The loss for Boise State of Ezra Cleveland will result in a gain for an NFL team. At least, said team hopes it will.
Speaking to the Idaho Statesman‘s Ron Counts, Cleveland confirmed Tuesday that he will be entering the 2020 NFL Draft. The redshirt junior left tackle had one season of eligibility he could have used.
The official decision came a couple of days after Boise’s loss to Washington and former head coach Chris Petersen in the Las Vegas Bowl.
“I felt like throughout the season, we were getting progressively better as an offense,” the lineman told the Statesman. “I was having a good season and this was the right thing to do.”
Cleveland started 40 of the Broncos’ 41 games the past three seasons. He was named honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference as a redshirt freshman in 2017. The past two seasons, the 6-6, 310-pound lineman earned first-team All-MWC honors.
The early loss of Cleveland might not, though, be the only one felt by the Broncos. Curtis Weaver, a first-team Walter Camp All-American, has yet to announce his decision. It’s widely expected the defensive lineman will leave early, although nothing is official on that front.
This season, Weaver has totaled 18½ tackles for loss and 13½ sacks.