Brandon Easterling, Dayton Football News: Draft Scout Player News

10/01/20 - SS Brandon Easterling, rSr/2022, Dayton

With the NFL and the FBS keeping their regular schedules as of now, playing in a spring season would make it virtually impossible for Easterling to prepare for, much less be selected in, the 2021 NFL Draft. Because of this, holding off and waiting for the 2021 fall season could be the better option for the Fairborn, Ohio, native. As a non-athletic scholarship program, seniors (Easterling included) have to face the difficult decision of whether to come back and pay for a more regular season in their fifth year, or miss out of a final fall football season altogether. "I want to (come back for a fifth year), I know for a fact I'm going to play college football again," Easterling said. "I have to find a way...I've expressed to you how much I love the game of football. It's just, I've got to really sit down and try and figure out, financially, if I can do it."

Easterling said he is still weighing his decision, and he still doesn't know for sure which way he will go. However, through this difficult off-season and decision-making process, a major motivation for Easterling was when teammate Adam Trautman was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. With Trautman at tight end and Easterling at safety, Easterling was able to get plenty of tough work in at practice and benefited from scouts coming in to see Trautman, allowing Easterling to show off his skills and develop his draft stock. "(Adam getting drafted) did wonders for me," Easterling said. "If you play college football, you should look at it as, "Why not me?" No matter what level..."why not me' because you get one shot at football, and when you walk away from it, you're done." - Flyer News

rSr/2022