College football fans may remember seeing the viral highlights of Justin Flowe, an abnormally muscular five-star linebacker who made a reputation of throwing helpless ball-carriers like dirty laundry and delivering bone-crushing hits.

Flowe was an absolute mauler in high school, ranking in the top 10 nationally in 247 Sports’ 2020 class rankings. He had every major Power Five program knocking on his door, but he chose Oregon, creating a lethal defensive front that would include fellow 2020 five-star linebacker Noah Sewell and 2019 five-star EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux.

But unfortunately for Flowe and the Ducks, he has only appeared in two games, a total of 60 snaps, through his first two seasons. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he only saw the field for two snaps in the opener against Stanford due to a torn meniscus.

Flowe got the start to open the 2021 season against Fresno State and showed that he can play at the college level. He racked up 14 tackles and forced a key fumble in the Ducks’ win, earning him the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. He suffered a right foot injury before the Ohio State game the following week and missed the rest of the season.

Despite Flowe only playing in two games a year apart from each other, he enters the 2022 season with plenty of hype and anticipation. He was named to the Butkus Award watch list and was a Preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team selection. Some outlets even had Flowe projected to be a first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, even with only 60 snaps of college football to look at.

So why the hype? Well, perhaps you should watch those 60 snaps, particularly the 58 against Fresno State.

He flashed his explosiveness, speed and unreal athleticism on the smoky field at Autzen against the Bulldogs. He has a nose for the football, as was evident in high school as well. And what is most evident about Flowe is the passion he plays with. He will be the emotional leader of the Oregon defense and will certainly spark the Autzen Stadium crowd with his energy.

But the fact that media and awards voters have so much faith in a breakout year for Flowe is somewhat paradoxical. There are plenty of examples of talented college football players having talent and potential but struggling with injuries, and the media, particularly draft experts, can often be ruthless toward those players. Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Myles Jack, Jaylon Smith, and Da’Quan Bowers come to mind when talking about defensive players who were victims of that. Bowers is especially a good comparison as he was once the top rated player out of high school and was projected to be an early draft pick, but he fell to the second round due to injury concerns.

However, something else is happening with Flowe. He doesn’t seem to be falling victim to that at all. In fact, quite the opposite is happening. You would think that missing the vast majority of two whole seasons would be cause for concern from naysayers, but the consensus seems to be that Flowe is bound to break out in 2022. A possible theory could be that his high school tape could still outweigh the lack of college football tape, a case usually found when discussing NBA draft prospects.

Obviously, if Flowe’s injury bug continues to bite, he may be considered an afterthought in the eyes of the media and NFL scouts. But if the media doesn’t put much stock into any durability concerns with him, a mostly healthy season really couldn’t hurt his draft stock. He and Sewell are poised to be one of the most talented linebacker tandems in the sport, and their roles in Dan Lanning’s/Tosh Lupoi’s defense could be freaky. Flowe could be a Nakobe Dean-type of player that is super rangy and can play sideline to sideline with a bigger/stronger frame to go along with unfathomably high energy.

You’ll be hearing this on Sunday nights: Justin Flowe, linebacker, University of Oregon.