Of all the accomplishments achieved by the University of South Alabama, there's still one rite of passage the school has yet to achieve: having a player selected in the NFL Draft.
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MOBILE, Ala. — Of all the accomplishments achieved by the University of South Alabama, there's still one rite of passage the school has yet to achieve: having a player selected in the NFL Draft. Come this May, tight end Gerald Everett hopes to hear his name called and etch his name in the annals of Jaguar history.
A tumultuous collegiate career saw Everett make stops at a community college and a junior college before landing on the roster at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2014. After the program was disbanded a year later, Everett followed several teammates and coaches to USA to finish his college career.
Everett turned heads in his one year in Joey Jones' offense, turning in 717 yards and 4 touchdowns and tying for the team lead with 49 receptions.
Even though he only tallied one catch for six yards in Saturday's game, scouts and media alike are falling for what they call the "small school prospect." In what is considered a weak tight end class, Everett is making sure his presence is known. Getting to practice and play at the Senior Bowl this week alongside SEC prospects O.J. Howard (Alabama) and Evan Engram (Mississippi), only proved to hone his skills, and helped him get noticed.
"O.J. and Evan are great guys on and off the field," Everett said. "We show each other things in the film room and at practice that are unthinkable. So with us teaming up and making a trio is crazy. We're kinda like a super group."
Any quarterback in the country would love to have that trio at his disposal. This week, starting South quarterback Joshua Dobbs did have the "super group" on his side.
"They caught passes great. Deep routes, short routes, they did a great job of getting open," Dobbs said. "(They are) a very, very explosive group of tight ends. It was a lot of fun throwing to them."
The week of practices and time in the limelight will undoubtedly help Everett's draft stock. With a good performance at the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine, the tight end could possibly even vault himself into the top half of the draft.
