Kendall Sheffield has made it to the NFL. The cornerback out of Ohio State was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 111th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft on Saturday. The Falcons traded up six spots to acquire Sheffield.
While Sheffield made it to the NFL, he did not take the most traditional route to get there, especially for a player who began the journey as a five-star prospect out of Fort Bend Marshall High School in Missouri City, Texas. Sheffield was the country's fourth-ranked cornerback in the 2015 recruiting class according to the 247Sports Composite when he committed to Alabama out of high school. He spent one redshirt year with the Crimson Tide before leaving the program and transferring to Blinn College, a Junior College program.
In nine games at Blinn in 2016, Sheffield recorded 31 total tackles, 11 pass breakups, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. After his one season in Brenham, Texas, Sheffield visited Ohio State in the final week of the regular season, witnessing the Buckeyes' 30-27 double overtime win against Michigan. The following January, Sheffield announced he would finish his college career playing for head coach Urban Meyer and the Scarlet and Gray, picking Ohio State over Texas A&M and Texas.
In his first season with the Buckeyes, Sheffield was in the starting rotation alongside fellow cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Damon Arnette. That year, Sheffield played in all 14 games, finishing the season with 40 total tackles. Following the season, Ward declared early for the NFL Draft and was selected fourth overall by the Cleveland Browns.
Sheffield and Arnette returned as the starting cornerbacks in 2018, also working with sophomore Jeffrey Okudah in the rotation. Sheffield finished the year with 35 total tackles, two tackles for a loss and two interceptions in 14 games. The Scarlet and Gray pass defense struggled that season, allowing more than 245 yards per game through the air while ranking 86th in the country.
While Sheffield never officially declared early for the NFL Draft following his redshirt junior year, an Instagram post in mid-January from EXOS Sports, where many athletes train before the draft, listed Sheffield as one of the participants on site working out before the NFL Combine.
Sheffield was invited to the combine but the event did not go as planned. While bench pressing on March 3, Sheffield got through only seven reps before shouting out in pain. He had to be helped to put the weights back on the rack before shutting down the rest of his scheduled drills. It was later revealed that Sheffield suffered a torn left pectoral. The injury is not expected to linger into the start of the season and Sheffield was able to work out for interested NFL teams earlier this month.
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With the draft now behind him, Sheffield turns his attention to the professional game and the Falcons where he will look to build on what he accomplished as a Buckeye.