2017 NFL Draft Prospect, WR out of the University of West Florida, Anas Hasic joined Chris Shanafelt on the NFL Draft Bible Player Spotlight Show on February 16, 2017 to discuss his unique collegiate career beginning at Scottsdale Community College (JUCO) before making a stop at North Carolina Central (FCS), and finishing in blue and green at West Florida (DII) in the universities inaugural football season. Other topics discussed include Hasic’s pro-day training, why an NFL team should give him a shot & more! Follow on Twitter @NFLDraftBible @ChrisShanafelt and visit NFLDraftBible.com
UPDATE: Anas Hasic signed with the Kansas City Chiefs following the 2017 NFL Draft as an undrafted free-agent. He is now currently in the X-League in Japan.
After a standout high school football career with the Rich Central Olympians (Olympia Fields, IL), WR Shawn Mitchell, who put up 102 receptions for over 2400 yards & 23 touchdowns throughout his 4 years as an Olympian (56rec, 1015yds, 14 TDs during senior year alone), garnered the attention of colleges all around the country. Wyoming, Air Force, Florida Tech, South Dakota State and North Dakota State were among the schools that showed interest in the three-time All-Conference wide-receiver. When it was time for him to make a decision, he took an offer from Southern Illinois.
biggest strength as a wide-receiver, he didn’t single out any physical attributes. “I feel that the mental aspect of the game is something I have an advantage over a lot of people. Many think that you just go out there, run & catch… A lot of this game is just mental.” he said. When asked about something he would like to improve on, Mitchell mentioned his blocking skills. “If Im able to hold off defenders just a little bit longer, I’d be a better receiver on the outside when the running-back is coming my way.” Mitchell then credited his high school wide receivers coach & former NFL WR, Ryan Yarborough for the improvement in his route running and ability to create separation. “With the speed that I have, the techniques that he taught me about getting that separation, it was the secret ingredient.”
You should be in it to be the best.” Last season, Eastern Illinois finished 5-7, 4th in the Ohio Valley Conference. They started off the season switching back-and-forth at QB between Andrew Manley (New Mexico State transfer) and Jalen Whitlow (Kentucky transfer) but before their 5th game of the season against Ohio, it was announced that the Panthers were going to roll with Whitlow for the remainder of the season. Once that decision was made, the Panthers split their next 8 games (4-4). While Mitchell was at Southern Illinois last year, I did ask him what his thoughts were about the team not having a regular starting quarterback for the first month of the season “I got to see things from the other sideline last year and I was watching them switch back-and-forth at QB and even I was kind of confused like, what kind of offense are they running over there? The offense is going to be more comfortable when they know who their QB is going to be. As a quarterback, you’ve got to have confidence. I don’t think you can really build any confidence if you’re being pulled out as soon as you make a mistake.”
him, Dye continued playing at Fairfield high school (Cincinnati, Ohio) and was eventually gaining interest from Division I schools. Unfortunately, 6 games into his senior season, Dye suffered a season ending knee injury in which he not only dislocated his knee but also tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus. From there, all of the interest he was getting from DI schools was lost. Only two schools stayed in contact with Dye after the injury, Marietta College and Heidelberg University. “Two schools that I’ve never heard of a day in my life. I took a visit to Heidelberg (Tiffin, Ohio) and my mind was made up about where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life.” Dye said.
ready for the season. The time he spent bettering himself that summer was the most that he’s ever put into an offseason and looking back, it certainly paid off. Opposing teams would have to game plan around Donteea Dye. And that still wasn’t enough. He was the vocal-point of the Student Princes offense and led the team with 57 receptions, 1,022 yards, and 14 touchdowns. “I knew that my senior year was going to be something special because I believe that hard work pays and I had been working months
225lbs. If he wasn’t on any NFL teams radars before the regional combines/pro-day, I’m almost certain that he is now. I asked Dye when it was when he realized that playing in the NFL may not only be a dream but it could become a reality and he said “It hit me after my pro day in March. After speaking to a handful of scouts after I finished performing that day, it opened my eyes and I finally realized that this thing could actually happen for me.”
