Yetur Gross-Matos declares and stakes claim as first rounder in 2020 NFL Draft

Yetur Gross-Matos has officially declared for the 2020 NFL Draft and possesses substantial upside as both a pass-rusher and run defender.

With the conference championship games right around the corner, more and more underclassmen are announcing their decisions to enter the NFL Draft and Yetur Gross-Matos is one of them. Gross-Matos hasn’t had quite the year he had last year, matching his sack total (8), but coming short of his tackle-for-loss total — 20 last season and 13.5 this year. Despite the stats not living up to what some had hoped for, he is still a likely candidate to be selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Growing up Gross-Matos things weren’t as easy for him as they are on the football field. In an article written by Matt Hayes, of Bleacher Report, he touched on the losses of both his father and his older brother. Yetur lost his father when he was 2 years-old to a boating accident and his brother was struck by lightning when he was only 11. Nothing in life will prepare for losing multiple family members, but luckily for Gross-Matos his step-dad, Robert Matos — who later would adopt Yetur — helped get him through those hard times.

In spite of all the tragedy in his life at a young age, he never let stop him, a true testament to who he is as a person. Yetur went on to be named a second-team All-American by USA Today and would be rated a 4-star prospect by 247sports. He finished his senior season 130 tackles, 21 for a loss and 18.5 sacks. After his dominant performance as a senior, he decided to take his talent to Penn State where he would become one of the better edge prospects in his class.