What happened to Vic Beasley? Former NFL-All Pro set to make XFL debut

XFL 2023 begins on Saturday (Febrruary 18), and among the bigger names on the field will be Vic Beasley.

He was selected as the eighth overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft. He went on to light up the 2016 season, leading the league with 15.5 sacks. He was named as a First Team All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl. He looked set to live up to his promise, but 2016 turned out to be a high watermark for him.

Now, he's looking to resurrect his career in the XFL. He was selected first overall in the Defensive Front Seven draft and will be playing for the Vegas Vipers. He plays his first game against the Arlington Renegades.

He takes to the field for a team where he last played in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders more than two and a half years ago. This raises the question of why such a promising career went off-track? Read more to find out.

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Vic Beasley's journey to XFL

Vic Beasley played college football at Clemson University and showed enough promise to be selected in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. He was a consensus All-American in 2013 and 2014, and the Atlanta Falcons brought him in.

His 2016 season was one for the ages, as he recorded 15.5 sacks, the most forced fumbles (six), as he made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The next couple of seasons, though, saw him regress, as he recorded just five sacks each season before rebounding with eight sacks in 2019 with the Atlanta Falcons.

That secured him a move to the Tennessee Titans, where he was waived after recording just three tackles in seven games. He spent the rest of the season with the Las Vegas Raiders before falling out of the NFL completely. Over the last three seasons, he looked to join the Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL, but it did not materialize. Now, he finds himself back in football in the XFL.

However, merely recording his history is not enough. We have to understand what went wrong. There is, of course, no definitive answer to that, but we can take a guess looking at his film.

When he was young, his athleticism was secondary to none. He's 6' 3" and weighs 246 lbs. During the 2015 NFL Combine, he recorded a 4.53 time in the 40-yard dash, 4.15 shuttle, 6.91 three-cone, 41-inch vertical, 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump and 35 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

Vic Beasley had speed on the edge, which allowed him to get to the quarterback easily.

However, he never seemed to develop a second move. It's something that could get him to the quarterback without relying on speed alone. Once he started relying solely on athleticism, and his new sheen wore off, he could be defended against easily.

It also raises questions about why he rebounded in the final year of his contract with the Atlanta Falcons and not before that. Finally, we must also look at the Falcons themselves regressing after the Super Bowl as a unit. That points to the possibility that he never got the correct coaching that was required to develop further.

Eventually, though, it'sa sorry tale of how a promising NFL career can flame out so quickly. However, Vic Beasley now has a chance to make amends and showcase his worth in football. With the Vegas Vipers also paying top dollar to former NFL quarterback Brett Hundley, they're a team strong in both offense and defense.

With Ron Woodson, a Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive player, as his coach, Vic Beasley might also find the right guidance to get back to his peak.