special phone call, he says that “I am still going to continue to work hard, train, and have the same mindset I had coming into this situation. Nothing is going to change my work ethic. I just have to continue to pray and have patience thru this whole process.” When I asked Dye what it would mean to just be given the opportunity to play in the National Football League, he said “It would mean the absolute world to me. Not a lot of people can say that they have the opportunity to play in the NFL and I know people that would kill for this position that I am in. I’m just trying to make my family proud of me and give my nephew someone to look up to.”
playing football at the age of 8 and while he was a standout on the Centennial High School football team, he was also a member of the schools basketball team where he averaged 35 points per game and once dropped 64pts in a single game. By the time his senior year was up, Durant, who was named Centennial’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year, was being looked at by both Division I football and basketball teams. He ultimately decided to accept an offer to attend the University of Nevada and play for the Wolf Pack football team. “Nevada’s offense appealed to me, at the time. When I went and met the coaching staff and players, it cinched the deal.” Durant said.
After that eye-opening freshman campaign, the next two seasons didn’t quite go as Durant expected. As a redshirt-sophomore, a foot injury forced him to miss a handful of games in the beginning of the year. Also as a redshirt-junior, an illness (mono) kept him out of 4 games early on in the season as well. If there was a silver-lining to any of that, it would be that Durant was able to come back for each of those two seasons to finish out the year. Although at times he wasn’t 100% healthy, the #1 priority for opposing teams was to stop Durant. Throughout his final 2 seasons at Simon Fraser University, Durant reeled in 84 catches, for 1,074 yards, and 11 touchdowns in the 2013-’14 seasons.
impress scouts by running the fastest 40-yard dash out of all WRs with a 4.55. He also ran a 4.60 in the shuttle, 7.35 in the 3-cone drill, leaped 36 inches in the vertical, 9’11” in the broad jump, & benched 26 reps of 225lbs (most by a WR in the history of the CFL Combine, 2nd out of all WRs entering NFL Draft). Durant says that he “feels pretty good” about his performance at the combine. He also took part in the Denver NFL Regional Combine where he posted better numbers in the shuttle (4.41) and the broad jump (10’1″).
happen. I want to be an impact player, so depending on the situation, it could go either way.” There’s a possibility that Durant may hear his name called at some point in the later rounds of the NFL Draft. Personally, I believe he does indeed have the skill set to play at the highest level of football there is. With that said, there’s a chance that he may be the #1 overall pick in the CFL Draft. “I want to play at the highest level possible, so if it’s the NFL for me, then that’s what it will be. It’s great that there is the NFL and the CFL because I’m a huge fan of both. I’m also a dual citizen USA/CAN – with family in both places, so I’d be happy either way.” 
up suffering a micro fracture in his right femur and had to redshirt. From there he decided to transfer to one of the nations top junior colleges, El Camino in Southern California and played on the offensive side of the ball as a tight-end. After 2 years at El Camino, Duncan had a handful of offers from D1 schools but took a visit to Division II Dixie State University where his brother, Jake Duncan, was playing linebacker at and on the visit, head coach Scott Brumfield offered Joe Don a full-ride scholarship in which he accepted.
the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. It was looking like there was a solid chance that the D2 prospect would hear his name called in the 2014 NFL Draft but 1 week before the Senior Bowl, Duncan broke his foot while working out. This forced him to miss the all-star game and limited him to only taking part in the bench-press workouts at the combine. While he wasn’t at full-strength, he was still able to grab the attention of scouts as he bench pressed 225lbs. 35 times, which is tied for most reps by a tight-end.
back at Dixie State and was apart of the football teams coaching staff. “Coaching has helped me not only as a person but as a player. It’s different when you’re playing the game for 6 years like I did. Once you go into coaching, you have a different view of how the game is played, how plays work, what to look for, offensive schemes, defenses, stuff like that so me being a coach this past year not only showed me a different view from a coaches perspective but just a watching perspective as well where I’m watching from the sideline, up top, watching film everyday.”
understood the schemes and what they were asking of me. From a personality standpoint, I felt that we meshed well. They were in contact with my agent & my coach throughout the draft process and then when the draft came, I don’t know if some guy was better than me or if I was a medical liability but either way, it didn’t workout but when the opportunity came to workout for those guys (Kubiak/Pariani) again, it was an easy mesh. No problems at all.”
ChristianShanafelt.com 