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Kent State recruits are a forgotten pipeline to the pros
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 03:38 p.m. EDT, Apr 10, 2010
http://www.ohio.com/sports/90528399.html
During Kent State's pro day last month, Jameson Konz's first attempt at the vertical jump didn't count.
The bar wasn't set high enough.
''They had to reset the whole contraption,'' KSU sports information director Alan Ashby said. ''His hand went over the top the first time.''
Konz, a linebacker-turned-tight end who could play H-back in the pros, hit 46 inches — two inches higher than anyone invited to February's NFL Scouting Combine. But only two or three scouts were there to see him.
Eight former Golden Flashes made an opening weekend roster in 2009, two reached the Super Bowl and three played in the Pro Bowl for the second time in the past three seasons. Yet Kent remains a virtual ghost town in the months leading up to the NFL Draft, which begins its three-day run on April 22.
Hall of fame linebacker Jack Lambert, the most famous Kent State product, is a long-forgotten memory. The success of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, a former Golden Flashes basketball player, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Browns receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs seemingly put Kent State back on the map. But the three Pro Bowlers entered the league as undrafted free agents.
Of 11 former KSU players who went to NFL training camps last summer, eight were undrafted. That group included the Browns' Cribbs and safety Abram Elam. The three who were selected — New Orleans Saints cornerback Usama Young, Detroit Lions cornerback Jack Williams, an ex-Denver Bronco, and New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, like Cribbs a former KSU quarterback — went in the third, fourth and seventh rounds.
Kent State's eight in the NFL on opening weekend led the Mid-American Conference, which had 50 players on that list. Toledo and Northern Illinois followed with seven apiece and Akron had six.
But KSU's pipeline to the pros continues to be ignored by many of the league's personnel directors.
''Clearly, there is some pattern here that can't be denied,'' said Los Angeles-based agent Donald Yee, who represents Konz and Edelman. ''Not only have some of these undrafted players made it in the NFL, but they've become far better than average NFL players.''
Some might include more than the big three in that assessment.
Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir, who entered the league as a rookie free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2007, was credited with shoring up the Colts' beleaguered run defense last season.
Edelman was selected in the final round because the Patriots didn't want to fight for his services in the hours after the draft. He came to the rescue when Wes Welker suffered a season-ending knee injury, starting seven games as a rookie and finished with 37 catches for 359 yards and a touchdown.
''The amazing thing about those guys to me is none of them were highly recruited out of high school, either,'' Kent State coach Doug Martin said. ''We were the only scholarship offer Edelman and Konz had. Several of those other guys playing in the NFL were the same way.''
Yee said one reason scouts might overlook Kent State is ''that some of these players don't fit into the prototypical NFL height, weight and speed standards. Many people could argue, however, that these standards lack some merit.''
Martin said Williams (now 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds) weighed 160 pounds when he arrived at KSU. Muir played at 275 when he was a first-team all-MAC selection; Martin said he weighed 320 when he spoke to the team last fall. The same was true of Lambert, who tipped the scales at 187 pounds when he arrived on campus. Before they selected him in the second round in 1974, the Steelers worried that Lambert, then 6-4 and 220, was too small.
Another reason for the lack of NFL foot traffic and draft choices is the Golden Flashes' record of 39-77 in the 2000s, with only two nonlosing seasons. Martin's teams have gone 24-46 in his six years. That's not going to help draw scouts, even on a side trip from big Division I schools.
''We haven't had success as a team. That may be one of the things that gets these guys to fly under the radar,'' Martin said. ''But we've had a lot of individual success and I think that's beginning to draw NFL scouts back to us.''
The NFL supposedly turns over every rock to find talent. But that approach might be more applicable to Martin and his staff, who take an unusual approach in recruiting.
''Our coaching staff has developed a reputation of being really good recruiters and really good evaluators,'' Martin said. ''We've never been shy to sign a kid just because other schools don't recruit him. We rely on our own evaluations and I think that's rare.
