a starter as a sophomore in 2016 when the Lions won the Big Ten title before he suffered a torn ACL the following spring and missed the 2017 season.
He didn’t regain his form until late in the 2018 season and played very well last season.
“All he does is show great instincts and awareness in coverage,” said ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. “He could be a nickel guy or a dime guy.”
Kiper projects the 6-5, 264-pound Gross-Matos, an All-Big Ten first-team pick last year, to be taken late in the first round or early in the second and Hamler in the second.
“I think Gross-Matos will do a really, really good job (in the NFL),” said Herbstreit, who called several Penn State games the last two seasons. “I love his length. I love his attitude. I love his story. I think he really uses that as motivation.
“Because of that length, his athletic ability and the fluidity he plays with, I think he’ll continue to grow. With his frame, two or three years from now he’s (going to be) bigger and he becomes a guy who can make a lot of plays, rush the quarterback and be disruptive.”
Like Gross-Matos, Hamler chose to skip his final year of eligibility. He’s a speedster who caught 56 passes for 904 yards and eight touchdowns last season and was named to the All-Big Ten second team.
Herbstreit compared him to Kansas City Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman, a second-round pick last year from Georgia. Hamler, who’s 5-8½ and 176 pounds, and Hardman (5-10, 187) are small guys with blazing speed.
Penn State defensive tackle Robert Windsor, linebacker Cam Brown and guard Steven Gonzalez also might be drafted in the final four rounds, according to Kiper. He projects Windsor to be taken in the fourth or fifth round, Brown in the sixth or seventh and Gonzalez in the seventh.