DeMarvion Overshown is a converted safety turned linebacker that saw him turn into one of the best Big-12 linebackers during his time in Austin. This ascension came after switching from safety to linebacker in 2020 where he saw his production take off and cement himself as a true NFL prospect.

Despite the production, injuries held back Overshown from potentially more, rarely ever fully healthy in a season. He ended his Longhorn career with 50 career games and 33 starts, many of them after his position switch. Many of his scouting reports rave about his size and ability to hit but question his ability to finish his tackle and shed blockers. He is seen as a hard-hitting tackler, but more of a see-ball, get-ball approach which leaves room for error if the angle is wrong.

Moving to the NFL won’t make his positional duties any easier and if he suffers further injury, that could stunt his growth. Below is DeMarvion Overshown’s known medical history and concerns moving forward.

Injury History

2018

Knee injury, side not specified, preseason, missed five total games.

Overshown suffered a preseason knee injury in mid-August of that year, forcing him out of the first four games of the season. He made his collegiate debut against Kansas State that year, seeing some time on defense and likely special teams. The freshman safety missed the game against Texas Tech for undisclosed reasons, but according to reports below around the Texas Tech game, it appears his knee was still giving him trouble. 

Herman says DeMarvion Overshown is not 100%. “You can still see him favoring that knee a little bit… I think he’s getting better each week.” #hookem

— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) November 16, 2018

The specifics of the injury are unknown and there were no additional reports that he required surgery after the injury or once the season concluded.

2019

Foot sprain, side not specified, missed zero games. 

Overshown picked up a foot sprain early in camp that forced him out of several practices but did not impact his ability to be ready for the season opener. 

Vertebrae stress reaction in back/neck suffered in the preseason missed five total games.

Following the LSU game, Overshown was found to have a back injury that forced him out for an indefinite amount of time. However, it was reported that he strained his neck in the preseason as seen below. 

Per Tom Herman, safety DeMarvion Overshown strained his neck in today’s scrimmage and is getting imaging done on it later today.

Tight-end Brayden Liebrock also twisted his knee, but he said it is stable. #HookEm

— Will Baizer (@WillBaizer) August 17, 2019

It’s possible that he aggravated the back/neck injury against LSU where team doctors found the stress reaction. He missed games against Rice, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, and TCU along with the game against Kansas State. Looking back at the timeline, he missed the first three games as he recovered, and returned to play against Oklahoma and Kansas. He injured/re-injured his back, forcing him out of the next two games that included a bye week in between. 

Ankle injury, side not specified, missed zero games.

Even after returning from his stress reaction, his injury woes were not behind him. He suffered an ankle injury that forced him to leave the game against Baylor. 

#Longhorns injury update: Sophomore DB DeMarvion Overshown (ankle) is out for the remainder of today’s game.

— Chip Brown (@ChipBrown247) November 23, 2019

It appeared to have been minor as he was able to play the following week, securing four tackles.

2021

Labrum repair, right shoulder, missed spring practice. 

After appearing in 10 games with 10 starts in 2020, Overshown missed the entirety of spring practice due to a labrum repair in the right shoulder in March. It’s not clear when he picked up the injury, but bandaging and a sling show he had the surgery in mid-March of that year. He later wore a shoulder harness for extra support as he began preseason football.

It’s nothing an armband can’t fix🤘🏾

I’ll be back 😎 pic.twitter.com/OMLuc6peww

— DeMarvion Overshown (@AGENT0__) March 18, 2021

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Demarvion Germanic Lee Overshown (@deeofficial31)

Concussion, missed one game.

Overshown suffered a concussion against Oklahoma State in the first quarter, forced to leave the contest. He had the benefit of a bye week the following week which allowed him extra time to recover.

Left turf toe, missed one game.

Unfortunately, Overshown’s injuries were not finished. He missed the season finale against Kansas State with a left turf toe injury. Reports indicate that he originally suffered the injury against Iowa State in early November. An early article originally stated he suffered a right leg injury in that game, unable to place weight through the leg, but the side reported may have been inaccurate at the time. Dane Brugler of The Athletic confirmed the injury as a left turf toe.

