College Roundup: Pitt @ Utah

Here are the top prospects for the 2011 NFL Draft that will be on the field Thursday night when the Panthers face the Utes in Salt Lake City.

University of Pittsburgh at University of Utah, 7:30 p.m. on Versus

PITTSBURGH

(1st-Round) #91 DE Greg Romeus (right), 6-5, 268 pounds, 4.79 seconds in 40-yard dash, Redshirt-Senior.

The ’09 Big East Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year with 43 tackles 11.5 TFL and eight sacks. Romeus clinched victory over Notre Dame by forcing a fumble by QB Jimmy Clausen with 2:10 left to play that was recovered by Pitt. He has 19.5 career sacks. Romeus played just one year of high school football and was known more as a basketball player at Coral Glades HS in Florida. He petitioned NFL Adivsory Committee last year and was told he was not a first-round pick, so he returned for his final season of eligiblity. Romeus suffered from back spasms during Pitt’s camp, missing a week of practice.

(1st-Round)#82 WR Jon Baldwin, 6-5, 225 pounds, 4.48 seconds, Junior

A Larry Fitzgerald-like product out of the Pitt offense, Baldwin was a first team All-Big East receiver in ’09 as a sophomore, catching 57 passes for 1,111 yards and eight TD catches. Among those scoring catches were touchdwons of 71 and 79 yards. Coming out of Aliquippa H.S., he was a football-basketball-track standout. He’s big, strong and fast — a prototypical package for today’s NFL receiver.

(2nd-Round) #77 OT Jason Pinkston, 6-4, 308, 5.12 seconds, Redshirt-Senior.First-team All-Big East Conference left tackle in ’09, Pinkston has battled shoulder problems in his career. He missed most of ’07 season with a left shoulder injury that required surgery. He missed the Sun Bowl in ’08 with a right shoulder problem. He has 28 career starts the last 25 at left tackle. Pinkston began his Pitt career as a defensive tackle after graduating from Baldwin H.S. in suburban Pittsburgh.

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Top 2011 Draft Prospects-Offense

The personnel calendar turns very quickly in pro football. Just last weekend, the NFL was selecting players from the class of 2010.

Already, the league is preparing for the class of 2011. Here’s a preliminary look at the top offensive players at each position as of now. On Saturday we’ll provide the top defensive players. This list of players includes several who will be juniors this fall.

QUARTERBACK

Jake Locker (right)/Washington, 6-3, 226 pounds. One unknown NFL GM called Locker a bigger version of Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young. He’s got the numbers to show that might not be far off.

During his time with the Huskies he’s thrown for 5,374 yards and run for 1,554 yards in 28 games. Last year, he threw for 2,800 yards with 21 TDs and 11 INTs, while running for 388 yards and seven TDs.

He was starter in ’08 opening the first four games, but his season ended when he broke his thumb. One extra item in the Locker dossier: he’s been drafted twice by major league baseball teams and last year, he signed a six-year rights agreement with the Los Angeles Angels. In fact, Locker is technically a walk-on at Washington since the Angels are paying his tuition.

Here’s another example of what kind of athlete Locker is: in high school he returned three kickoffs, all for touchdowns, with an average return of 88.3 yards. …Read More!

Senior Bowl Players Set

The Senior Bowl week begins Monday with the first practices of the week. Almost all of the NFL will be there by Tuesday, from GMs, to head coaches and all the personnel folks.

The quality of the people watching practice will exceed those that they watch. While there may be several last minute additions and/or deletions, the players in Mobile, Alabama this week does not include the names that will be taken early in the first round. The top quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight end, offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers and defensive backs. It’s doubtful the Chiefs choice at the No. 5 pick will be playing in this game.

There are only two of the top 20 or 25 players taking part: OT Trent Williams from Oklahoma and CB Patrick Robinson of Florida State. Most of the players on both rosters are considered good enough to be selected in April’s NFL Draft.

In the last five drafts, the Chiefs selected 43 players. A dozen of those players participated in the Senior Bowl: 2009-Alex Magee, 2008-Brad Cottam and Barry Richardson, 2007-Dwayne Bowe, Tank Tyler and Kolby Smith, 2006-Tamba Hali and Brodie Croyle, 2005-Dustin Colquitt, Craphonso Thorpe, Alphonso Hodge and Jeremy Parquet.

Here is the list of invitees by position that will work with the coaching staffs of the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins: …Read More!

