Olympic grad watching the NFL Draft, because his name may get called

For a fleeting moment, it looked like Duquesne quarterback Tyler Riddell would complete the pass. A looping ball from the left hash toward the right sideline, a risky throw trailing 17-0, was arms length from hitting his receiver in the chest. But Akron cornerback Malcolm DeWalt IV had already broken toward the pass.

As the throw reached its apex, DeWalt, an Olympic High School 2020 grad, jammed himself between the receiver's arms, ricocheted the ball in a direct path toward the end zone and caught it in stride for a walk-in pick six during Akron's 51-7 win on Sept. 20, 2025.

Months later, DeWalt doesn't mince words about the play when asked to name the most memorable moment of his college career.

"(My coach) was like, 'Go make a play,' and I was like alright," DeWalt said confidently. "That was a good one."

The Bremerton product made stops at three different schools during college — Snow College, Butte College and Akron — and now has his focus set on the NFL. What once felt like a "day dream" is crystallizing closer to a reality as DeWalt spends the next few months interviewing and working out with various NFL teams.

He's heard feedback that he could be selected anywhere from the fourth to the seventh round of the draft, interviewing with teams like the Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers . If he isn't selected, he expects he'll sign with a team as an undrafted free agent.

"It's cool to even be in the position of the conversation," DeWalt said. "You never really think it'll be you."

And DeWalt is right. No one thought it would be him. He was a two-star product coming out of Olympic High School and didn't even start for Akron, a Mid-American Conference school in Ohio, until this past season. The fact he is in this position is nothing less than remarkable.

A challenging introduction to college

The ingredients were always there.

When DeWalt was just 4 years old, his father, Malcolm DeWalt III, a football coach at Fairview Middle School, remembers taking him to Sheridan Park Community Center, where he'd outrun kids several years older than him, or even race some of his middle schoolers at practice. He stuck with track and was talented enough to run in the USATF national meet as a middle-schooler. DeWalt IV also grew, hitting 6-foot-2, when he could out-size kids at his position in football and star in basketball.

However, coming out of high school, he wasn't on most scouts' radars because he played three games his senior year after fracturing his collarbone. DeWalt IV finished his season with the Trojans with 335 all-purpose yards and three interceptions.

The following year, DeWalt ended up at Snow College, a small junior college in Ephraim, Utah. But there were some reasons, like a coaching change and the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, that prompted him to return back home before playing a game. With no true direction and a belief his playing days were over, it was time to find a real job. DeWalt IV thought a factory job in Gig Harbor would suffice.

"I was working at this place called Metagenics," he said. "I don't really know how to explain it, but I was cutting bags and putting it into this big blender and blending protein products. ... We were there 3:30, 4 in the morning."

His belief, at the time, was that his football career was over. Other than playing with his friends in an occasional "turkey bowl" game, he wasn't training nor had any intention to return to the sport.

"People would always tell me go back and play or whatever," he said. "But I was kind of done."

It didn't take him long to realize a factory job wasn't what he wanted for his future. His father was also influential toward encouraging him to return to the sport.

"We were having a heart to heart, and I told him, 'You have way more talent than you even understand,'" Dewalt III said. "You have the opportunity. Everybody doesn't get that opportunity."

Around the same time, DeWalt IV got a text from his old high school coach asking if he wanted to play at a junior college, Butte, in Chico, California. DeWalt IV bet on himself, and packed his bags to head to California later that year.

"I might as well give it one more shot," he remembered thinking.

A new environment, and a new position

Sunny skies and 243 feet above sea level, Chico was a stark contrast from Ephraim, Utah, a tiny town nestled in the middle of Utah with a single Walmart and few other recognizable stores. There's roughly 94,000 more people in the Northern California city, for one, and football wasn't the only thing the city was offering for a young student. When DeWalt IV arrived in 2022, everything was new to him, including his role on the team.

He moved from primarily playing wide receiver and running back in high school to a full-time defensive back. The change came naturally. DeWalt IV ran a 10.7-second 100-meter dash his senior year of high school, his dad said, and had above-average lateral movement from his background as a basketball player, so he shined at the position. He logged 21 tackles and seven pass break ups during his freshman season in 2022-23.

At the time, he also met Aiden Sullivan, a Butte linebacker who's now a starter at Oregon State. The two hit it off from their similar backgrounds. Both hailed from quieter towns with military influence — Sullivan is from TwentyNine Palms, a small city of a similar size to Bremerton near the Marine Corps base outside Palm Springs in Southern California —  and ended up rooming together heading into their second season.

"The type of person he is, I kind of just gravitated toward that," Sullivan said. "(He's) just someone that I know is going to push me to continue to be better and not allow me to slack off or fall off in any type of way."

DeWalt IV's return to football, and his change to defensive back, started to take form his sophomore year, when he recorded four interceptions, 12 pass break ups and 26 tackles. He had multiple Division I schools offering him, and ultimately decided to commit to Akron heading into the 2024-25 season.

It wasn't until his second year with the Zips that everything started to click. Heading into the fall, he was a fourth-string cornerback, but the team hired a new coach who took a different approach evaluating the team's talent.

"He came into our group and he was like, 'Hey, I don't know much about you guys, and we got three weeks until our first game ... so I'm going to let you guys play,'" DeWalt IV said. "'Whoever's making plays is gonna play.' So I took that opportunity and ran with it."

DeWalt IV didn't start the first game, but on the fourth play of the game the Zips' first-string went down injured, prompting DeWalt IV to enter the contest. He finished with five tackles and two pass break ups. After the opener, DeWalt IV locked up a starting corner spot and started every game the remainder of the year.

He finished the season with 40 tackles, eight pass break ups, a forced fumble, two interceptions and a touchdown across 12 games.

Looking ahead to the NFL draft

DeWalt is in the midst of arguably the most important evaluation period leading up to the draft. He didn't receive an invitation to the NFL Combine, but he had multiple scouts evaluate him his Pro Day on March 19, where he ran a 4.35, 40-yard dash (which would've placed him second among corners who ran at the NFL Combine), logged a 36-inch vertical and hit 14 reps of 225 pounds on the bench.

He had seven interviews with teams in January and a majority of the feedback he received focused on improving his 40-yard dash time, as he'll likely play a role on special teams as a gunner, jammer or returner if he gets on an NFL roster.

A gunner's role is to sprint downfield during punts and kickoffs, avoid blockers (jammers) and tackle the returner. A jammer's role is to stop the gunner and give the punt returner more time to move upfield.

He's not only spent time improving his physical attributes, but he's also dedicated time studying defensive schemes, playbooks and what to do in specific in-game scenarios.

DeWalt's not listed on most recent big-name draft boards from ESPN , CBS or SportingNews , but his traction could pick up as he meets with more teams. He's set to visit with the Green Bay Packers the first week of April.

"There's not too many people, especially going to juco, that believed in (him)," his Butte teammate, Sullivan said. "I'm extremely proud of him and everything that he's done."

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Olympic High grad Malcolm Dewalt hoping for NFL call on Draft Day