3 reasons to be excited the Atlanta Falcons drafted Ohio State’s Kendall Sheffield

The pre-draft process didn’t exactly go according to plan for Buckeye CB Kendall Sheffield, but despite being considered a late Day 3 pick, ended up going to the Atlanta Falcons fairly early in the fourth round.

Sheffield certainly has some things to clean up before he becomes a top-tier NFL defender, but the potential is there, and he’s got a ton of speed and potential for the Falcons to work with.

Here are three reasons Falcons fans should be excited about the pick:

1. He’s fast

We didn’t get to see him officially run the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine or Pro Day — after he suffered a pec injury during the former’s bench press event — but he was expected to run faster than the Buckeye wideouts who were among the fastest players in this year’s draft class.

There was a reason for that too, Sheffield also ran track during his time in Columbus and set a school record and bested the Big Ten with his 60m dash time.

2. He’s got plenty of experience

He initially enrolled at Alabama in 2015, before stepping back to the JuCo level in 2016 and joining the Buckeyes for his final two college seasons. In his two seasons at Ohio State, he was responsible for 58 total tackles, 15 passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

3. Long history of successful DBs out of Ohio State

Sure, not everyone whose played cornerback for the Buckeyes have gone on to succeed in the NFL, but the last several draft classes — particularly those who have had even one season under Kerry Coombs — have gone on to impress.

The list of alumni include Denzel Ward, and a whole lot of Saints players I won’t list out here because I’m sure Falcons fans don’t want to hear it. But let’s just say, Atlanta will have a leg up adding a Buckeye DB to their defense... especially one familiar with, like, 10 players in New Orleans.