Rosters For East-West Shrine Game

New Chiefs defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is in Orlando for the next week, as he’ll handle the East Squad in the annual East-West Shrine Game.

He can learn a great deal about his new home if he talks with the coach of the West Squad, former Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer. The game will go off next Saturday at 2 p.m. CST from the Citrus Bowl. Practices start on Monday in Florida.

They’ve been playing the Shrine Game for a long time, but it has fallen behind the Senior Bowl in importance for NFL evaluators. That makes the two rosters not nearly as strong as what will be seen in the week after in Mobile.

Right now, there are no players in this game that grade out to first-round status. The closest are Nebraska SS Larry Asante and Mississippi DE Greg Hardy, who are both considered second round talents. There are three players considered third round prospects in the game: TE Dennis Pitta of BYU, FS Kam Chancellor of Virginia Tech and OT Kyle Calloway of Iowa.

There are three KU players in this game: QB Todd Reesing, WR Kerry Meier and SS Darrell Stuckey.

Here are the rosters for the two teams as of Friday: …Read More!

Underclassmen In 2010 Draft

The deadline for college players with eligibility remaining to declare for the NFL Draft has now passed.

While there are certainly going to be names that come in the next few days, we have the list of players who have made themselves available.

And, right now it looks like at least half of the first round will be underclassmen. The total may go as high as 20 once the draft rolls around in April. There’s a lot of defensive talent in the first round thanks to the underclassmen, including Florida CB Joe Haden (left).

NFL teams have plenty of information on most of the top-ranked players, but there are some players leaving early that have very slim files in the personnel departments. But from what we can tell by talking with scouts and personnel types, here’s where these underclassmen rank right now before finally evaluations. These names are in alphabetical order:

1st Round/Top 10 picks

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BCS Championship Preview: Alabama vs. Texas

If an NFL general manager could take his first 22 players off the rosters of the University of Alabama and the University of Texas, he’d have a competitive team very quickly.

As the Crimson Tide and Longhorns play Thursday night in the BCS championship game at the Rose Bowl they will field a remarkable collection of football talent. Many of the names you will see in this game will be names you’ll notice in the NFL in coming seasons. Here are the players at the top of the list of prospects.

ALABAMA

#25 ILB Rolando McClain, 6-4, 250 pounds – a consensus first-team All-America selection the 2009 Butkus Award winner as college football’s best linebacker and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year winner, McClain is a junior and has not affirmed publicly that he’s entering the 2010 NFL Draft. Expect that to happen within days of the championship game. McClain has been bothered with a case of the flu this week and missed some practice time. But he should play against Texas. Nick Saban calls McClain the smartest player he’s ever coached and he spends hours each week watching game tape. He led the Crimson Tide defense with 101 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions and he forced a fumble. Over his 40-game career with the Tide, he has 270 total tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, five interceptions, one fumble return for a touchdown and eight sacks. He did not miss a game because of injury. EVALUATION – top half of the first round. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Fiesta Bowl

Fiesta Bowl

January 4, Glendale, Arizona

Boise State (13-0) vs. TCU (12-0)

FOX-TV, 7 p.m. CST

BOISE STATE

#1 CB Kyle Wilson, 5-9, 184 pounds – He became a starter in his freshman season and was not out of the lineup the rest of his time with Boise State. Over his career, Wilson played in 49 games, with 156 total tackles and 11 interceptions. He returned two of those picks for touchdowns. He also had 59 punt returns, averaging 12.8 yards and three touchdowns. This season, he had three interceptions and 39 total tackles. Wilson received conference academic honors.

Evaluation – Very good and smooth athlete, strong and with good speed and quickness. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Liberty & Alamo

Liberty Bowl

January 2, Memphis

Arkansas (7-5) vs. East Carolina (9-4)

ESPN, 4:30 p.m. CST

 

ARKANSAS
#66 G Mitch Petrus, 6-3, 315 pounds – Petrus has had a roller coaster career with the Razorbacks. He began as a freshman fullback, was moved to left guard and started 12 games in 2007 and received second-team all-SEC honors. He did not play in ’08 because he was academically ineligible, but has comeback in 2009 with a strong season. Petrus played 30 games. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Papajohns & Cotton Bowls

Papajohns Bowl

January 2, Birmingham, Alabama

Connecticut (7-5) vs. South Carolina (7-5)

