The first round of NFL Draft was held Thursday night and it was a special night for a former Bartow County football star. Former Adairsville athlete Vic Beasley, who attended college at Clemson, was selected by his hometown team, the Atlanta Falcons, as the eighth overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft that was televised on ESPN and the NFL Network. Beasley wore red and black and said that he knew he was going to be selected by the NFL team he watched while growing up.
Beasley attended Adairsville High School, where he was a three-sport standout in football, basketball and track. He played football as a running back and linebacker for the Adairsville Tigers. He was named All-county and All-area in both his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, he totaled 57 tackles, two recovered fumbles and an interception, while also hauling in 15 receptions for over 200 yards. As a senior, he had 120 rushes for 828 yards with seven touchdowns on offense, and had 102 tackles and an interception on the defensive side of the ball. He was named first-team All-state by the Asscociated Press and the Georgia Sportswriters Association. He also played in the Georgia North-South All-Star game, where he had a blocked field goal.
Beasley also competed in track and field while at Adairsville, where he competed mainly in sprints and jumps.
Beasley was predicted to be drafted as high as number 3 in the draft and was not expected to make it down to eight for the Falcons to select. The Falcons were known to be targeting a pass rusher in the first round and Beasley was said to have the most explosive first step in the entire draft. While analysts question his ability to stop the run, the Falcons drafted Beasley due to his success at creating a pass rush. While at Clemson, he broke the record for most sacks in a career in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-American his senior year at the university.