Speaks elected to bypass his senior season to enter the draft. The 6-foot-3, 285-pounder played in every game the last three years with 19 starts, including the last seven at defensive end after moving from tackle. The Jackson native earned All-SEC second team honors from the Associated Press and Phil Steele this season.
“I had a chance to talk to his coach (Matt Luke) and [Speaks] is a good kid, hard worker,” said Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. “I never saw him take a play off, and he played a lot.
“A lot of times you put on college tape and these kids are on these rotations where they might make it through 50 percent of the snaps, but when you put on the tape, you’re going to see this kid play. He’s on the field. He chases everything and he’s relentless.”
Speaks’ senior campaign saw him rank sixth in the SEC with 7.0 sacks. He led the team with eight QB hurries and finished second in tackles (67) and third in TFLs (8.0). Speaks totaled a career-high 13 stops against LSU, including seven solos.
Ten Rebels have been selected in the last three versions of the NFL Draft.
The final four rounds of the NFL Draft will take place Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. (ESPN, WatchESPN, NFL Network, NFL.com, NFL Mobile app).
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Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Information
