While lower expectations are placed on rookies that were drafted in the late rounds or that are undrafted free agents, there are often players that end up exceeding those expectations and end up leaving everyone wondering how in the world somebody went undrafted or slipped to the seventh round. Trying to guess who that is going to be on a year-to-year basis is a bit of a crapshoot, but there are indicators we can use to make an educated prediction. For the Los Angeles Chargers, out of their 2023 class of undrafted free agents, the hidden gem among the bunch looks to be cornerback Tiawan Mullen.<\/p>\n
Of course, the first question is why him in particular. Mullen had an interesting run with the Indiana Hoosiers, where some of his best stats<\/a> came early in his college run instead of late. In his sophomore year in 2020, after having a season with 3.5 sacks, and three interceptions, he landed All-American honors and First-Team All-Big Ten honor \u2013 while only playing eight games.<\/p>\n With a season like that and honors like those under his belt, one might be wondering how Mullen ever went undrafted. The answer is due in part to what came next \u2013 he ended up missing much of the 2021 season due to injury. And while he played all 12 games in 2022, he didn\u2019t quite get back to his 2020 level. On the plus side, he had two interceptions and eight passes defended, but only got All-Big Ten Honorable Mention honors.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, he still showed obvious flashes of talent while playing in a power conference. But the injuries and a somewhat underwhelming senior year may have hurt his stock a little. His being a little undersized may not have helped matters either at 5\u201910 \u2013 in the NFL, he\u2019d definitely be at a physical disadvantage at times \u2013 particularly on the outside. And while that doesn\u2019t break his chances by any means, that sort of thing can make teams wary.<\/p>\nWhere He Fits In<\/h3>\n