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Hart graduate Ryan Wolfe: Running the NFL route
Wolfe is working to take his game to the pros
http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/26945/
Hart High School graduate and former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, receiver Ryan Wolfe answers questions at UNLV’s Pro Day on March 25 in Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy of Mark Wallington/UNLV 2 of 2 View Larger
By Paul Putignano
Signal Staff Writer
[email protected]
661-259-1234 x536
Posted: April 4, 2010 10:32 p.m.
POSTED April 5, 2010 4:55 a.m.
Few stages in sports are bigger than the one Hart graduate Ryan Wolfe now has the chance to take.
After a record-setting career playing wide receiver for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wolfe’s next stop could be the NFL.
And having gone through the NFL Combine and UNLV’s pro day, along with meetings with potential NFL suitors on the horizon, Wolfe is left counting down the days until the draft begins on April 22 in New York.
“Growing up as a little kid, everyone imagines — while playing catch in the front yard — of playing in the NFL and making the game-winning diving catch,” he says. “It would be a dream come true to play at the next level.”
Wolfe has come a long way since Hart’s 2003 CIF football championship and 2005 CIF-Southern Section Division IAA basketball title game.
During his career with the Rebels, Wolfe amassed a Mountain West Conference-record 283 receptions to go along with 15 touchdowns and a school-record 3,495 yards.
The 6-foot-2-inch receiver was named to the All-MWC first team for a third time, joining former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and safety Jamaal Brimmer as the only other Rebels to achieve such a feat.
“For me going in, I set my goals — you want to set them high and be the best at your position,” Wolfe says. “Coming in on my recruiting trip, you see the board of records and you wonder what your name would look like on the top of those lists.”
Wolfe entered his final season having already graduated with a degree in kinesiology. So in his final season, Wolfe not only went to work on the record books, he began chipping away at his master’s degree.
Despite missing a game when he suffered a broken foot in late November, Wolfe caught 74 passes for 760 yards, 139 short of the MWC record for yards in a career.
“The legacy he left that program and me with, wherever I coach in the future, is just the hard work and determination and professionalism in the way he approaches his business,” says Wolfe’s former UNLV wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich, who is now at the University of Arkansas. “I use some clips of him even coaching in my new job because I think he’s a really special football player. Even more than that, he’s a fine young man.”
Cinkovich believes that Wolfe’s draft stock is high.
“What I personally believe and what I’ve heard from scouts, is it is really strong,” Cinkovich says. “Two things: He’s overall a great football player ... and I think that will serve him well at the next level. He also proved at UNLV that he can play in the kicking game.”
Special teams coverage could provide the opening Wolfe needs to land with an NFL franchise.
To ensure that his prospects remain open, Wolfe attended the NFL Combine in late February.
At the Combine, athletes are put through a battery of tests, including bench press, sprints, physical inspections and interviews.
Wolfe benched 225 pounds 13 times, but he says he spent most of the time proving that his foot was just fine.
“The main focus for me, because I broke my foot at the end of the year, was to let the doctors from every team get a chance to X-ray it and shore up any doubts that it wasn’t 100 percent,” Wolfe says.
His agent, Steve Caric, says Wolfe passed the tests with flying colors.
“The most important thing going into the NFL, more than speed, more than (vertical leap), is your health,” he says. “No one wants to buy damaged goods. That’s the part of the Combine that is not on television. It is the most important part of the Combine — players going to the hospital and getting MRIs and CT-scans.”
On March 25, Wolfe got a second chance to work out for NFL scouts when UNLV’s pro day rolled around.
With that chance came more interviews and tests.
According to UNLV officials, 19 scouts from 16 different NFL teams were on hand.
He improved his bench press by two repetitions, recorded a broad jump of 9 feet, 10 inches and a vertical jump of 33.5 inches.
But during his first 40-yard dash, Wolfe injured his hamstring.
The time was thrown out and the rest of his sprints were called off.
“I don’t think anyone is really going to be worried about him as injury-prone,” he says. “It was a non-contact injury. He had played in 47 of 47 UNLV games and started in 44 of those.”
On March 27, Wolfe met with an undisclosed NFL team.
The team’s head coach and general manager were present.
According to Caric, more such meetings are on the docket.
And with each one, Wolfe’s likelihood of playing on Sundays gets better and better.
If he isn’t drafted, Caric says he will like be a priority free agent, eligible to sign with any team.
Wolfe has drawn a consistent comparison to current Indianapolis wide receiver Austin Collie, a former player at Brigham Young University with a similar build and style, Caric says.
Last season, Collie caught 60 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie for the Colts.
“The most important thing is that (Wolfe) has been one of the most productive and most consistent players in all of college football,” Caric says. “While his pro day didn’t go quite how he wanted it to, (his career) still speaks for itself. He is dynamic, coachable, works hard and does all the little things right. When you have a four-year guy like that, there is no doubt he will be successful at the next level.”
Caric says the interest is definitely there.
But given the nature of the draft, where teams plot and strategize to get the guys they want, little is certain.
It’s a prosepect that isn’t bothering Wolfe.
“Right now, hopefully I can get some individual workouts set up, meet with some more teams, just stay in shape,” he says. “I’m kind of play the waiting game and see what other teams are saying.”
