2015 Ball State Football Recruiting: DE Sean Hammonds Commits to the Cardinals

Ball State has added to its already impressive 2015 recruiting class this weekend, landing Sean Hammonds, a  versatile, multi-sport athlete.

Hammonds played tight end, defensive end, and outside linebacker for Ballard High School in Louisville, Kentucky. He also competed on their varsity basketball team.

In this year's NFL Draft, the former Cardinal defensive end, Jonathan Newsome, was taken by the Indianapolis Colts. Hammonds commitment is so vital to this program because it allows some promising, young talent to take over Newsome's spot. Unfortunately, he won't be here for this season. Nevertheless, this gives Ball State fans something to look forward to.

Hammonds is quite the athlete. He has an impressive vertical for just being an incoming high school senior, jumping 28 inches. This is a few inches shorter than Newsome jumped at the NFL Combine (34 inches), but his vertical will without a doubt increase over his college career. Because of his already impressive vertical, he is a threat for knocking down passes (as you can see in his junior highlight tape below). He ran a 4.70 40 yard dash, which is blazing fast for a defensive end. With that time, he would have had a top 10 40 yard dash time out of the defensive ends at the NFL Combine last year. This probably has to do with also playing basketball. You are constantly working on speed in basketball, so this probably helped his speed on the football field.

Ball State really got a steal with this commitment. Hammonds has some natural athletic ability that some other teams saw as well. Besides from the Cardinals, he received offers from Morehead State and Tennessee State. Ball State just stood above the other schools in his eyes. "I just loved the coaching staff, and the campus really stood out and the business school is amazing," Hammonds told the Courier-Journal.