ESPN, 1 p.m. CST

CONNECTICUT

#9 DE Lindsey Witten, 6-5, 260 pounds – All Big-East first team, Witten started all 12 games during the season, with 41 total tackles and 11.5 sacks, which led the conference. He had seven sacks in the Huskies first two games. It was a breakthrough season for the Cleveland native who had been primarily a role player before the ’09 season. In 48 games at UCONN, Witten had 122 total tackles, 28.5 tackles for loss and 22 sacks. He also had an interception and two forced fumbles. His older brother is Buffalo safety Donte Whitner …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Texas Bowl

Texas Bowl

December 31, Houston

Missouri (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4)

ESPN, 2:30 p.m. CST

MISSOURI

#12 OLB Sean Weatherspoon, 6-1, 246 – He has been a tackling machine over the last three seasons with the Tigers, as he pulled down 130 in ’07, 155 tackles in ’08 and 104 tackles this season. In 51 games under Gary Pinkel, Weatherspoon had 399 tackles, 43.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. He also had four interceptions, including two that he returned for touchdowns. He’s a durable player who missed one game in his college career. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Sun Bowl

Sun Bowl

December 31, El Paso, Texas

Stanford (8-4) vs. Oklahoma (7-5)

CBS, 1 p.m. CST

STANFORD

#7 RB Toby Gerhart, 6-1, 235 pounds – A first-team All-America selection, Gerhart became a sensation in the ’09 season and has put himself into the first round of the NFL Draft. He has said he’ll make his decision after the bowl game, but there really isn’t much of a decision for him to make because his status in the draft will be high. He ran for 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns this season, with 10 games over 100 yards and three games over 200 yards. Over his 37-game career, he’s rushed 630 times for 3,387 yards and 42 rushing TDs. He’s caught 38 passes for 387 yards. Gerhart had 19 games where he rushed for 100 yards or more. He suffered a season ending knee injury in 2007. Gerhart is also a top notch baseball player, working the outfield for the Stanford squad. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: International Bowl

International Bowl

January 2, Toronto

South Florida (7-5) vs. Northern Illinois (7-5)

ESPN2, 11 a.m. CST

SOUTH FLORIDA

#90 DE Jason Pierre-Paul, 6-5, 263 pounds – A first-team all-Big East selection in his initial season in the conference in 2009. He played the ’07 season at College of the Canyons Juco where he racked up 14 sacks. Then in ’08 he transferred to Fort Scott C.C. in the Jayhawk Conference and had 10.5 sacks and was first-team All-JUCO. Landed at South Florida in ’09 and contributed 33 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and one interception in 10 games. He’s a junior and has applied to the NFL advisory board for an idea of where he might be selected. After the bowl game, he’ll make a decision on 2010. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Sugar Bowl

Sugar Bowl

January 1, New Orleans

Florida (12-1) vs. Cincinnati (12-0)

FOX, 7:30 p.m. CST

FLORIDA

#5 CB Joe Haden, 5-11, 191 pounds – Although he’s not officially announced he’s leaving the Gators, everyone associated with the program and Haden believe he’ll announce his intention to enter the draft early next week. Haden was first-team All-America and All-SEC in 39 games, Haden has eight interceptions, 212 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss. He also forced three fumbles and has one blocked kick. This season h has four interceptions and three sacks with 62 total tackles. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Gator Bowl

Gator Bowl

January 1, Jacksonville

West Virginia (9-3) vs. Florida State (6-6)

CBS, Noon CST

WEST VIRGINIA

#66 OT Selvish Capers – 6-5, 293 pounds – A second-team All-Big East selection at right tackle, Capers began his career with WVU as a tight end, but was moved to tackle in ’07 and has played there since. During the ’08 season, he was effectively a left tackle, since Mountaineers QB Pat White was a left –hander. He seemed to handle that situation without much of a problem. …Read More!

College Bowl Preview: Rose Bowl

Rose Bowl

January 1, Pasadena, California

Ohio State (10-2) vs. Oregon (10-2)

ABC, 3:30 p.m. CST

OHIO STATE

#4 S Kurt Coleman, 5-10, 189 pounds – An all-Big 10 Conference first-teamer in the ’09 season, Coleman is a team captain and the brains of the Ohio State defense. This season he had 64 total tackles, with a sack, three forced fumbles and five interceptions. He took one of those picks back 89 yards for a score against Wisconsin, and he added 14 tackles. Coleman also was suspended for one-game by the Big 10 for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Indiana. Over his career, he played in 43 games with 215 total tackles, nine interceptions, one returned for a TD. He also blocked two kicks. …Read More!