Clemson football: Taking advantage of NFL opportunities

Clemson football seemingly gets more and more publicity every year as the NFL combine rolls around. Regardless of how well Clemson does as a team, people are still surprised that their players perform well in front of NFL scouts.

One area that Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney preaches and practices better than anyone else in the country, is not making things bigger than they are. Taking each moment for what it is and giving it everything you have. That is exactly what this weekend’s NFL combine participants did – they took advantage of their opportunities and turned heads in the process.

Whether or not each participant will be drafted or how well they will succeed in the NFL doesn’t matter at this point. What does matter is that John Simpson, Tanner Muse, K’Von Wallace, and Isaiah Simmons did everything they could to prove that they at least deserved a much longer look at the next level than maybe once thought.

As fans, we like to think that the players from our school are better than anyone gives them credit for and all they need is a chance to prove themselves. Whether they are or not has no bearing on their ability to be successful at the next level. Like anything else in life, the ability to jump through the hoops set before you and that is was they did this weekend.

Whether the testing at the combine is old and antiquated does matter. What does matter is that Simpson, Muse, Wallace, and Simmons blew their tests out of the water and caused a lot of eyebrows to be raised and will make some teams re-evaluate their draft boards.

Guys like Simpson and Simmons solidified what their tape displayed while K’Von Wallace was the biggest winner of the weekend. Showing is speed, loose hips, and ball tackling ability more than likely will see him rise into the third or fourth round of the NFL draft, which is huge for a guy that more than likely came into the combine as an end of the draft name.

Regardless of what happens, Clemson football fans should all be proud of these guys for being ready to take advantage of the opportunity before them.