Which undrafted free agents could make an impact in the 2023 NFL season?
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the highly-rated prospects from the NFL Draft and where they landed. However, there hasn't been much said about the players who didn’t hear their names called, but have now been signed as undrafted free agents.
These players still have a chance to make their mark on the league and here are the 12 most likely to do so:
12 undrafted free agents who can shine in the 2023 NFL season
#1. Tyson Bagent, QB, Chicago Bears (Shepherd)
Considering Tyson Bagent received a Senior Bowl invite and at least showed that he has talent during that week, I thought he’d hear his name called late on day three.
He left Shepherd with an NCAA record across all leagues and divisions with 159 passing touchdowns, 17,000 yards through the air, and was named the Division II Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. However, this is not one of those guys with a noodle arm, who had a far superior group of weapons than his opponents and just flipped it to wide-open targets constantly.
The first thing that sticks out when you watch this kid is the way the ball pops out of his hand. He’s got a quick release and flexible arm, to alter release points and put different trajectories on throws.
Plenty of his production came within the structure of the offense, where he hit guys in stride off their RPO game, layer the ball between zone-defenders in the seam area, lead his targets away from their defender or drill it to them in-between crowded areas.
Yet, he’s also very twitchy inside the pocket and seems unfazed by arms swinging at him, while not needing a ton of space to get his feet aligned perfectly. His ability to manipulate rush angles, add in pump-fakes, extend plays and get enough velocity on the ball without a clean platform is impressive.
There are a couple of mechanical things I think can still be ironed out, where Bagent gets himself in trouble is being uber-confident in his ability to force plays. He will need to re-wire his brain to some degree in terms of being able to squeeze in balls a tad late, tight windows he can test and some of the schoolyard-type plays where he gets too loose with the ball away from his body. That won’t fly in the pros.
Obviously, I’m not expecting Bagent to just de-throne Justin Fields, after the Bears just passed on the rest of this year’s quarterback class, instead trading back from the first overall pick and selecting an offensive tackle. I think at the very least, this guy has the talent to at least deliver some spark when he gets put out there as a backup.
Chicago is a place where if Justin gets banged up and he gets a chance to show off his skills for an extended stretch, he can certainly hang around the NFL for several years, although he now goes back to being an underdog after being the king of D2 for a while.