CBSsports.com: Junior college stars no longer looked down upon by N.F.L.

[cowboyjoe]

Junior college stars no longer looked down upon by NFL

By Chad Reuter
The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
Aug. 2, 2011Tell Chad your opinion!


http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/...llege-stars-no-longer-looked-down-upon-by-nfl

NFL Draft prospects who had played at a junior college instead of spending their entire careers at a four-year NCAA or NAIA institution once carried a scarlet letter of sorts in their scouting reports.

That's hardly the case in today's NFL.

Two former juco stars took Auburn from middle of the SEC pack to a BCS championship last season. Both landed in the top 13 overall selections of the 2011 draft.

 

[cowboyjoe]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/...llege-stars-no-longer-looked-down-upon-by-nfl

Cornellius "Tank" Carradine*, DE, Florida State, 6-foot-5, 251: If you're looking for an impact defender coming straight out of junior college, Carradine is likely the best bet. The transfer from Butler (Kan.) Community College used his length and great burst off the edge to manage a national juco-best 16 sacks in 2010. Comparisons with former South Florida pass-rushing end Jason Pierre-Paul, who was drafted No. 15 overall by the Giants in 2010 after just one year at USF and two in junior college (College of the Canyons, Fort Scott), are inevitable if he produces this season. For now, the Seminoles just hope he can be the playmaker they need to replace one of the Washington Commanders' four seventh-round picks in April, Markus White -- who also transferred from Butler to Tallahassee after his freshman season.


A junior college All-American at Mount San Antonio College, Bruce Irvin racked up 14 sacks last year at West Virginia. (US Presswire)



Bruce Irvin, DE/OLB, West Virginia, 6-2, 235: A strange fit at defensive end in the Mountaineers' 3-3-5 defense, Irvin racked up 14 sacks as a pass rush specialist in his first year in Morgantown. The former safety was moved to end by coaches at Mount San Antonio College because he arrived on campus too late to learn the defense. His success there (21 tackles for loss, 16 sacks) made him a juco All-American and very coveted prospect by FBS programs. Another exceptional season using his quickness and underrated strength to harass quarterbacks in 2011 may make him equally coveted by NFL teams as a 3-4 rush linebacker.