Dynasty 2009 NFL Prospect: Kevin Grant

Kevin Grant #30 Akron University

Dynasty Football 2009 NFL Draft Prospect

Kevin Grant is a 6’2 250-pound senior inside linebacker for the Akron Zips.  He led the Zips’ in tackles this past season and possesses an uncanny ability to find the football.  Kevin’s extreme dedication and leadership allowed him to play and start in ALL forty-nine Akron football games over the past four years. Kevin truly is half man, half machine.

Growing up in Herndon, Virginia, Kevin attended Herndon High School, where he was a two-sport athlete playing football and basketball.  As a senior, Grant Earned first-team all-district, all-region and All-State.  He was also named to the 2003 George Michael “Golden 11” and honored as the Defensive Player of the Year for his district and region.  Upon leaving high school, Grant broke the Herndon single-season tackle record with 139 stops in 2003.

He decided to take his studies and athletics to the University of Akron Zips.  While Virginia Tech and many other great institutions were looking at Kevin’s talents, he ultimately chose Akron.

He took a redshirt the 2004 season, until his redshirt freshman season in 2005, when he started in all 13 games at the bandit position in the Zips tough defense.  By the end of the season Kevin was fourth on the team in tackles with 73 and ranked third in sacks with 4.5. He recorded a season-high seven solo tackles at Middle Tennessee State, and finished with eight total stops on the night.   He was honored as a third team CollegeFootballNews.com Freshman All-American and The Sporting News Honorable Mention Freshman All-American team and ended the season earning the Harry “Doc” Smith Award as the top freshman on the Zips squad.

After an impressive redshirt freshman season, Kevin The Machine Grant did only better in his 2006 sophomore campaign.   He started all 12 games at middle linebacker and ranked second on the team with 87 tackles overall, one shy of team leader John Mackey’s 88. He was tied for second on the team with eight tackles for losses. The Machine continued his consistency in tackling and ranked 22nd in the MAC with an average of 7.2 tackles per game.  He had an impressive day at Kent State, earning a career high 15 tackles, including career-high eight solo stops.  KG ended the season as the defense’s Most Valuable Back (Linebackers and Secondary) by the Akron coaching staff for the 2006 season.

The following season Kevin showed his toughness and dedication all year long, leading the team on defense starting and playing in all 12 games.   He ranked third on the team with 74 stops. The machine recorded 11 tackles at Indiana, and had double digit stops with 10 at Bowling Green, leading all Zips.  Kevin anchored the defense and had at least six tackles in a game eight times and at least one tackle for loss in four of Akron’s last ?six games, including two each at Buffalo, at Bowling Green and at Miami.  After the end of the 2007 season he was rewarded for his hard work and leadership by earning third team All-MAC from the league’s coaches.

Prior to the Zips 2008 season Kevin was tabbed preseason second team All-Mid-American Conference by Athlon and was nominated as a captain on defense. When the season got underway the true terminator came out in Kevin as he continued to lead the team playing and starting in every game and recorded a team leading 85 tackles including 50 solo stops. Kevin additionally led the squad with 8.5 tackles for loss and with 4.0 sacks.  Grant amassed 319 tackles in his career, making him 18th-best among active NCAA players.  He earned 36.0 career tackles for losses putting him 21st among active NCAA players.  The machine ranks in the Top 25 in tackles and tackles for loss in the NCAA.

The Machine amazingly started and played in ALL 49 games during his collegiate career and was donned captain during his senior season.  This shows that he has a lot of leadership abilities and is mentally tough to play throughout the entire year.   At the NFL level, the seasons are longer and the games are much tougher.  Kevin’s stats show that he has what it takes to stay healthy for an entire season, physically and mentally; something that many amazing college players cannot claim (Knowshon Moreno, Chris Wells, Percy Harvin). With the assets he already has along with his continued drive to improve his speed and overall abilities, Grant has tremendous upside. Kevin’s consistency and determination on and off the field will make him an asset to any NFL team.

We are extremely excited about the addition of Kevin to the Dynasty family.  Go ahead and check out his new website: http://dynastyreps.com/grant/

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