And my early pet cats, in the order in which they're currently rated by NFL Draft Scout:
Stephen Paea, DT, Oregon State... ranked 12th by NFLDS... 6-1, 315 pounds, 4.95 second 40... I'm kinda hoping that Oregon State has a disappointing season, simply so that Paea might slip in the draft... I love Ratliff at NT, and I have high hopes for Josh Brent, but Paea was born to play NT... he's short, wide, and VERY strong-- 550 pound bench press (44 reps at 225 pounds), 650 pound squat (great leg strength, which a NT needs), 365 pound clean (which speaks to his explosiveness)... although I don't rate NT as a major need for the Boys next offseason, this guy's a special talent, and if he was still on the board when the Boys pick, I'd be hard put to pass on him...
John Moffitt, OG/C, Wisconsin... ranked 60th by NFLDS (2nd or 3rd round)... 6-4, 325 pounds, 5.25 second 40... good call by Hos, I like Moffitt because he can play some center for you too...
Cecil Shorts III, WR, Mount Union... ranked 83rd by NFLDS (3rd or 4th round)... 6-0, 190 pounds, 4.4 second 40... friends, if I had to list just one pet cat in this draft so far, Cecil would be my feline; I'm just fascinated by what he's done in college so far, even at the Division III level... including the season opener this year, Shorts has played in 45 of 46 games, which suggests that he's durable in spite of his relatively small stature... Mount Union has gone 44-2 since he came to the school, and has won 2 national championships...
So, how productive has he been?? Well, first let it be noted that he's a converted quarterback (he actually completed 66.7 per cent of his passes in limited duty as a freshman), so he has a feel for finding the open seams in a defense... for his career, he has 194 receptions for 3614 yards (18.6 average), and 47 TDs... that's 47 TD catches in 45 games played... he's also carried the ball 42 times for 395 yards (9.4 average) and 11 more TDs, suggesting he'd be a threat on reverses... so in 45 games played, he has 4009 yards of offense, and has scored 58 TDs... holy crap!!!
WR won't be a top need for the Boys this coming offseason either, but they could use a home run threat to balance the offense out... Shorts has very good, almost elite speed (he finished 5th in the 55 meter at the Division III championship), and he's obviously a threat to score at any time (he averages
17 yards per touch on offense)... I'd be thrilled if the Boys could snag him in the 3rd... it ain't often that you'll see a Division III player rated as a 3rd round prospect this early in the season, which tells you that Cecil is a rare talent... I think of him as a faster Patrick Crayton coming out of college
Marcus Cannon, OG/OT, TCU... 6-5, 350 pounds, 5.3 second 40... rated 84th by NFLDS (3rd or 4th round)... a massive road grader, Cannon didn't allow a sack last year, so you know he's a good pass blocker... with his size, I suspect he'll also be a fair to middling run blocker, but his draft stock may fall this year because the Horned Frogs are trying him at LT, and he's really not quick enough for that position... I'd sure give him a look as a guard or right tackle prospect if he fell to the 4th round range, though (or even in the 3rd round)...
Sam Acho, DE, Texas... 6-3, 260 pounds, 4.7 second 40... ranked 86th by NFLDS (3rd or 4th round, though I strongly suspect he'll be somewhat higher by draft day)... c'mon, you didn't think I'd go into a football season without at least ONE Horn on my pet cat list, did you?? Though he looks like an OLB conversion prospect at that size, an announcer in the game today said that he was at 300 pounds... I don't know if that announcer was just full of it, but if Sam has bulked up into the 280-290 range, he might be a perfect 3-4 DE... last year, he had 10 sacks, 15 quarterback pressures and 14 tackles for loss, and he just brutalized Wyoming's undersized offensive linemen in today's game... if he's going to be an OLB in the pros, the Boys are pretty set there, but if he's bulked up enough to play DE, they're about to have 3 of their best DEs become unrestricted free agents next offseason...
Owen Marecic, FB, Stanford... 6-1, 245 pounds, 4.7 second 40... ranked 123rd by NFLDS (4th, maybe 5th round)... the Boys like their FBs to be blockers AND receivers, and so far Owen hasn't been much of a factor in the passing game... but he is a ferocious, knock you on your butt lead blocker... I like him because he has played ILB for Stanford too, and because he's a dynamic special teamer for them... maybe he can learn to catch the ball at the next level...
Zach Hurd, OG/OT, Connecticut... 6-7, 325 pounds, 5.15 second 40... ranked 133rd by NFLDS (5th round)... we know the guy can run block, as he helped Donald Brown lead the nation in rushing last year and UConn averaged almost 205 yards per game rushing... Zach moves really well for a guy that size, I think he'd be effective pulling...
Donald Buckram, RB, UTEP... 5-9, 195 pounds, 4.45 second 40... ranked 143rd by NFLDS (likely 6th rounder)... another homer pick for me, I went to UTEP... Buckram is kinda small for an NFL running back, and his speed is good but not great... but he seems to be kind of a smaller Emmitt, he sees the field well and attacks the hole aggressively... the best RB in Miner history, he gained 1594 yards last year on just 259 carries (6.2 average), and scored 18 TDs... his draft stock is likely to be hurt by his lack of size, and the fact that he's missed the first 2 games this season with a sprained knee...
Alex Wujciak, ILB, Maryland... 6-3, 250 pounds, 4.7 second 40... ranked 148th by NFLDS (6th round again)... all I can say about Alex is that he's a run stuffer deluxe; he has 264 tackles in his last 25 games for the Terps... I see him as a possible successor to Bradie James eventually at SILB...
So there's 9 of my early pet cats...
DAL @ GB
