Devin Fuller

Devin Fuller

refer to caption

Fuller in 2016
No. 87 Atlanta Falcons
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: (1994-01-24) January 24, 1994
Place of birth: Englewood, New Jersey
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school: Old Tappan (NJ) Northern Valley Regional
College: UCLA
NFL Draft: 2016 / Round: 7 / Pick: 238
Career history
Roster status: Injured reserve
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Devin Lewis Fuller (born January 24, 1994) is an American football wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins. Fuller was converted from quarterback to receiver as a freshman, and was the Bruins' second-leading receiver in 2013 and 2014. He was also a kick returner with UCLA.

Early life

Fuller was born in Englewood, New Jersey, to Bart Fuller and Cindy Mizelle.[1][2] His mother became a touring singer when she was 17.[2] She was on tour with Luther Vandross when she found out she was pregnant with Fuller. After he was born, Fuller accompanied his mom when she would perform with Vandross, who encouraged his tour members to also bring their children along on his tour bus.[2][3]

Fuller grew up in Norwood, New Jersey[4] and attended Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, New Jersey,[5] where he became the team's No. 1 quarterback as a freshman.[6] He led Northern Valley to back to back state championship appearances as a junior and senior. As a senior, he passed for 2,247 yards and 20 touchdowns, and also ran for 1,326 yards and 17 touchdowns.[7] For his career, he compiled over 10,000 yards of total offense (6,148 passing, 4,589 rushing) and scored 118 touchdowns (58 passing, 60 rushing).[1]

College career

Fuller with UCLA in 2012

Fuller was recruited to UCLA as a quarterback. However, he was behind several players including Brett Hundley on the Bruins' depth chart.[2] Wanting to get Fuller's skills on the field, they moved him to wide receiver five games into his freshman year in 2012.[2] Playing at the slot position, Fuller had 20 receptions for 145 yards in eight games. He continued to improve, finishing with 43 catches—which ranked second on the team—for 471 yards in 2013.[1][7] He also threw a touchdown pass to Hundley against Utah.[1] As a junior in 2014, Fuller was again second in receptions, catching 59 passes for 447 yards and a touchdown.[8] He had at least four receptions in nine games, and his 93-yard touchdown against Utah was the second-longest in UCLA history.[1]

In his senior year in 2015, Fuller was moved from the slot to the outside to give him more matchups against man-to-man coverage. The Bruins also lost Hundley, who had left for the NFL, and repaced him with freshman Josh Rosen.[7] Fuller had his best game of the season against California, when he caught seven passes for a career-high 100 yards and two touchdowns.[1][2] However he was hampered by injuries to his head and ankles that year, and his production fell to just 24 catches for 259 yards and three touchdowns.[2] He still excelled as a kick returner, ranking sixth in the Pac-12 Conference with a 24.2 yard average.[8] He finished his college career with 146 receptions for 1,322 yards and 10 touchdowns.[2]

Professional career

Fuller was disappointed that he was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.[8] However, he drew attention at the Bruins pro day, where he impressed NFL scouts with his 40-yard dash time of 4.37 seconds and 36-inch (91 cm) vertical jump.[2] On April 30, 2016, Fuller was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the 17th pick in the 7th round (238th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft.[9][10] He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2016 after injuring his shoulder during the preseason.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Devin Fuller Biography". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Demovsky, Rob (April 4, 2016). "Draft hopeful Devin Fuller hopes to make his game sing in NFL". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Torres, Aaron (September 12, 2014). "UCLA's Devin Fuller and mom Cindy Mizelle keep everything in tune". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ledbetter, D. Orlando. "Falcons select Devin Fuller in the seventh round of the NFL draft", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 30, 2016. Accessed May 1, 2016. "Fuller, of Norwood, N.J. played in 11 games and made seven starts. He was also one of the top returners."
  5. ↑ "Devin Fuller of Old Tappan picks UCLA over Rutgers, Nebraska". NJ.com. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  6. ↑ msgvarsity.com/new-jersey/all-metro-profile-qb-devin-fuller-old-tappan-1.862171
  7. 1 2 3 Foster, Chris (August 17, 2015). "Wide receiver Devin Fuller is always in the right position for UCLA". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 DaSilva, Cameron (February 29, 2016). "UCLA's Devin Fuller is taking a different route to the NFL". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Los Angeles Times (April 30, 2016). "Falcons select UCLA's Devin Fuller with 238th pick in NFL draft". latimes.com. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  10. ↑ http://www.atlantafalcons.com/news/blog/article-1/Falcons-First-Team-to-Sign-Entire-Draft-Class/375e8756-cf30-41b5-b6fe-f95ea1c8170f
  11. ↑ Alper, Josh (August 31, 2016). "Falcons put rookie WR Devin Fuller on injured reserve". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
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