Derwin James
Safety| Florida State| Junior
Height:6-foot-3 | Weight: 215 pounds
College Stats
2017: started all 12 games at safety in the regular season and chose to sit out Florida State's bowl game; recorded 84 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, 11 pass breakups, a blocked kick and a sack; was a First-Team All-ACC selection by conference coaches and the media; was a First-Team All-American selection by the Football Writers Association of America and a Second-Team All-American by four different media outlets, including the Associated Press and Sporting News
Career: played and started in 27 games in his college career; injured in second game of sophomore season and missed remainder of 2016; recorded 186 tackles with 15 tackles for loss, three interceptions, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, a blocked kick and 3.0 sacks; was a First-Team All-ACC selection by conference coaches and the media; was a First-Team All-American selection by the Football Writers Association of America and a Second-Team All-American by four different media outlets, including the Associated Press and Sporting News; was a Third-Team All-ACC selection by the media and was an All-American Honorable Mention by CBSSports.com as a freshman; Freshman All-American by three different outlets
Combine Results
40-yard dash: 4.47 seconds
Bench press: 21 reps of 225 pounds (tied for third among safeties)
Broad jump: 11 feet (third among safeties)
Vertical jump: 40 inches (fifth-best among safeties)
3-cone drill: did not participate
20-yard shuttle: did not participate
Profile
Summary:James was a playmaker all over the field when healthy. He made an impact as a freshman and was dominant as a junior this past season, but he missed nearly all of his sophomore season with a knee injury. James is known for his strong leadership skills and mental makeup and is projected as a first-round pick. James played in all 12 regular season games but chose to skip Florida State's bowl game to start preparing for the 2018 NFL Draft.
**Lance Zierlein of NFL.com** wrote about James' leadership skills and said the safety is an "absolute alpha in the locker room" who "comes up to handle film sessions on weekends." Zierlein also pointed out James' versatility in the secondary and said he "can be deployed anywhere on the field on any given snap."
Stacking up: James was listed as the second-best safety in this draft class by NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock and ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper, Jr., in pre-combine rankings.
What's in a name?: James' mother nicknamed him 'Pooh Bear' when he was born because he was hairy and plump as an infant.
