Gerald Willis signs as undrafted free agent with Baltimore Ravens

Former Miami Hurricanes defensive tackle Gerald Willis is joining the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. Willis surprisingly tumbled out of the NFL Draft after being projected to be selected in the third or fourth round.

Gerald Willis’ plummet out of the NFL Draft was one of the most shocking developments during the three days in Nashville. For a good portion of the draft ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr had Willis as the highest ranked player still on his draft board. Kiper ranked Willis as the 76th overall player among 2019 Draftees.

During Saturday’s ESPN broadcast Kiper stated he thought that Gerald Willis would be selected in the second round. Willis was one of the most productive defensive tackles in the country in 2018. He was named second-team All-American and second-team All-ACC last season. Willis led Miami with 18 tackles for loss.

Gerald Willis heads to a Baltimore Ravens team with only one defensive tackle currently on their roster. The Ravens drafted six players in 2019, three of whom are on defense. That includes 6’1 320 defensive tackle Daylon Mack from Texas A&M. Mack had 32 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks for the Aggies in 2019.

Baltimore also drafted defensive end Jaylen Ferguson from Louisiana Tech. Ferguson played for current Miami Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker with the Bulldogs. Ferguson is a pass rushing machine and lives in opponents backfields. He had astronomical numbers of 26 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks in 2018.

Ferguson finished his four-year collegiate career with 187 tackles, 67.5 tackles for loss and 45.0 sacks. He also had six pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and seven forced fumbles. Ferguson is third all-time in FBS history in TFLs (Chicago Bears star Khalil Mack who played at Buffalo is first) and first in career sacks.

Willis led the ACC in tackles for loss in 2018. He performed in 2018 as the five-star player he was coming out of high school in New Orleans in 2014. Willis was dismissed from Florida in 2014 and redshirted at Miami in 2015. He also sat out the 2017 season at Miami because of personal issues.

The speculation is that the groin injury suffered last season, a hamstring injury at Miami’s pro day last month, plus Willis’ off the field issues might have scared NFL teams away. It is still perplexing. Willis was far more talented and productive than the majority of defensive tackles taken in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Canes Warning’s NFL Draft preview of Willis earlier this week projected him as falling according to the NFL Draft experts. No one could have foreseen that Willis would have fallen out of the draft completely. The average consensus draft slot for Willis of the four seven-round mock drafts we surveyed was 103.75.

Willis will now have a chance to use the doubters as motivation to have a long NFL career. He stated on Twitter. “The man i became from my past…created the hungry and dedicated man i am today on and off the field.”  Willis will likely have a longer career than the majority of defensive tackles that were drafted in 2019.