Did Vic Hampton put in for feedback from the NFL Draft Advisory Board, or not?
The South Carolina junior cornerback, who played his last game for the Gamecocks Wednesday and will enter the NFL draft, has offered conflicting statements on the matter in the last couple of weeks. About a week before Christmas, as South Carolina was beginning on-campus preparations for the Capital One Bowl, Hampton indicated his decision to turn pro or not would rest on whether he received a first- or second-round grade from the NFLDAB. That comes at the 0:55 mark of this interview:
Wednesday after the Gamecocks' win over Wisconsin, however, Hampton said otherwise. At the 1:04 mark of his postgame interview below, Hampton said never even applied for feedback, and that he had made up his mind to turn pro on his own, with indications apart from the board that he would be a second- or third-round pick.
It could be that Hampton was just toying with reporters a couple of weeks ago, or that he simply hadn't dropped his application in the mail yet, and never got around to it. Regardless, Hampton clearly underwent a significant shift in his mindset since the first interview. Something swayed him that entering the NFL is the right call no matter what the NFLDAB thinks.
He made six tackles with a tackle for loss in his last college game, and is arguably the second- or third-best cornerback prospect coming out of the SEC this season, behind Florida's Loucheiz Purifoy and perhaps Missouri's E.J. Gaines, as well. UF cornerback Marcus Roberson may turn pro early also, which could alter that pecking order.
Hampton is the strongest and most physical of all of them, with a skill set that will appeal to an NFL defensive coordinator who likes to play bump coverage and values run support.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
