If you didn’t watch much Illinois football this year, you probably don’t know a ton about Clayton Fejedelem. But you should’ve.

The Illini safety emerged in a monster way in his second year with the team after transferring from NAIA St. Xavier. All he did was lead the B1G in tackles (he had 140!), lead a top-15 pass defense and earn second-team all-conference honors.

So then why wasn’t the 6-1 defensive back even invited to Indianapolis? Perhaps it was because of his late arrival to an FBS school.

But at the Illinois pro day on Thursday, Fejedelem showed not only that he should’ve been invited to the combine, but also that he’s one of the most athletic defensive backs in the country.

He recorded a 40.5-inch vertical and nearly out-jumped all of the sticks:

That would’ve ranked third among defensive backs and seventh overall out of every participant in Indy. His 20 bench press reps of 225 pounds would’ve placed him second among safeties and third among all defensive backs.

Fejedelem certainly passed the bar in those two categories with flying colors. But what about his 40-yard dash time? After all, that’s considered the most important number for all defensive backs.

He ran it in 4.53 seconds, which would’ve tied him for fourth among safeties.

Fejedelem clearly has strength, speed, explosiveness, and based on the fact that he recorded 23 more tackles than anybody in the B1G, he has a nose for the ball, too.

Even national media members like NFL draft analyst Mike Mayock felt Fejedelem was snubbed.

As of right now, NFL.com has Fejedelem graded at a 4.9, which means that they believe he has a 50-50 chance to make an NFL roster. That performance, coupled with what he did during the regular season, bears asking the question again.

Are we looking at the same player?