2017 NFL Draft Profile: Javante O’Roy, Texas State

Javante O’Roy - Defensive Back - Texas State Bobcats

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 181

40 Yard Dash: 4.68

10 Yard Dash: 1.59

Bench Reps: 18

Vertical Jump: 35”

Broad Jump: 9’9”

20 Yard Shuttle: 4.52

3-Cone Drill: 7.14

Backstory

This defensive back prospect hails from Antelope, California, located just a few miles outside of Sacramento. O’Roy had some major colleges, including some PAC-12 and Mountain West programs, looking at him before he suffered a torn ACL during his senior season. Therefore O’Roy would head to Palomar JC before heading to Texas State.

Career in San Marcos

Photo by Todd Bennett/Getty Images

O’Roy would begin his career in the Sun Belt and play immediately for Dennis Franchione’s program. In his first season, O’Roy was used primarily as a corner in his junior season, rotating between the outside and on the inside at nickel. O’Roy would finish the season with 23 tackles, a forced fumble, and one pass break up. Then there was a coaching change.

Everett Withers would move over to the FBS after dominating at FCS James Madison. 2016 tuned out to be a brutal transition year for the Bobcats. Texas State finished 2-10 and Withers has made it public that he wasn’t very fond of his team last season. However, O’Roy was a lone bright spot for a team that finished 0-8 in Sun Belt play. O’Roy was considered one of the leaders of the team and the new staff switched him over to safety. Here O’Roy would excel as he recorded 74 tackles and caused one forced fumble. O’Roy stated that he believes this coaching change and rocky season made him a better player as it “forced me to step up when things weren’t going our way”.

Strengths & Weaknesses

If you’re looking at O’Roy’s game overall, his biggest strength is most assuredly his versatility. O’Roy has proven to be a selfless football player throughout his entire career. Since suffering the torn ACL his senior season, O’Roy has continued the grind and would eventually become one of the most productive defensive players in the Sun Belt. O’Roy did all of this by showing willingness to play whatever position the team needed him at. Throw in O’Roy’s experience in playing in all special teams areas and you’ll find someone that can help an NFL franchise in multiple ways.

However, O’Roy’s lack of playing one specific position primarily is a concern. Throw that in with the fact that O’Roy is mainly working at corner now tells us he as a lot of developing to do. O’Roy has the typical size of a corner in the NFL, but that 4.68 forty yard dash could scare some general managers away. Especially considering O’Roy’s most productive football in college came at the safety position.

Our Take

O’Roy is a productive football player who has shown throughout his career he loves the game. O’Roy’s willingness to recover from an ACL tear, to surviving the JUCO level, to coaching and position changes at Texas State, an NFL team will be getting a player that is devoted to football. Although he comes up short on some measureables, O’Roy has shown great versatility and that should give him a fair shake even if he ends up as an undrafted free agent.