From NFL draft picks to long shots, here are players to watch from North Carolina

In his first year at the University of Montana, former Cox Mill High star Justin Ford had a historic season for the Grizzlies and scored three defensive touchdowns.

Sometime this week, months after his second season ended, Ford may become an NFL player.

“To be honest I don’t think it’s really hit me yet,” Ford told SWX Right Now, which covers sports in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. “I never told (my Mom) I wanted to be a college athlete. Even what I’ve done at this level, I knew I had to do it, a stepping stone for where I wanted to go. But this is actually my dream. I always told my mom I wanted to be an NFL player. Being to the point where I’m going through the training with NFL players, like actually seeing them on a daily basis, and comparing myself with dudes I used to look up to...and knowing I’m not too far from where I want to be is great.”

Ford is one of several local and statewide high school prospects who could get their names called when the three-day draft begins Thursday or get picked up by a team after the draft.

Ford’s journey is a little different than most.

He played the 2017 and 2018 seasons at Golden West Community College in California. As he was finishing community college, Ford had more than 20 Division I offers and committed to Kansas, of whose basketball team he had grown up a fan. He de-committed, however, and ended up at Louisville in 2019, where he missed the season due to injury.

He transferred to Montana in 2020 and played the last two seasons for the Grizzlies.

Ford, a 6-2, 190-pound cornerback, had nine interceptions in 2021, the most of any NCAA player at any level, plus 36 tackles in 13 games. In 2022, he had 24 tackles and two interceptions in 13 more games. When targeted last season, he gave up a QB rating of 57.9.

In February, the Houston Gamblers of the USFL drafted him with the 10th pick in the second round.

Ford left school in December and has spent most of his time training in Miami since then.

“It’s been great for me, performance-wise. I’ve seen so much of a chance in terms of the way I prepare myself,” he told SWX. “I feel like I’m right there with being a professional, how I carry myself and take of my business...It’s given me a great idea of what my life will be like when I go through this.”

Other N.C. prospects