Love his potential.......hope we sign him
College career[edit]
Melifonwu redshirted his first year at Connecticut in 2012. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he started all 12 games and had 70 tackles and two
interceptions.
[3] As a redshirt sophomore in 2014, he started 11 games, recording 75 tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2015, he started 12 of 13 games and had 88 tackles and two interceptions.
[4][5] As a senior in 2016, he started all 13 games and recorded 118 tackles and four interceptions.
[6][7]
Professional career[edit]
Melifonwu received an invitation to the
Senior Bowl and made three combined tackles as a part of the North who lost 16-15 to the South.
[8] He was able to raise his draft stock after performing well during the Senior Bowl practices.
[9] Melifonwu attended the NFL Combine and completed the majority of combine and positional drills, but decided to skip the three-cone drill and short shuttle. He had impressive performances in the vertical jump, broad jump, and 40-yard dash that further raised his draft stock. He also participated at Connecticut's Pro Day and completed the short shuttle, three-cone drill, and positional drills in front of 25 NFL scouts from 20 NFL teams. His numbers in the short shuttle and three-cone drill would've ranked second among all positions if he would've posted those times at the NFL Combine.
[10] He had private workouts and visits with 11 NFL teams, including the
San Francisco 49ers,
Cleveland Browns,
Dallas Cowboys,
Miami Dolphins,
Philadelphia Eagles,
Detroit Lions,
Carolina Panthers,
Washington Commanders,
New Orleans Saints,
Seattle Seahawks, and
Pittsburgh Steelers.
[11] NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be a second round pick. He was ranked the fourth best strong safety in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, the fourth best safety by NFL analysts
Mike Mayock and
Bucky Brooks, was ranked the fifth best safety by
ESPN, and was ranked the sixth best safety by
Sports Illustrated.
[12][13][14][15]
Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad BP
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m) 224 lb
(102 kg) 32 1⁄2 in
(0.83 m) 9 1⁄8 in
(0.23 m) 4.40 s 1.51 s 2.55 s 4.30 s 7.07 s 44 in
(1.12 m) 11 ft 8 in
(3.56 m) 17 reps
All value from
NFL Combine/
UConn's Pro Day[16][17]
The
Oakland Raiders selected Melifonwu in the second round (56th overall) of the
2017 NFL Draft.
[18] He was placed on injured reserve on September 5, 2017, with eligibility to return in 2017.
[19] He was activated from injured reserve to the active roster on November 4, 2017.
[20] He was placed back on injured reserve on December 15, 2017 after having hip surgery.
[21]
On August 23, 2018, Melifonwu was waived/injured by the Raiders.
[22] He was placed on injured reserve the next day after clearing waivers.
[23] He was released on October 23, 2018.