It’s been a busy but successful time for Shepherd University coach Ernie McCook. His Rams — based in West Virginia right across the Potomac River from Maryland — are coming off a 13-2 season that earned a drove of NFL scouting attention.
Four Shepherd players signed professional contracts following this past weekend’s draft. That was a record for the Division II program.
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Quarterback Tyson Bagent joined the Bears. Running back Ronnie Brown signed with the Buccaneers. Tight end Brian Walker is with the Ravens. And offensive lineman Joey Fisher agreed to terms with the 49ers.
McCook is still surprised that neither Fisher nor Bagent, in particular, was drafted. He thought that, at the very least, NFL teams would pounce on those two prospects. But running back Wayne Wilson, a 12th-round pick of the Houston Oilers in 1979, remains the only Shepherd player drafted into the NFL.
The four undrafted Rams, though, will still have shots at making their marks on the league. And the most promising opportunity might belong to Fisher, whose contract with the 49ers features $130,000 guaranteed — a hefty sum for a rookie free agent.
The 6-foot-4, 296-pounder, who started for Shepherd at right tackle from 2019 to 2022, delivered monstrous results on the pre-draft testing circuit. Fisher cranked out 40 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press, the most of any O-line prospect this season. He also posted a 4.97 40-yard dash with a 1.72-second 10-yard split, both of which were among the fastest times among linemen.
🚨Combine snub Shepherd OL Joey Fisher just bested this year’s Combine-best bench press mark (38) with 40 reps.👀
Equally impressive is fact that video lasts 0:50. That’s a long time pushing 225 lbs.
And @JoeyFisher76 walks away like it was nothin.#TheDraftStartsInMOBILE™️ pic.twitter.com/zzdm5Jr0de
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) March 28, 2023
Fisher’s performance at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl earned him an invitation to the Senior Bowl, but since he broke a bone on the top of his hand on the second snap of that NFLPA game, the subsequent part of his offseason was limited. The broken hand, though, made Fisher’s 40 bench-press reps all the more impressive.
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Why wasn’t Fisher drafted and what can the 49ers expect out of their new lineman? McCook, who coaches Shepherd’s O-line on top of his head-coaching duties, shared thoughts about both of those questions and much more in a phone conversation Monday afternoon. The chat below has been lightly edited for brevity.
Why do you think that Fisher and Bagent, in particular, weren’t drafted?
When I look back at their high school careers, they were both good, Division I-type players, but our quarterback came from a small (high) school in West Virginia — so the bigger schools didn’t pull the trigger on him. Joey came from a really small school in western Maryland, and the coach that jumped up on the table for him (Randy Edsall at the University of Maryland) got fired, and there was nobody to jump up on the table for him with the new staff.
I just think he was a victim of coming from a really small school and it was easy for them to move away from him. And I think the same thing has happened with both of these guys with the NFL Draft. I just don’t think that anybody in the NFL wanted to take a shot on a Division II player like these two guys. I’m shocked that Joey did not get drafted. I’m absolutely shocked. I don’t know of any other way to put it.
After Fisher left Maryland’s program, he worked for two years as a locksmith under his dad. Then, he joined your team at Shepherd in 2019. How quickly were you able to work him into the mix?
We brought him in as a tight end first. Then we thought a move to offensive or defensive line would be best. This was during spring practice. We had 10 practices left. So we sat down and talked about moving to D-line or O-line. He really saw himself as a good defensive lineman, which I believe he could have been, too. But I told him: “If you really want to be different, you should really give offensive line a shot. I think you’ll increase your chances to play at the next level.”
So we decided to do five practices on offense and five on defense — wherever you’re going to help the team out the best is where we’ll keep you. I said to him: “The only thing is, Joey, I don’t want you to do defense first and then offense. Because I don’t want everyone to think that the last stop before the bus station is where you got off.”
So we did offensive line first, and it was like a fish in the water. Really natural position for him. He really took to it and never did anything on the D-line.
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I think that he still has a lot of things to grow with. And I really believe that he has a lot of growth potential ahead of him. I can criticize our O-line coach here because it’s me. I really think when he gets a chance to get coached by an NFL-level offensive coach, he’s going to learn. Because I think he has a great ability to learn. He has a great desire to learn. And I think the 49ers are going to get a great football player.
Is there anything on Fisher’s tape that he does particularly well that might directly translate to the 49ers offense?
We run a pin-and-pull play and San Francisco runs that, as well. He would be the backside tackle that would pull and lead around the left side. There were different looks on which we would give him the green light to pull and he would actually get out in front of that.
New 49ers OL Joey Fisher totally wrecked smaller D2 competition pic.twitter.com/VH6t3cjvqG
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) May 2, 2023
As a coach, I really admire what the 49ers do on offense. I really think that coach (Kyle) Shanahan is one of the best, if not the best, in the NFL. And I really think what they do with their offense, I think Joey can fit a lot of the things they ask their offensive linemen to do.
So the speed testing stuff — the 4.97 40, the 1.72-second 10-yard split — that translates to his play style?
He’s very athletic. He can bend. He’s got great hip flexion. He can run really well as you can see in the 40 time, but he can also run laterally well. So he does a great job pulling, but he’s also very powerful. He’s got a lot of the tools.
He does things that I wouldn’t ask any of our other O-linemen to do, but I feel confident that he can do them. I’ve never coached a lineman like him that has the athleticism, power and flexibility. He’s a really good athlete.
I can’t wait. Just like signing free agents is like recruiting at the college level, you can’t wait until that guy that you stuck your neck out for really blossoms and pays off. And I think that whoever jumped on the table for Joey with the 49ers, my bet is that they’re going to look pretty good within the next few years with how he’ll progress.
Fisher played right tackle for you, but the scouting community seems to believe that he’ll be a guard at the NFL level because of his 32-inch arm length, which is shorter than average for pro tackles. Where do you think he’ll play in the league?
I see what the NFL scouts and evaluations were saying — that he should move inside because of his arm length. This is just my speculation, but I think that he becomes one of those guys that, when you can only dress seven offensive linemen and you have a guy that can play center, guard or tackle in an emergency, I think Joey becomes that guy.
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Because he’ll have a lot of positional flexibility. Because even though he’s got short arms as far as the NFL is concerned, he’s pretty athletic and powerful to play at least in an emergency setup.
How well do you know Fisher and his family on a personal level?
Absolutely wonderful person. Great human being. Great teammate. Really close-knit family. He’s engaged. His fiancée is super supportive. He and his family breed Rottweilers, and I actually have one of the puppies. So I’m connected to the Fisher family in a lot more ways than just their coach.
His brother, Dustin, is a tight end in our program and has a chance to be a really good player for us. He’s got a younger sister who’s a really good athlete, as well.
Did you have any advice for Fisher after he signed with the 49ers?
What they do offensively is really exciting. I think it’s a tremendous opportunity for him. But I also have to give the 49ers credit for taking a shot on him. Because they were aggressive with him in the free agency part of it. They were talking to him before the end of the draft. Now he’s going to have a chance to win the Super Bowl with them.
I told every scout when they came in for Joey, for our quarterback: “When they come, when they show up, they’re going to be working their butts off. They’re not looking to sightsee or where the next party is. They’re going to be focused on football.”
And I told Joey: “You just want a key to the building, man. Let ’em let you into the gate, let you walk into the building and you have a great shot. It really doesn’t matter now (that you weren’t drafted), right?”
(Photo courtesy of Shepherd University Athletics)
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