Sports
Former Ohio Bobcat Javon Hagan preparing for NFL’s first virtual draft
By: Thomas Garverick
Posted on:
ATHENS, OH — There is no choice but to adapt.
“We just have to learn how to overcome this obstacle, not as just athletes but as human beings just in general. We will be faced with obstacles in life so we just have to learn to overcome them,” former Ohio Bobcat safety Javon Hagan said.
The obstacles of no pro day, no combine workouts and no 1-on-1 meetings with teams.
“Not being able to showcase the hard work that I put in since January. Just cutting down weight and changing my diet for certain drills,” Hagan said.
Javon Hagan chooses to remind himself in this difficult time, that he has a body of work — 2 All-MAC first and second-team selections, that he hopes will be plenty to convince NFL teams to draft him.
“Just being fortunate, being humbled. Just thinking no matter what we are going through, we can always have it worse,” Hagan said. “I wanted to have a Pro Day, but at the end of the day, I still have my successful career to fall on. That’s how I was able to get through and manage through the difficult times of this process.”
With most pro days wiped out due to COVID-19 that means combine numbers and measurables are gone too. NFL teams can only go based on a player’s college game tape and their FaceTime interviews.
“This is one of the most trickiest drafts in my opinion based off of numbers not being able to put up and stocks not being able to rise or fall as much,” Hagan said.
Hagan projects to be drafted on Day 2 or 3 of the NFL draft next week.