Will Diego Pavia be drafted on Night 1 of the NFL Draft?

Few quarterbacks in this year's NFL Draft pool have built themselves the name brand that Vanderbilt star Diego Pavia has created over the past two seasons at the college level. But that might not translate into a strong performance on draft day.

Pavia has been a controversial figure due to his cocky attitude and heated response to Heisman voters after he came second in voting for the award behind Fernando Mendoza, and even blamed criticism of his own "clickbait" at the NFL Combine.

He also earned that spot as the Heisman runner-up with a strong performance on the field, leading a resurgence for the normally dismal Commodores in recent seasons and propelling them Top 25 status last year while passing for 3,539 yards, 29 touchdowns, and eight interceptions while adding 862 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. But despite all that, you shouldn't expect to hear his name called on the first day of the NFL Draft.

While it's unusual for a Heisman runner-up to be so lowly valued, Pavia is projected by most as a Day 3 pick in this year's draft – and that's if he ends up drafted at all. Some recent mock drafts have Pavia being skipped over altogether at the event, which would force him into finding an opportunity as an undrafted free agent.

Working against Pavia is his size – he measures under 5-foot-10 – as well as perceived potential character and maturity issues. But Pavia is not backing down from his belief that he's NFL-ready.

"I would just say turn on the tape," Pavia said. "It's not like we're not playing these guys that are going first-round, second-round [picks] on Saturdays in the SEC. So, the SEC and the Big Ten probably have the most guys getting drafted in the first and second rounds. So, we're playing those guys and ain't nothing going to change."

This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: Will Diego Pavia be drafted on Night 1 of the NFL Draft?