Players fall out of the NFL Draft all the time for one reason or another. Some guys might not meet baseline NFL size or athletic qualities. Some players might have major injury issues. Other guys fall out of the NFL Draft because they have character flaws and teams simply aren't willing to spend draft capital on every player -- sometimes regardless of talent -- if they have major stuff off the field.
One of the players who had a draftable grade and possibly could have been selected at some point early on in Day 3 of the draft is Jacksonville State and former Georgia five-star prospect Clay Webb. Webb is an interior offensive lineman who received rather high marks for his on-field production over the last handful of years at the collegiate level, but an off-field concern and federal lawsuit for what has been labeled as a "bullying incident" pushed him out of Day 3 entirely.
This is typically the type of thing the Denver Broncos stay away from, but they signed Webb and will now have more questions to answer. Even though his incident occurred all the way back in 2018, it's something that clearly caused him to fall out of the NFL Draft.
Broncos sign controversial prospect Clay Webb as top UDFA
You can read the details of what Webb is being sued for in the article linked above, but it didn't prevent him from spending three years at Georgia and it didn't prevent him from getting a chance to start and become an All-Conference player at Jacksonville State. It also didn't prevent him from getting an invitation to the Senior Bowl, where he played very well, or the NFL Scouting Combine.
Again, there are certain things the NFL seems much more stringent on than others, and perhaps the length of time that has passed since this incident combined with speaking directly to the player was enough to convince the Broncos of a complete change of character. Although we don't know the names of all 30 players the Broncos brought to town for pre-draft visits, if Webb had a visit to the team facility, it wasn't reported.
Dane Brugler of The Athletic had Webb ranked as the 15th-best guard in this year's draft:
“From his college tape to his Senior Bowl performance, Webb has stood out consistently because of his play strength, fitting his hands and working his feet to stabilize the block. When his technique isn’t right, he can get stood up at times in pass pro or overextended in the run game — playing with consistent balance will be key for him at the next level. Overall, Webb has the feel and core strength to execute different run-blocking schemes, although answering the length and power of NFL defensive linemen will be a major jump. Convincing an NFL coaching staff that he can provide depth at both guard and center will be critical for his chances of making a roster.”- Dane Brugler, The Athletic
Webb does have an arm length issue which could limit him to playing center only at the next level, though he might be able to play guard in a pinch. His projection is not unlike that of Alex Forsyth a couple of years ago.
The Broncos have added a number of late-round interior offensive linemen in recent years and they were rumored to be in the market for drafting one this year, but they ultimately spent their picks elsewhere.
For a team that typically stays away from guys with character concerns, the fact that the Broncos signed Webb is pretty fascinating. I'm sure we'll hear Sean Payton answer questions about it at some point but the Broncos wouldn't make this kind of a move -- even for an undrafted player -- unless they had done substantial work on the player off the field. Webb is probably the team's highest-graded UDFA, so watching his offseason progress will be fascinating on multiple fronts.
