Why Shaquem Griffin at the 2018 NFL Draft is so awesome

Griffin has quite a story, and he’ll get drafted eventually.

Former UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin did not hear his name called Thursday night at the NFL Draft. That was expected. He was a long shot to be a first-round pick, anyway. But he was among the 22 players the league invited to attend the draft in person in North Texas, along with 21 prospects who were certain to go in the early rounds.

Griffin is a talent. He lost his left hand when he was 4. He was born with amniotic band syndrome, a rare berth defect that caused him significant pain before doctors amputated the hand. He stayed with football afterward and didn’t let it stop him from being great. Griffin was the AAC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2016 and a bulwark for an undefeated team in 2017. He could wrench the ball from players who had twice as many hands.

At the NFL Scouting Combine in March, Griffin was a star. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash ever for a linebacker at the combine, a time of 4.38 seconds. (That was the same time his older brother Shaquill, now a Seahawks cornerback, ran the year before.) The difference is that Shaquem did it while weighing 30 more pounds. He threw up 20 reps on a 225-pound bench press, using a prosthetic left arm to control the bar as he pushed it.

I was sitting in the media room at the combine in Indianapolis while Griffin ran his 40, and I’ve never heard so many sportswriters shout cuss words in disbelief at one time. It wasn’t because Griffin ran with one hand; it was because he ran a freaking 4.38 40 at 227 pounds.

Griffin has never been a projected high pick. But his effort at the combine made it clear that he’s not just a good story or a good player for a guy with one hand. He’s just a good player, period, and his physical ability is going to get him taken at some point in the draft. He’s an outside linebacker by trade, but he has the agility and versatility to contribute as a box safety or, in the right situation, maybe a nickel cornerback. Lots of teams could use him.

That Griffin earned a draft invitation is a deserved celebration of how hard he’s worked. He said he’s just excited to be there and has been having a lot of fun at the draft. Plus, he got a free Xbox out of it:

He might not get drafted Friday night, either. But it’s a starting point for what could be a great NFL career. It’s not an endpoint.