The 2020 NFL draft may feel distant, but the Kansas City Chiefs front office staff is already on the road and scouting prospects.
NFL teams do make it a habit to send scouts to various team camps ahead of the 2019 college football season. That is where they’ll begin to compile preliminaries on many of the prospects, not only for the 2020 season but the future too. Getting to see these prospects while they work in practice and in a coaching habitat is an important part of the evaluation process.
The Chiefs, along with two other teams, recently set out to visit a sleeper safety at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University during their fall camp.
The prospect that the Chiefs were visiting Lenoir-Rhyne to see was 6-2 210-pound safety Kyle Dugger. Since 2015, Dugger has accumulated 174 total tackles, 24 passes defended and six interceptions for the Bears. In 2018, Dugger’s play helped the Bears to a 12-2. They would ultimately go on to win the South Atlantic Conference.
Dugger doesn’t just have the dominant numbers and flashy tape that is getting the attention of the NFL. He also has the requisite athleticism to survive in the league. According to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s annual freaks list, Dugger runs a 4.41s 40-yard dash, jumps a 40-inch vertical, a 132-inch broad jump and runs a 6.7s 3-Cone.
Look at the full body of work and you’ve found a player that has caught the eye of NFL teams, including the Chiefs. They’re out doing the early leg work so that as the season progresses they can keep tabs on his progress. If Dugger has a big 2019 season, this certainly won’t be the last you hear about him.
