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While not nearly as well known as his inside linebacker teammate A.J. Klein at Iowa State, Jake Knott has football talent that should have seen him compete for a mid-round draft spot. Unfortunately, a strong outside linebacker class and an injury midway through his season dropped his draft stock.

The surgery to repair his shoulder unfortunately didn't heal in time for him to fully participate in the NFL combine, but he did put on extra weight to fill out his frame and resolve some concerns some teams may have had about him being undersized.

The shoulder concern has been a lingering problem with Knott, who suffered an injury to the same shoulder the previous year. Still, Knott played through the pain of the injury against Baylor, finishing with 11 tackles and as Big 12 player of the week. The injury wasn't such that additional play would aggravate it, but he instead underwent surgery to preserve his overall career.

Despite missing five games, he leaves Iowa State as the career record holder in tackles, with 347 (fifth most in Big 12 history). In addition, he has eight interceptions and 10 forced fumbles.

Knott is the perfect fit at weak-side linebacker and can navigate through traffic to get to the ball-carrier. He doesn't have explosive burst, but he makes up for it with awareness and excellent placement, including taking proper angles and playing within his assignments well.

With good read-react skills, Knott flashes the ability to make plays both in the run game and in the passing game—his five pass deflections and two interceptions over eight games is impressive, and it speaks to his range.

Even though he doesn't fly from sideline to sideline, it's easy to see him constantly around the ball and in the right place at the right time.

The Vikings could use him to back up Erin Henderson, and he may even have the ability to start in several years. Knott is often overlooked and could end up as one of the better late-round picks in this year's draft.