15-04-2025
Tyler Elsbury could be the next former Byron Tiger and former Iowa Hawkeye to get a shot at the NFL
BYRON, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — Byron High School has had a pair of football players make it to the NFL over the years, Troy Drake and Sean Considine. Is another one, Tyler Elsbury, only weeks away from becoming a third one to get an NFL shot?The NFL Draft is next week. Elsbury, a former Byron Tiger and Iowa Hawkeye could be selected on the third day. Elsbury isn't drafted, he's likely to get a phone call from a team that will want to sign him as an undrafted free agent.'Talking with teams and my agent, if I do get drafted, it'll probably be sixth or seventh round. I'll be a late-round draft pick, and then if not, they said I'm pretty much guaranteed to be an undrafted free agent or at least a minicamp invite, so I'll at least have the opportunity to go and perform and see if I can stick it out on a 90-man roster and hopefully make the 53-man Byron playing on both lines, Elsbury was first team All-State and a Max Preps small school All-American. He spent the past five seasons with the Hawkeyes playing every position on the offense line primarily as a backup with a few starts sprinkled in. He would have preferred to have locked-in a full-time starting spot on the line, but now his versatility might be his ticket to the NFL.'Looking back at it, it was definitely frustrating a little bit. Obviously, I want to play every game, start every game and be that guy in the line. That's just not how my career kind of panned out. We had a really good line. I played everywhere and now going into the next level, you look at teams and they really, especially on the offensive line they rely heavily on versatility, so being able to play all three and have that versatility boosts my stock and my value there for sure.'Elsbury didn't get invited to the NFL Combine, but he did go to the College Gridiron Showcase in Fort Worth, Texas in January. He caught everyone's eye there.'It went really well. I was told by a lot of people I was probably the top performer there on the line.' It makes you think like, wow, I can do this and that my goals are very much in reach.'At Iowa's Pro Day last month Elsbury again performed extremely well in front of NFL that two other small town Byron guys, Troy Drake and Sean Considine made it to the NFL also gives Elsbury a belief that he also can make it.'Exactly, I mean, two great stories to come out of Byron. Both guys didn't dome from big schools, big city areas that weren't necessarily the most talented people in the world and still paved their way, their path. To be able to look at them and see their stories, just all of those things instills a lot of confidence in me.'NOTE: The NFL Draft next week can be seen on WTVO in Rockford at the following times:Thursday, April: 24 7 p.m. (Round 1)Friday, April 25: 6 p.m. (Rounds 2, 3)Saturday, April 26: 11 a.m. (Rounds 4-7)
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