Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Five players with Las Vegas ties could have their names called this weekend during NFL Draft

1116_sun_UNLVHawaii17

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels linebacker Javin White (16) is tackled after recovering a Hawaii fumble during a game against the Hawaii Warriors at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019.

Most years, the NFL Draft dominates television ratings and sports discussion for its first night before fading into the background.

The 2020 NFL Draft, moved from Las Vegas to a virtual format, is likely to change the second half of that narrative, as fans stay home to fight the spread of COVID-19, desperate for current sports content to watch. The first round was always going to draw massive viewing numbers, but expect records to fall for Friday’s second and third rounds, along with Saturday’s conclusion of the fourth through seventh rounds.

Why the usual decline in interest? In large part, less familiarity with the players going late in the draft. But there are still hundreds of athletes and stories worth following during that portion, and some of those players will prove to be even more important to teams than their early-round counterparts.

Here are five players with local ties to watch as the draft winds down.

John Molchon, Boise State guard

Molchon was one of the leaders on Faith Lutheran’s 2013 3A state championship team and went on to fill a similar role at one of the nation’s most consistent collegiate programs.

He started all four years at Boise State, where he won two Mountain West Conference championships and became a team captain. Molchon’s on-field success and size—he’s 6-foot-5, 309 pounds—earned him an invite to the NFL Draft Combine in February in Indianapolis, where he graded out well from a strength perspective but below average in speed and quickness drills.

Scouting sites peg him as high as a fifth-round pick, making Molchon the most likely former local high school product to be drafted this year.

Nick Harris, Washington center

Many might have assumed NFL scouts packed December’s Las Vegas Bowl to watch Washington quarterback Jacob Eason, but they were just as motivated to get a look at the agile 6-foot-1, 302-pound man snapping the ball to him.

A growing faction of football minds consider center the second-most important offensive position, and Harris is rated as one of the best in this year’s draft. He’s also versatile, having started at guard his first two seasons at Washington before coaches shifted him to center to make better use of his smarts and familiarity with the offensive scheme.

Harris boosted his stock at the Las Vegas Bowl, where Washington dominated Boise State up front in a 38-7 victory. He could reportedly go as high as the third round.

Javin White, UNLV linebacker

Ten years have passed since the Rebels produced an NFL Draft pick—Joe Hawley in 2010’s fourth round to the Atlanta Falcons—and White appears to be the most likely, if not only, possibility to break the drought this year.

Some scouting services still project him as an undrafted free agent, but if teams were picking based on recent game film alone, it would be hard to deny that White is a deserving selection. He broke out during his senior year, making UNLV’s defense respectable at the end of the season for the first time in years.

White’s size is seen as a detriment. He stood out as a linebacker at UNLV, but at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds, he’d need to transition to safety in the NFL.

Mykal Walker, Fresno State linebacker

UNLV fans are almost guaranteed one chance to cheer Saturday. They should be elated that Walker is moving on, and the Rebels will no longer have to deal with him.

The 6-foot-3, 230-pound first-team All Mountain West Conference performer could piece together a highlight reel solely from his games against the Rebels the past two years. He terrorized UNLV as an edge rusher in a 48-3 Fresno State win his junior season and was every bit as much of a nuisance after moving to middle linebacker last year, when the Bulldogs beat the Rebels 56-27.

Maybe it will turn out Walker isn’t done with Las Vegas after all. The Raiders need to add to their linebacker depth, and Walker could present an intriguing late-round option.

Kalen Hicks, Hawaii safety

A member of Bishop Gorman High School’s national championship teams in 2014 and 2015, Hicks is known as a hard-hitting safety who excels in run support. The versatile 6-foot-2, 210-pound defensive back was on his way to boosting his draft stock as the Warriors’ leading tackler through seven games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

That has apparently left evaluators wary of the possibility of spending a draft pick on Hicks. He’s primarily listed as an undrafted free agent by draft prognosticators, but it only takes one team to change things.

Hicks is unlikely to be deterred regardless. He has a history of overcoming bad breaks, having suffered an injury during his senior year of high school before walking on at Hawaii to become one of the program’s best players.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.