Penn State Football: 2018 Troy Apke NFL Draft Preview
Maybe Penn State football’s highest climber, Troy Apke, has proven a lot in the draft process. He should get a fair shot at getting drafted.
One year of film is all Troy Apke has to his name. Regardless, he started the year as a virtual unknown and quickly carved a niche out for himself. Penn State football has a recent history of safety success, and Apke could make the same jump. He has an underrated skill set that surprised even the great Deion Sanders at the NFL Combine.
Physical Tools and Athleticism
Apke stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 208 pounds according to Penn State’s website. He ran a 4.34, 40-yard dash, topping every safety at the combine including teammate Marcus Allen. He jumped 41 inches on his vertical which ranked third behind 41.5. In addition, his athleticism extended to broad jump where he finished in the top four with 10-feet, 11 inches. Finally, he tied for first in the 3-cone drill (6.56) and finished at the top of the 60-yard shuttle with a 4.04.
To summarize his skill set, he’s what a lot of analysts call a workout warrior. He played one significant year of football, but he made the eyes pop with his combine numbers. Although fair or unfair, Apke’s NFL.com draft profile follows this belief. The analysts list him as a seventh round pick at best and a priority free agent at worst.
The big thing in his favor, quality players covered his spot in 2015 and 2016. Two NFL players, Malik Golden and Jordan Lucas played there, and he still managed to get on the field some.
Statistical Breakdown
In four years of football Apke left a decent legacy when it came to production. In his lone season as a starter, he recorded 55 tackles, three for loss, an interception and six pass break-ups. Playing across from Allen, it made it difficult to pickup the majority of tackles, since the safety is a one-man wrecking crew.
Although that’s true, he made his fair share of plays on defense and even blocked a punt. Furthermore, his special team’s play should actually give him a better shot at getting drafted. He piled up a lot of tackles as a specialist and would better served trying to make a roster in that role.
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Even though he had an impressive combine and showed some stellar athleticism, I’d give Apke a 50-50 chance of getting drafted. If he does go it’ll be in the sixth or seventh round and if not, he’ll definitely get a camp offer as an undrafted free agent.