Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge goes to Seattle Seahawks: 'Big play waiting to happen'
Let's ride, Broncos.
Western Michigan football may have surprised the NFL world — and annoyed Eastern and Central Michigan Football fans — when D'Wayne Eskridge was drafted Friday at No. 56 overall by the Seattle Seahawks late in the second round of the 2021 draft.
"D’Wayne Eskridge will absolutely eat you up in a hurry with his speed," ESPN NFL draft analyst Louis Riddick said right after the pick was made. "He is a flash. Down at the Senior Bowl, all I saw him do was spin defensive backs around. Over and over and over again. He’s just a big play waiting to happen. Great deep ball tracking skills. You want to run him on wide receiver reverses? He’s gonna make house calls on ya. Over and over and over again. ... He’s someone you can deploy in so many different ways. He’s just electric."
Eskridge, who switched from receiver to cornerback and back again during his time with the Broncos, was a top-40 prospect in Mel Kiper Jr.'s eyes and a top-70 prospect, according to CBS Sports and thedraftnetwork.com.
A native of Mississippi who attended school in Bluffton, Indiana, Eskridge led all Football Bowl Subdivision players in all-purpose yards per game (213.0). He was the special teams player of the year for the MAC in 2020 and first-team All-MAC at receiver and kick returner en route to being one of five finalists for the Paul Hornung Award, given to the nation's most versatile player.
The move to cornerback came after his coach Tim Lester told him a Kansas City Chiefs scout suggested Eskridge showcase his versatility, according to this piece by Dave Birkett published last week. Eskridge thought about leaving Western Michigan but decided to give defense a try. He had a great start to the 2019 season before breaking his collarbone.
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In 2020, he return to receiver, racking up 768 yards and 33 catches in just six games. He also ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
“It’s crazy, really,” Eskridge told Birkett. “It’s a lot of things that happened that didn’t go according to plan that were according to plan.”
Eskridge was recruited by former WMU coach P.J. Fleck after a successful football and track career in high school.
He joins quarterback Russell Wilson and receiver DK Metcalf on a Seahawks team coming off a first-round playoff loss.
Free Press special writer Brandon Folsom contributed to this report.
Follow the Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at tjdavis@freepress.com or on Twitter @TDavisFreep.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: D'Wayne Eskridge drafted by Seattle Seahawks in NFL draft 2021
