A bit of a surprise from last week’s NFL Draft – that no UVA players had their names called.
I had outside linebacker Charles Snowden (NFL.com Prospect Grade: 6.22, Pro Football Focus 2020 Grade: 67.3) and tight end Tony Poljan (NFL.com Prospect Grade: 5.89, Pro Football Focus 2020 Grade: 71.0) as Day 3 picks, in either the sixth or seventh rounds.
No one from among the 32 NFL teams were with me on that.
Both will get a chance to make a team out in training camps – Snowden with the Chicago Bears, and Poljan with the Baltimore Ravens.
One other UVA alum is a free-agent signee at this point – grad transfer safety D’Angelo Amos, who signed with the Detroit Lions.
Snowden’s issue is likely the broken leg that ended his season in November. The 6’7”, 243-pounder can rush the QB (he had 17 QB pressures and five sacks in 131 pass rush snaps in 2020) and help in pass coverage (allowing seven receptions in 95 pass-coverage snaps last season).
Poljan, a former quarterback at Central Michigan who played a grad transfer year at UVA in 2020, had 38 catches on 61 targets (four drops) for 411 yards and six TDs on 353 pass snaps in 2020.
Amos (Pro Football Focus 2020 Grade: 49.2) was a first-team FCS All-American at JMU before playing a grad transfer year at Virginia in 2020.
It’s almost certain that he would have to make a team as a special-teamer.
Amos left JMU ranked second all-time with 1,259 career punt return yards, and he registered five career TDs on punt returns.
Story by Chris Graham
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Chris Graham
