Michigan Football: Jalen Mayfield finds home in round 3 of NFL draft

Former Michigan football player Jalen Mayfield was once thought to be a potential first-round pick but he went in the third round of the draft when it was all said and done.

Before the 2020 season, Michigan football‘s Jalen Mayfield was being projected by some as a first-round pick and while he didn’t end up going that high, he still landed in a really good spot with the Atlanta Falcons in the third round.

As I’ve been saying, it seems that some of the doubts about Mayfield’s position in the NFL have raised questions. He’s around 6-foot-5 but has just 32-inch arms, which aren’t normally the traits that you expect to see from a left tackle.

Beyond that, Mayfield was mostly a right tackle for the Wolverines and that might be his best position, which might make sense for Atlanta. He could also be a guard, which is where he could get on the field right away, as the Falcons have former first-rounders at both tackle spots.

Mayfield did a great job in pass protection back in 2019 against Ohio State edge rusher Chase Young and that’s part of the reason why he was projected so high in so many mock drafts.

But this past season, he didn’t really build on that. He was injured and missed some time. He did only allow one sack but he has limited starts in his career, which is probably another reason he dropped.

Yet, from the Atlanta perspective, Mayfield is a guy that has a high floor and a high ceiling. Frankly, Mayfield seems like a starting guard in the NFL at worst, which isn’t bad value out of the third round, and if everything works out, he could even be a starting tackle.

We’ll see if any other Michigan football players come off the board on Friday night, but Mayfield makes it two after Kwity Paye was selected by the Colts in the first round Thursday.

However, it’s starting to look like Nico Collins, Ambry Thomas, and Cam McGrone will go in the fourth round or later.