''When you go into other schools, the first thing a recruiter asks the coach is, 'Who else is recruiting him?' If a coach says, 'Nobody is really recruiting him,' they just assume he can't play. We never ask that. We just make our own opinions.''
That might give the Golden Flashes a collection of what the league could consider misfits — players who are too small or too slow, or players with academic issues. The latter was the case with Muir, whom Martin said was '''immature and struggling in the classroom'' his first two years. Martin said he doesn't take a chance on recruits who have had run-ins with the law.
''We've recruited guys who we thought were good players and when they got here, we've done a good job developing them,'' Martin said.
The next to follow in the overlooked footsteps of Cribbs, Harrison and Gates might be Konz. He played linebacker in 2005-07, then was moved to tight end in 2008, when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the opener. In 2009, Konz switched to H-back, catching 21 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns, his numbers limited by a rash of injuries at quarterback.
Konz, 6-3 and 234 pounds, was not invited to the combine, but dazzled at pro day. He hit 10 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump (better than any combine tight end by 3 inches) and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 and 4.46 seconds. A Browns scout was reportedly one of the few there.
Martin said Konz's recent workout for the Super Bowl champion Saints was just as spectacular, especially in the vertical jump.
''He jumped 41 inches on his first one and the scout was amazed,'' Martin said. ''Jameson was really disappointed and asked if he could do it again. The scout said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Because I can jump a lot higher than that.' He got back up to 43 or 44 inches.''
Even with those numbers, Yee knows Konz might not be drafted.
''There's a lot of debate whether he simply performs well on these workout tests and whether that will translate into a good player at the NFL level,'' Yee said. ''That's always a fair question. We'll just have to see.''
Martin said Konz could eventually play tight end or wide receiver, especially with his speed.
''It's just a case of Jameson being comfortable,'' Martin said. ''If he will catch the ball well, he's going to play for a long time.''
Finding the right role for Konz might be a project that few teams are willing to tackle. One up to the task could be Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who brought Golden Flashes wrestler Jermail Porter to camp last year as an offensive lineman. (Porter is now with the Kansas City Chiefs.)
In the case of Konz, at least draft analysts are starting to take notice.
''Jameson Konz is a hell of an athlete,'' ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said during a conference call last week. ''He's got to get more reps catching the football. His blocking needs to improve. He's the kind of guy you bring in and find where he will carve a niche, whether it's fullback, H-back, move to tight end. Something that's going to allow him to at least get a chance. His workouts were enough to open some eyes and give him a chance to be draftable.''
Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly said Konz's 46-inch vertical jump was ''extremely rare.''
''He could be the potential next great one to come from that program,'' Nawrocki said on a recent conference call. ''He's clearly got a lot of athletic ability and he hasn't been developed enough.''
Nawrocki believes former Kent State players have proven the school's draft prospects should be taken seriously.
''These guys just haven't had enough of a platform and they haven't had enough opportunity, but they clearly recruit great athletes and they've got a lot of potential,'' Nawrocki said. ''When you've got good coaches who can work with these guys and mold raw clay, you've got something special in some cases.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marla Ridenour can be reached at [email protected]. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns. During Kent State's pro day last month, Jameson Konz's first attempt at the vertical jump didn't count.
The bar wasn't set high enough.
''They had to reset the whole contraption,'' KSU sports information director Alan Ashby said. ''His hand went over the top the first time.''
Konz, a linebacker-turned-tight end who could play H-back in the pros, hit 46 inches — two inches higher than anyone invited to February's NFL Scouting Combine. But only two or three scouts were there to see him.
Eight former Golden Flashes made an opening weekend roster in 2009, two reached the Super Bowl and three played in the Pro Bowl for the second time in the past three seasons. Yet Kent remains a virtual ghost town in the months leading up to the NFL Draft, which begins its three-day run on April 22.
Hall of fame linebacker Jack Lambert, the most famous Kent State product, is a long-forgotten memory. The success of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, a former Golden Flashes basketball player, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Browns receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs seemingly put Kent State back on the map. But the three Pro Bowlers entered the league as undrafted free agents.
