Shelby's Brennan Armstrong eyes NFL dream in draft
Most young football players can only dream of one day signing with an NFL team, for Shelby’s Brennan Armstrong, he’s hoping that dream will become reality this weekend during the 2024 NFL Draft.
Armstrong is projected as a late round or free agent signing in this year’s draft that starts April 25 in Detroit. He’s projected to go anywhere from round 6 to a priority free agent.
Armstrong spent three months training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at Bommarito Performance with other NFL prospects in preparation for his NFL pro day held at North Carolina State University on March 26.
“It’s a lot of different training than what I’m used to in college,” he said. “It was just three straight months of grinding in preparation for pro day. It was different because I’m a team oriented guy and this was all about training, preparing to better myself and I don’t have another 80 around me. It was all about running as fast as you can or jumping as high as you can to look the part.”
A few notables that were part of the training were Blake Corum (Michigan), Devontez Walker (North Carolina), Cody Schrader (Missouri) and Cole Bishop (Utah).
Armstrong felt the pro day went well. The Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans,
Miami Dolphins all spoke with Armstrong after the pro day workout.
“I thought I did really well, I thought I did good in it,” Armstrong said. “We talked to a lot of teams after pro day. We had 60 some scouts there and met a bunch of teams”
Armstrong measured in at 6-2, 212 pounds. He is ranked around 20th best QB prospect coming out of the draft, but that doesn’t deter
Armstrong.
He just wants the opportunity to prove himself.
“I’m not where I was in ‘21, just some struggles in college,” Armstrong said. “If I’m going to get drafted, it’ll probably be in the seventh round if a team falls in love with me.”
“I’m just looking for an opportunity to go to a team and make a team. I just want to have a chance to play in the NFL and give it a shot,”
he said. “If I don’t get drafted, hopefully I’ll have some teams calling as a priority free agent, which is great. It would give me the ability to find a team that would be the best fit.”
Armstrong has played football for as long as he can remember.
And as his high school coach, Erik Will said: “Brennan has always had the God given talent.”
A Friday night at WW
Skiles Field in 2014 when Armstrong was a freshman starting quarterback for the Shelby Whippets is what caught the attention of many around Ohio.
Armstrong led the Whippets on a 21-point fourth quarter rally in the final eight minutes, totaling 549 total yards, 358 in the air, 191 on the ground and throwing for five touchdowns and running for four more.
The Whippets lost that game 83-82 in overtime and finished the year 2-8 but Coach Will knew that Armstrong was a special player.
“Brennan’s greatest strength is his ability to lead,” Will said. “The physical abilities have always been evident, that doesn’t take a great football mind to see his God given abilities. What separates Brennan is his charismatic qualities. People naturally want to play with and for Brennan. He embodies selflessness. Brennan loves and has a passion for the game.”
Armstrong led the Whippets to a 5-5 season in 2015, his sophomore season.
An 11-2 record in 2016, leading the Whippets a regional final berth.
His senior year, Armstrong led a talented Shelby team to the school’s first ever football final four appearance, finishing the season 13-1.
Armstrong concluded his Shelby career shattering most of the school’s offensive records. Armstrong amassed 7,386 passing yards, 3,776 rushing yards in his Shelby career and a staggering 148 total touchdowns in his illustrious Whippet career.
Armstrong then took his talents to the University of Virginia for his first five years of collegiate football.
He red-shirted his freshman year. Armstrong threw for 9,034 yards as a Cavalier,