Nine Wake Forest Demon Deacons headed to the NFL

Nine Deacons headed to the NFL
Courtesy of Jordan Stowe, Wake Forest University Athletics researcher and reporter for GreensboroSports.com…

Coming off an incredible season for the Deacs, nine football players are heading to the National Football League.

Justin Strnad will be headed to Denver. Justin Herron will be heading to the Brady-less Patriots. John Benzinger will be beating it up in Arizona for the Cardinals. Kendall Hinton, which I’ll talk about further down, will also be going to the Broncos. Amari Henderson will be soaking up the sun in Jacksonville with the Jaguars. Scotty Washington will be catching darts from Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. Dom Maggio will be kicking things off for the Ravens in Baltimore. Nate Gilliam will be heading to the Chargers. Essang Bassey will be the third Deacon heading to the Broncos.

Kendall Hinton was a great back up quarterback for the Deacons for four years, to John Wolford of the Rams. He became the first Deacon in school history to score in five different seasons … Third team All-ACC at wide receiver … One of only four players in school history to have a 100-yard rushing and a 100-yard receiving game in a career … Became just the sixth all-time Deacon with a score by rushing, passing and receiving in a career … Started 11 games, missing two contests due to an injury … On the field for 814 snaps … Season-high 106 plays vs. Louisville (10/9) while logging 105 snaps vs. Utah State (8/30) and Syracuse (11/30) … 73 receptions were the sixth-most in a season by a Deacon … 1,001 receiving yards tied for fifth-most in a season … Led the team in receptions and tied for the team lead in receiving yards … Finished second in the ACC in receptions per game with 6.6 … Was third in the ACC in receiving yards per game at 91.0 … Seventh in the ACC in all-purpose yards at 113.0 per game … His 13 receptions vs. Louisville tied for the ACC-high in 2019 … 252 all-purpose yards vs. Duke (11/23) were the most by an ACC player in 2019 … His 189 receiving yards vs. Duke (11/23) were the third-most by an ACC receiver in 2019 … Led the ACC in receiving yards per game in ACC games with 105.4 … Fourth in the ACC in all-purpose yards in ACC games with 126.2 YPG … Finished 15th in the nation in receptions per game and 22nd in receiving yards per game … Led the team with 12 punt returns and tied for the team lead with 91 PR yards … Led the team with a 20.3 kickoff return average … Had the team’s longest KOR of the season at 39 yards vs. Louisville … Led the team with 19 plays of 20 or more yards … NFLPA Bowl invitee … Career-best 13 catches for 134 yards vs. Louisville … Had six receptions for 67 yards at Boston College … Had two receptions for 44 yards at Rice including a career-long 27-yard catch … Caught the game-winning 2-yard touchdown pass vs. Utah State … Career-high and team-high nine receptions vs. USU (66 yards) … Became the first Wake Forest player with a touchdown in five different seasons … Named to the Pro Football Focus ACC Team of the Week following the Utah State game … Joined an elite group of Deacons with a career rushing TD, passing TD and receiving TD. (Stats from http://www.wakeforestsports.com ) So glad this five year player returned to be a deacon his final year of eligibility!

Next year hopefully we’ll see Wake Forest graduate and current University of Georgia quarterback, Jamie Newman sling his way to the Heisman and top ten draft pick to the NFL. That is Jordan Stowe’s bold prediction of the day.

After seeing nine Deacons heading to the league I am fanatical about, I’m hyped up and ready to see some games on Saturday and Sunday again! To all of you out there reading this, be safe, be blessed, and IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A DEACON!

This article was researched and written by Jordan Stowe with the assistance of wakeforestsports.com . Jordan Stowe is a resident of North Carolina and can be reached at jordan.stowe@hotmail.com or 336-500-5638.