The Best Player You’ve Never Heard Of

His name was not in the spotlight throughtout the season, he received virtually no television coverage and his name didn’t appear among the top-tier group of offensive linemen at the NFL Combine. For that matter, he didn’t even appear on any Division-I college roster.

Jared Veldheer, from Hillsdale College (a school that has less than 1,300 students) plays D-II football.

Now don’t let the D-II label scare you, Veldheer is 6′ 8″ and 312-lbs of pure athleticism – which is one of the reasons he’s catching the attention of NFL scouts. ”It’s a surreal thing to think I’m in this position,” Veldheer said earlier this week. “But I’ve put myself in this position.”

During the offensive linemen workouts, Veldheer showed what he’s made of. He was impressive, putting up 225-pounds on the bench press 32 times (fourth-best among tackles) and ran the 40-yard dash in just 5.09 seconds (third-best). If that was not enough to gain consideration, he has no problem benching 425-lbs during his workouts.

“He’s just a really good athlete and has all the ability to play left tackle in this league,” Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert said. “He can play, I really think he can. And I really think he’s going to go relatively early in the draft.” Heckert also went to Hillsdale.

Hillsdale competes in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference against schools like Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Ohio Dominican. No player has been drafted from the school since 1980. Veldheer says he hopes to change that. “I really hope I can make my school proud and the rest of my team.” This shouldn’t be a problem consdering he is rated among the top 10 tackles on nearly every scouting service.

Veldheer has the best combination of size, strength, speed and athleticism yet… one of the best in the NFL draft, some are saying.

“I think once I get to that next level, I’m going to see all those guys working hard around me and adapt that to my game to keep getting better,” Veldheer said. “That’s one of the things pushing me to where I am today; wanting to be the best at my position.”

With the combine taking place and Veldheer already making a good impression, he could give other tackles a run for their money. The only downside? Most of us will never have had the opportunity to see him play in college.

Check out these related posts:

1. Sometimes You Just Drop the Ball
2. LeFevour Talks Combine