2013 NFL Draft Profile: Josh Francis, Linebacker, West Virginia Mountaineers

Josh Francis: OLB, Senior

In a season filled with defensive disasters, Josh Francis helped provide more than a few bright spots for Mountaineer fans by recording 4.5 sacks on the year. He also totaled 54 tackles, 39 of which were solo. Francis originally came to WVU as an All-American junior college transfer and started both years at West Virginia. At 6'0" and 230 lbs., Francis has the size needed to play LB in the NFL. At his pro day, he impressed scouts with a 4.67 40 and put up 25 reps, which showed that he has the speed and the strength needed at the next level also. Here are some of his highlights:

While Francis has all the tools needed to play at the next level, his stats don't pop off the page and dazzle scouts. However, what he lacks in stats, he makes up for in upside. Francis might not be a player to step into a starting OLB roll immediately, but he could be a solid special teams player. With some work with NFL caliber defensive coaches, Francis could prove to be a valuable pick up for a team late in the draft.

During his time at WVU, Francis played in both the 3-3-5 stack scheme and the more traditional 3-4 defense. While he underwhelmed in the 3-3-5 setting, where he admittedly didn't deal with the change from Juco to WVU well, he rebounded nicely in the 3-4 scheme in 2012.

In addition to playing football, Josh enjoys music and has a few of his songs on YouTube. Based on the following video, I sincerely hope he sticks to football. Seriously though, this kind of thing is great to showcase his personality to potential employers.