Injury Concerns

During his career in Austin, Overshown missed 12 games over five seasons due to injury. He did opt out of the 2022 bowl game which is not included in that total. 

Looking at the injuries as a whole, the only injuries that have any concern are labrum repair and concussion. His vertebral stress reaction is certainly a consideration, but far less concerning than the other two injuries.

There isn’t enough information on the knee injury which happened five years ago to warrant additional discussion. Addressing the foot and ankle sprains along with turf toe, these are injuries that cost him some time but have minimal chance to linger. There were no reports of surgery for the turf toe which is excellent moving forward with his production.

Going back to the prior injuries, his concussion is only notable due to the attention that head injuries do receive playing football. This appears to be his only one and even if he suffers another one, hopefully it does not become a trend.

His labrum repair is fairly standard and he has not had any issues from what was reported over the last two years. There is as high as a 32 percent chance to re-tear the area or degenerative changes, but even if he does, he could still play through the injury with a harness and get it repaired in the offseason. It’s more of an issue when he is dealing with it at the time, but can be addressed effectively in the offseason. To note, linebackers have the highest rate of labrum tears at 19.2 percent at the NFL Combine. This injury also does not affect the draft position, games played, or started except if the player had a SLAP tear that required surgical intervention.

Finally, looking at the stress reaction injury, this is quite rare from what could be identified in the literature. Most stress reactions occur in the lower extremities and this is the result of the periosteum of the bone becoming inflamed. The periosteum is the outermost layer of bone and this inflammation occurs with a sub-maximal repeated overload of the bone with inadequate healing.

The stress reaction is the second stage of injury whereas the first stage is a bone strain/stress response where there is injury but no symptoms. The second stage is the stress reaction where the area is tender to touch, also known as a hot spot. The third stage is a stress fracture, an actual break in the bone that is seen on imaging. There are various biomechanical and biological risk factors associated with this in the link here. 

Overshown suffered a hit during a scrimmage that gave him a sore neck/back according to reports. It likely was not getting better after playing several games and with further imaging, they found the stress reaction or hot spot and allowed him to rest. Reports later indicated that he injured his back and missed an additional two games, but it’s not clear whether this was the same injury or a new one.

There wasn’t much more he could have done to maximize his healing other than rest and avoiding stress to the area to allow for inflammation to decrease. It doesn’t appear that there was any mismanagement of the injury, but it was an injury that was not getting better that necessitated further testing where they found the issue.

Based on the wording of the neck/back area, this was likely a lower cervical/upper thoracic injury. This appeared to be a freak accident due to the hit and this does not appear to be an issue going forward.

NFL Comparables

Looking at a recent comparison, one doesn’t have to look far with the Bills drafting LB Terrel Bernard last year in the third round. He missed several more games with more severe injuries, but a similar injury profile. 

For the Bills to take a traits guy in the third round with an injury history is on par with what they do in that round. See Dawson Knox, Zack Moss, Harrison Phillips, and Spencer Brown. Overshown certainly fits the profile. The only thing that would go against that is that they did that exact thing last year with Bernard. We also haven’t been able to see how Bernard has adjusted to the next level as most of his playing time was on special teams in his rookie year.

Would Overshown be the best player available or are the Bills banking on development at a needed position? How would that affect each player’s development moving forward? 

Bills Outlook

Looking at each injury individually, none of the injuries stand out as being a huge problem at the next level. But the totality of the injuries gives me pause, will durability be an issue moving forward? It’s one thing to play through the injury, but not be available because of injury, that is not a recipe for success. 

He would certainly benefit to be drafted by the Bills and given a chance to develop on special teams before moving to defensive responsibilities. The same would apply to other teams in order to fine-tune his skill set at the next level. His RAS number certainly helps his stock as one of the more athletically gifted linebackers in the draft which means someone will take a chance.

DeMarvion Overshown is a LB prospect in the 2023 draft class. He scored a 8.07 RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 473 out of 2444 LB from 1987 to 2023. https://t.co/zXR0fHwxyf #RAS pic.twitter.com/h75y3iRdUz

— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 16, 2023

However, if the Bills see the value in DeMarvion Overshown as early as the third round, lock it in. A late day two or any time during day three is certainly a bet worth taking with the potential upside.