Wolfe is working to take his game to the pros
http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/26945/
Hart High School graduate and former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, receiver Ryan Wolfe answers questions at UNLV’s Pro Day on March 25 in Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy of Mark Wallington/UNLV 2 of 2 View Larger
By Paul Putignano
Signal Staff Writer
[email protected]
661-259-1234 x536
Posted: April 4, 2010 10:32 p.m.
POSTED April 5, 2010 4:55 a.m.
Few stages in sports are bigger than the one Hart graduate Ryan Wolfe now has the chance to take.
After a record-setting career playing wide receiver for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Wolfe’s next stop could be the NFL.
And having gone through the NFL Combine and UNLV’s pro day, along with meetings with potential NFL suitors on the horizon, Wolfe is left counting down the days until the draft begins on April 22 in New York.
“Growing up as a little kid, everyone imagines — while playing catch in the front yard — of playing in the NFL and making the game-winning diving catch,” he says. “It would be a dream come true to play at the next level.”
Wolfe has come a long way since Hart’s 2003 CIF football championship and 2005 CIF-Southern Section Division IAA basketball title game.
During his career with the Rebels, Wolfe amassed a Mountain West Conference-record 283 receptions to go along with 15 touchdowns and a school-record 3,495 yards.
The 6-foot-2-inch receiver was named to the All-MWC first team for a third time, joining former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham and safety Jamaal Brimmer as the only other Rebels to achieve such a feat.
“For me going in, I set my goals — you want to set them high and be the best at your position,” Wolfe says. “Coming in on my recruiting trip, you see the board of records and you wonder what your name would look like on the top of those lists.”
Wolfe entered his final season having already graduated with a degree in kinesiology. So in his final season, Wolfe not only went to work on the record books, he began chipping away at his master’s degree.
Despite missing a game when he suffered a broken foot in late November, Wolfe caught 74 passes for 760 yards, 139 short of the MWC record for yards in a career.
“The legacy he left that program and me with, wherever I coach in the future, is just the hard work and determination and professionalism in the way he approaches his business,” says Wolfe’s former UNLV wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich, who is now at the University of Arkansas. “I use some clips of him even coaching in my new job because I think he’s a really special football player. Even more than that, he’s a fine young man.”
Cinkovich believes that Wolfe’s draft stock is high.
“What I personally believe and what I’ve heard from scouts, is it is really strong,” Cinkovich says. “Two things: He’s overall a great football player ... and I think that will serve him well at the next level. He also proved at UNLV that he can play in the kicking game.”
Special teams coverage could provide the opening Wolfe needs to land with an NFL franchise.
To ensure that his prospects remain open, Wolfe attended the NFL Combine in late February.
At the Combine, athletes are put through a battery of tests, including bench press, sprints, physical inspections and interviews.
Wolfe benched 225 pounds 13 times, but he says he spent most of the time proving that his foot was just fine.
“The main focus for me, because I broke my foot at the end of the year, was to let the doctors from every team get a chance to X-ray it and shore up any doubts that it wasn’t 100 percent,” Wolfe says.
His agent, Steve Caric, says Wolfe passed the tests with flying colors.
“The most important thing going into the NFL, more than speed, more than (vertical leap), is your health,” he says. “No one wants to buy damaged goods. That’s the part of the Combine that is not on television. It is the most important part of the Combine — players going to the hospital and getting MRIs and CT-scans.”
On March 25, Wolfe got a second chance to work out for NFL scouts when UNLV’s pro day rolled around.
With that chance came more interviews and tests.
According to UNLV officials, 19 scouts from 16 different NFL teams were on hand.
He improved his bench press by two repetitions, recorded a broad jump of 9 feet, 10 inches and a vertical jump of 33.5 inches.
But during his first 40-yard dash, Wolfe injured his hamstring.
The time was thrown out and the rest of his sprints were called off.
“I don’t think anyone is really going to be worried about him as injury-prone,” he says. “It was a non-contact injury. He had played in 47 of 47 UNLV games and started in 44 of those.”
On March 27, Wolfe met with an undisclosed NFL team.
The team’s head coach and general manager were present.
According to Caric, more such meetings are on the docket.
And with each one, Wolfe’s likelihood of playing on Sundays gets better and better.
If he isn’t drafted, Caric says he will like be a priority free agent, eligible to sign with any team.
Wolfe has drawn a consistent comparison to current Indianapolis wide receiver Austin Collie, a former player at Brigham Young University with a similar build and style, Caric says.
Last season, Collie caught 60 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie for the Colts.
“The most important thing is that (Wolfe) has been one of the most productive and most consistent players in all of college football,” Caric says. “While his pro day didn’t go quite how he wanted it to, (his career) still speaks for itself. He is dynamic, coachable, works hard and does all the little things right. When you have a four-year guy like that, there is no doubt he will be successful at the next level.”
Caric says the interest is definitely there.
But given the nature of the draft, where teams plot and strategize to get the guys they want, little is certain.
It’s a prosepect that isn’t bothering Wolfe.
“Right now, hopefully I can get some individual workouts set up, meet with some more teams, just stay in shape,” he says. “I’m kind of play the waiting game and see what other teams are saying.”
DAL @ GB
