[T-post Tom]

Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal is holding his own pro day today in advance of the upcoming NFL Supplemental Draft on July 11.

Sam Beal likely sat and watched (or wasn’t even around) on March 23, 2018. That was the day that every Western Michigan player with hopes of playing professional football in 2018 worked out, ran through various drills and interviewed with numerous teams. It was all in the name of hearing their name called in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft.

Things have changed since that day for Beal, a talented cornerback for the Broncos (no, not those Broncos). Now that he’s been declared academically ineligible for next year at WMU, he’s turning his attention to the pros thanks to a special secondary draft held in July by the NFL for just such occasions.

The 2018 Supplemental Draft is coming on July 11 and for the first time in a few years, numerous teams will likely be paying close attention to the results. There have been entire years without a single player eligible, while most years there is a middling prospect or two. This year, however, three young defensive backs are hoping for some draft positioning and all have reason to hope.

Beal is perhaps the most favorable prospect overall. At 6’1, he’s got the height/length although he’s a bit slight at 185 pounds (he’d be the lightest Chiefs DB, tied with Makinton Dorleant). Last year as a junior, Beal had 22 total tackles, 2 interceptions and 1 forced fumble.

The scouting reports are very, very solid with Beal. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report has him as a first round pick at No. 22 overall in his admittedly way too early mock draft for 2019. Terez Paylor also heard lots of great things about him for his own scouting column.

It will be interesting to see if the Chiefs are present for Beal’s pro day because they were also around to check out Adonis Alexander at his recent pro day at Virginia Tech.

The Chiefs have some potential concerns with both overall talent and depth for this year along with definite concerns about all things long-term. David Amerson is here and gone on a one-year deal. Steven Nelson will be a free agent in 2019. That leaves Kendall Fuller as the lone starting option for next season, unless someone can really make a jump among the ranks of Keith Reaser, Arrion Springs, Tremon Smith or Will Redmond. It takes a lot of optimism to believe in any of those for 2018 at least, although hope remains high for Smith in particular as he adjusts from a small school.

Adding Beal would bring in another experienced playmaker who might not shine in 2018 necessarily but provides some competition and a high ceiling moving forward next to Fuller. But it all starts at the pro day, so we’ll see whether or not the Chiefs are even interested.

https://arrowheadaddict.com/2018/06/28/2018-nfl-supplemental-draft-sam-beal-holds-pro-day-thursday/