Brandon Hicks is trying to get some people together for paintball this weekend, but the outdoor sport is the last thing on the former Bowling Green nose tackle’s mind at the moment.
According to Hicks, paintball is a good way to relieve some of the stress that comes with the NFL draft. Hicks, who has been projected to go as high as the fifth-round, will wait it out this weekend to see if he will be the first Falcon selected in the draft since Charlie Williams was taken in the third round by Dallas in 1994.
“It’s pretty stressful,” Hicks said. “I’m trying to find some takers for paintball and let my agent (Ron Todd) do all the stressing for us.”
“Everybody is playing chess right now,” Todd said. “We don’t know where he’ll end up, but every poll we have seen said that he will get drafted now.”
Hicks put up numbers last season comparable, if not better than, many other defensive tackles projected to go in the first-round. Hicks had 176 career tackles and 43 of those were for a loss. Projected first-round picks Ryan Sims of North Carolina and John Henderson of Tennessee did not match those statistics.
“Brandon was double and triple-teamed all season and still put up impressive numbers,” Todd said. “I told him that he is one of the best defensive linemen in the country. We appreciate the opportunity that he has ahead.”
Hicks, the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and fourth-team All-American nose guard by The Sporting News, watched his stock skyrocket since the end of football season. Maybe the biggest factor was Hicks’ performance at the East-West Shrine game in early January. Hicks impressed the all-star game circuit. Though he was considered one of the tougher players for NFL scouts to get a grade on because he is very undersized for a defensive tackle at just 6-foot-2, 270 pounds, he was running around opposing offensive guards all afternoon. Hicks also did a good job disengaging from blocks and ranging up and down the line to make plays.
The Sporting News has Hicks as the 12th-best defensive tackle in the draft, while ESPN analyst Mel Kiper has him at No. 15.
“It makes me feel good that all these people are talking about me,” Hicks said. “I always hear that I am undersized, but I work hard to prove people wrong. Hopefully I’ll get to do that at the next level.”
Hicks said if he does get drafted he’ll probably say a prayer and then go out and celebrate.
“I still have a lot to play for,” Hicks said. “I feel like I should at least be given a chance to do that.”
