Willie Beavers – OT (2016)
It was shocking when the Vikings took Willie Beavers in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Being that his name was Beavers, he was someone I took a keen interest in that year.
Watching his tape was extremely underwhelming though. The kid just played with absolutely no fire. He would just kind of stand up out of his stance and engage his man. Sometimes that was enough and other times it wasn’t. He didn’t appear to have a very strong upper body and his overall athletic ability was suspect.
I had him pegged as a sixth or seventh-rounder and the fact he went two rounds earlier was a surprise.
There was hope that Minnesota’s coaching and strength and conditioning staff could work some magic with him. They couldn’t, however, and he became a rare fourth-round pick that didn’t make the team as a rookie. Beavers did sign with the Vikings practice squad, but he was cut again by the team a year later.
Beavers bounced around the NFL for a while and he even had a brief return stint with Minnesota. His most recent opportunity in the NFL came with the San Francisco 49ers, but he didn’t make it out of training camp.
Beavers was a bust with the Vikings, but his professional football career isn’t over. He’s currently in the XFL playing for the Dallas Renegades, trying to earn one last paycheck as a professional football player.