Gibson bet on himself when it comes to NFL dreams

Shelton Gibson did something that doesn’t happen as much as it should. He bet on himself.

So without submitting for a grade to the NFL Draft Advisory Board, Gibson elected to forego his final season of eligibility to make an attempt at his ultimate goal.

“I went flying blind because I know I can compete,” Gibson said. “That’s the biggest thing these coaches want to see whether it’s stretching or warmups.”

Gibson spent four season with the West Virginia program, three on the field, as he sat out during his freshman campaign as a partial qualifier. On the field he made significant leaps every year after.

During his redshirt freshman year, Gibson only saw limited action but made the jump to a full-time starter the following season. However, while showing the ability to stretch the field with his speed, he struggled to haul in passes at times at different levels on the field.

Gibson sat career highs in catches with 43, yards with 951 and missed tying his total touchdown mark by one this past fall as he averaged over 22-yards per catch. The drops weren’t a factor either.

“I had a lot of drops with the deep balls but I dropped two balls last year,” he said.

Shortly after the Russell Athletic Bowl, Gibson sat down with the West Virginia coaches and realized that even without the safety net of a draft grade he was ready to make the jump. So he did.

All of that built on his confidence level in himself as well as a love for the game of football. Since he first started playing during his ninth grade year, he’s known this is what he wanted to do. So where he gets picked isn’t as big of a factor for him as it would be for many of his contemporaries.

“I don’t care about projections or what round I go in because it doesn’t matter once you get up there. That’s what you’re going to be when you show in practice,” he said.

But even with that said, Gibson undoubtedly helped ease the minds of many NFL scouts after following up a surprising 4.50 40-yard dash that didn’t match up with his expected speed with what he did at the West Virginia Pro Day. That time was 4.39.

While a concern to some, Gibson never wavered as the feedback he received was that coaches already had an idea of his speed by watching him.

“A lot of coaches knew I was fast. The tape was the biggest thing,” he said.

All he needs is one team to believe in him and Gibson spent much of his time preparing for the NFL Draft in Anaheim, California working not on his speed but his route running.

“I want to become a complete wide receiver,” he said.

Now up to 190-pounds, Gibson is receiving interest at both outside and inside wide receiver at the next level as he has focused on learning intermediate routes to go with his skills at corralling the deep ball. The challenge is to now take those skills and apply them to the next level.