Top 10 undrafted NFL free agents who could make an early impact

#6 Ryan Bates, OL, Penn State with the Eagles

With a rather light class of interior offensive linemen beyond the top ten guys or so, I was really surprised to see Bates go undrafted. The former Nittany Lion redshirted his first year on campus before becoming a Freshman All-American starting every game between left guard and tackle. He split time between the two tackle spots over the last two years and was a third-team All-Big Ten selection.

What probably cost him a draft day call was the fact that he has more of a tackle skill-set, but with only 32½-inch arms he doesn’t have the length you are looking for at the position. Still, he has experience in the outside zone game, where he shows the mobility to move down the line, and he was used as a puller in power run schemes. I think he will fit very well on that Eagles offense.

With Stefen Wisnieski still on the open market there might even be an opening at left guard, but at least I think Bates should be that eight offensive linemen if Philly decides to dress up that many as a swing-tackle with some inside-out versatility.

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#7 Wyatt Rey, Edge, Boston College with the Browns

When you have guys like Harold Landry and Zach Allen ahead of you on the depth chart, it might take you a while to see the field, but Rey finally got his chance in 2018 and put up nine sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss. He might not have the bend of Landry or the power of Allen, but he plays with good bend and well-placed hands in the run game plus as a pass rusher he shows a lot of room to develop. His pursuit from the backside is tremendous and he shows a lot of effort when hunting down QBs.

I thought there were some issues with snap anticipation and surrendering contain responsibilities, but not to the point where I thought he would go undrafted. At this point he is mainly a speed rusher with some experience on stunts, but I think he could turn into a valuable rotational piece for Cleveland. Obviously he won’t challenge Myles Garrett or Olivier Vernon, but the Browns have given up some guys on the edge like Emmanuel Ogbah and Carl Nassib, making some snaps available.