At least one national analyst believes R.J. Mickens is being somewhat overlooked when it comes to the upcoming NFL Draft.

The former Clemson safety spent five years with the Tigers, growing into a key piece of the secondary over his final three seasons. Twice in that span, Mickens earned All-ACC honors.

As a super senior in 2025, Mickens started 13 games, recording 75 tackles, six tackles for loss, two interceptions and seven pass breakups, grading out as one of the best safeties in the country per PFF.

For his career, Mickens had 196 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and 12 pass breakups.

Despite the production, Mickens is still projected as a Day 3 pick in this year’s NFL Draft that begins on Thursday. For that reason, PFF’s Trevor Sikkema called Mickens one of the “forgotten about” safeties in the draft class.

Mickens signed with Clemson as part of the 2020 recruiting class. 247 Sports rated him a four-star prospect, ranking him No. 98 overall and No. 7 among all safeties.