Jack Velling’s NFL path has already taken an early detour.
The former Michigan State tight end was released by the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday after signing with their practice squad following a strong preseason. Velling had gone undrafted after a two-year stint at Michigan State that never quite matched the expectations that once surrounded him.
Even so, the door is still open for the rookie. He’ll now look to land with another practice squad, and there remains a belief that another chance is coming somewhere else. The talent, according to the source reporting, is still too obvious to ignore for long.
Velling had once been viewed as a top NFL draft prospect at tight end, but his two inconsistent seasons in East Lansing changed that picture. He finished with 700-plus receiving yards at Michigan State, though those numbers came during one of the program’s roughest stretches. He also never found a steady rhythm with Aidan Chiles, despite the two arriving at MSU together from Oregon State.
That mismatch ended up costing him. Velling went undrafted, and the source material points to his inconsistency as the reason his NFL stock slid.
The bigger frustration, at least from the Michigan State perspective, is that talent was never really in doubt. The issue was described as more mental than physical, with Velling struggling with confidence while trying to build that connection with Chiles. Fans, meanwhile, were hard on him because of the expectations that followed him to East Lansing.
Velling’s release also brings a familiar possibility into focus. Former Michigan State and Falcons teammate Nate Carter was cut by Atlanta and later signed with the Kansas City Chiefs’ practice squad, and Velling will now hope for a similar break.
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Still, the schedule does offer one last path to make the year look less bleak. Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Rutgers are still ahead, and there are enough winnable opportunities in that stretch to improve the record before the season runs out. The extra rest should help, but it may arrive too late to truly change the feel of what has already become a difficult season. [Read more 🡒]