With summer camp set to kickoff in less than two months, Western Michigan’s defensive secondary has suffered a significant blow.
According to ESPN.com‘s Adam Schefter, WMU cornerback Sam Beal has petitioned the NFL for entry into its July supplemental draft. The Broncos’ head coach, Tim Lester, also confirmed to Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports that Beal wouldn’t be eligible to play for the school this season because of what were described as “academic credit shortcomings.”
“The bottom line is he was forced to make this decision,” Lester said. “His GPA isn’t bad. We did everything we could to try [to help him]. We made sure we did everything in his best interest.”
Per Thamel, Beal will continue to workout at the school prior to the draft.
This past season, Beal led the Broncos with a team-high 10 pass breakups while also intercepting a pair of passes. The 6-1, 177-pound defensive back was named second-team All-MAC following the 2017 season. All told, he started 23 of 25 games the past two seasons.
Beal is actually the second Power Five defensive back to enter the supplemental fray this month. Late last week, Virginia Tech confirmed that cornerback Adonis Alexander was no longer a part of the football program; it was subsequently reported that Alexander had hired an agent and would drop his name into the NFL’ secondary draft.