Devin Lewis Fuller (born January 24, 1994) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver with the Atlanta Falcons in 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. He was selected by Atlanta in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Devin Fuller
refer to caption
Fuller with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016
No. 87
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1994-01-24) January 24, 1994 (age 30)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:194 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Northern Valley Regional (Old Tappan, New Jersey)
College:UCLA
NFL draft:2016 / Round: 7 / Pick: 238
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years edit

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 edit

 
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 replaced 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 edit

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 0 in
(1.83 m)
194 lb
(88 kg)
30+12 in
(0.77 m)
9+12 in
(0.24 m)
4.39 s 1.59 s 2.59 s 4.07 s 7.03 s 36.0 in
(0.91 m)
10 ft 4 in
(3.15 m)
All values from Pro Day[9]

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] Fuller was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the seventh round (238th overall) in the 2016 NFL Draft.[10][11] He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2016 after injuring his shoulder during the preseason.[12] He missed the entire 2016 season, when the Falcons advanced to Super Bowl LI, losing 34–28 in overtime to the New England Patriots.[13]

On July 28, 2017, Fuller tore his ACL in training camp and was placed on injured reserve for the second year in a row.[14][15]

On June 29, 2018, Fuller was waived by the Falcons.[16]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Devin Fuller Biography". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on May 1, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 5, 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. ^ a b c 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 June 3, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c 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. ^ "Devin Fuller, UCLA, WR, 2016 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  10. ^ Los Angeles Times (April 30, 2016). "Falcons select UCLA's Devin Fuller with 238th pick in NFL draft". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  11. ^ "Falcons First Team To Sign Entire Draft Class". AtlantaFalcons.com. May 5, 2016. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Alper, Josh (August 31, 2016). "Falcons put rookie WR Devin Fuller on injured reserve". ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  13. ^ "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 6, 2017.
  14. ^ Tabeek, Matthew (July 29, 2017). "Injury Report: Falcons Receiver Devin Fuller Out For The Season With A Knee Injury". AtlantaFalcons.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017.
  15. ^ Conway, Kelsey (August 3, 2017). "Falcons Have Waived/Injured Receiver Devin Fuller". AtlantaFalcons.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017.
  16. ^ "Falcons officially waive wide receiver and returner Devin Fuller". AtlantaFalcons.com. June 29, 2018.

External links edit