Top Draft Prospect Suffers Brutal Injury Blow

The college football season enters Week 4.

East Carolina, coming off a horrendous season with a 2-10 record, started into the 2024 campaign with the clear goal to be better than last season. A big reason for the downfall from the solid 8-5 record in 2022 was the inefficient offense. The defensive unit, meanwhile, performed quite well.

Top Draft Prospect Suffers Brutal Injury Blow

While the team surely lacked production upfront, the defensive backs did their jobs, especially cornerback Shavon Revel Jr., who has been a bright spot in the American Athletic Conference.

His 2024 campaign, however, was cut short. The defender suffered a hellish season-ending torn ACL in practice earlier this week.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported the sad news on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Sources: East Carolina senior corner Shavon Revel Jr., one of the top corner prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft, tore his ACL in practice this week and will miss the remainder of the season. Revel projected as a first-round pick, as he’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 2 corner prospect.”

Revel has played in 24 career games, including the first three of 2024, helping ECU secure a pair of victories to open the season before falling short to Appalachian State. In those 24 games, Revel registered 70 tackles, five TFLs, a sack, and three interceptions. Most notable, surely, are his two interceptions in his short 2024 campaign.

How good of a prospect he is became obvious when his injury news broke. As Thamel noted, draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. ranked him as his second-best cornerback.

Other pundits followed, revealing their current rankings. Dane Brugler (The Athletic) tweeted: “This is such a bummer. Shavon Revel was my CB3 for the 2025 NFL Draft and one of the top-12 overall prospects in the class. A setback, but he still has a bright NFL future ahead of him.”

But what makes Revel such a sweet prospect? Well, for one, he is listed at 6-3 and 193 lbs. Tall cornerbacks with the requisite arm length to cover even big receivers are favorites of NFL coaches, especially if they come with valuable moving skills.

Listed at spot 35 in Bruce Feldman’s annual list of college football freaks, the writer mentioned his speed: “A former high school track standout, Revel ran a 6.90 55-meter dash time, but really got on the Pirates’ wish list after he ran a 4.40 40 and broad-jumped 11 feet during a summer camp. At 6-3, 190 pounds, Revel has ideal size for an NFL corner.Pirates CB coach Jules Montinar, who has worked at Alabama, Georgia and Florida, said Revel can run a 4.4/4.3 40 and “has great change of direction. He’s a tough, physical tackler and loves football and has great character.”

According to PFF, Revel was targeted 21 times in the three games, allowing eight catches for 195 yards. He caught two passes, and his matchups caught one touchdown, resulting in an NFL passer rating of only 48.8 and an elite coverage grade of 87.0.

A player with his physical tools surely remains on anyone’s draft boards, but missing the majority of the season will sink his draft status regardless. It remains to be seen whether the defensive back enters the draft and perhaps has to wait for day two or three to get a call or if he wants to return to ECU (or another school) for a fourth season.

---

Janik Eckardt is a football fan who was drawn to the sport by Adrian Peterson’s excellence. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and has an affinity for Classic rock. His active Twitter page can be found here. His work can be found on PurplePTSD, VikingsTerritory, and DraftHuddle.