Texas Football: 3 reasons why Vikings should draft Malcolm Roach

3. Low-risk high reward pick

Roach was a stud at times during his four-year playing career with the Longhorns. He had two down years on the Forty Acers (his sophomore and junior seasons) largely thanks to poor scheme fit and various injury issues. He switched positions often for Texas in a defense that couldn’t find much consistent success throughout Big 12 play in 2017 and 2018.

But this gem find that the Longhorns signed under the direction of former head coach Charlie Strong in their 2016 recruiting class contributed at a much higher level than his prospect ranking would’ve led some to believe. Roach was barely ranked inside the top 600 2016 high school prospects in the nation, as a three-star strong-side defensive end hailing from Baton Rouge, LA.

Roach had offers coming from the likes of the Tennessee Volunteers, LSU Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, Mizzou Tigers, and Arkansas Razorbacks, just out of the SEC alone. He was an underrated prospect that would wind up registering 130 career total tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks, and three pass deflections during his four years with Texas.

He played under two head coaches, and would find mixed success on the field in the process. But the combination of his flashes he showed at times with the Longhorns and his outing at the NFL Combine should lead scouts to believe that he has a very high ceiling at the next level. He ran a 4.84-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine along with getting up 20 reps on the bench, a 114-inch broad jump, and a 30-inch vertical leap. A 6-foot-3 and nearly 300 pound edge rusher/defensive end shouldn’t be able to do that.