Of 11 former KSU players who went to NFL training camps last summer, eight were undrafted. That group included the Browns' Cribbs and safety Abram Elam. The three who were selected — New Orleans Saints cornerback Usama Young, Detroit Lions cornerback Jack Williams, an ex-Denver Bronco, and New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, like Cribbs a former KSU quarterback — went in the third, fourth and seventh rounds.
Kent State's eight in the NFL on opening weekend led the Mid-American Conference, which had 50 players on that list. Toledo and Northern Illinois followed with seven apiece and Akron had six.
But KSU's pipeline to the pros continues to be ignored by many of the league's personnel directors.
''Clearly, there is some pattern here that can't be denied,'' said Los Angeles-based agent Donald Yee, who represents Konz and Edelman. ''Not only have some of these undrafted players made it in the NFL, but they've become far better than average NFL players.''
Some might include more than the big three in that assessment.
Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir, who entered the league as a rookie free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2007, was credited with shoring up the Colts' beleaguered run defense last season.
Edelman was selected in the final round because the Patriots didn't want to fight for his services in the hours after the draft. He came to the rescue when Wes Welker suffered a season-ending knee injury, starting seven games as a rookie and finished with 37 catches for 359 yards and a touchdown.
''The amazing thing about those guys to me is none of them were highly recruited out of high school, either,'' Kent State coach Doug Martin said. ''We were the only scholarship offer Edelman and Konz had. Several of those other guys playing in the NFL were the same way.''
Yee said one reason scouts might overlook Kent State is ''that some of these players don't fit into the prototypical NFL height, weight and speed standards. Many people could argue, however, that these standards lack some merit.''
Martin said Williams (now 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds) weighed 160 pounds when he arrived at KSU. Muir played at 275 when he was a first-team all-MAC selection; Martin said he weighed 320 when he spoke to the team last fall. The same was true of Lambert, who tipped the scales at 187 pounds when he arrived on campus. Before they selected him in the second round in 1974, the Steelers worried that Lambert, then 6-4 and 220, was too small.
Another reason for the lack of NFL foot traffic and draft choices is the Golden Flashes' record of 39-77 in the 2000s, with only two nonlosing seasons. Martin's teams have gone 24-46 in his six years. That's not going to help draw scouts, even on a side trip from big Division I schools.
''We haven't had success as a team. That may be one of the things that gets these guys to fly under the radar,'' Martin said. ''But we've had a lot of individual success and I think that's beginning to draw NFL scouts back to us.''
The NFL supposedly turns over every rock to find talent. But that approach might be more applicable to Martin and his staff, who take an unusual approach in recruiting.
''Our coaching staff has developed a reputation of being really good recruiters and really good evaluators,'' Martin said. ''We've never been shy to sign a kid just because other schools don't recruit him. We rely on our own evaluations and I think that's rare.
''When you go into other schools, the first thing a recruiter asks the coach is, 'Who else is recruiting him?' If a coach says, 'Nobody is really recruiting him,' they just assume he can't play. We never ask that. We just make our own opinions.''
That might give the Golden Flashes a collection of what the league could consider misfits — players who are too small or too slow, or players with academic issues. The latter was the case with Muir, whom Martin said was '''immature and struggling in the classroom'' his first two years. Martin said he doesn't take a chance on recruits who have had run-ins with the law.
''We've recruited guys who we thought were good players and when they got here, we've done a good job developing them,'' Martin said.
The next to follow in the overlooked footsteps of Cribbs, Harrison and Gates might be Konz. He played linebacker in 2005-07, then was moved to tight end in 2008, when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the opener. In 2009, Konz switched to H-back, catching 21 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns, his numbers limited by a rash of injuries at quarterback.
Konz, 6-3 and 234 pounds, was not invited to the combine, but dazzled at pro day. He hit 10 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump (better than any combine tight end by 3 inches) and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 and 4.46 seconds. A Browns scout was reportedly one of the few there.
Martin said Konz's recent workout for the Super Bowl champion Saints was just as spectacular, especially in the vertical jump.
''He jumped 41 inches on his first one and the scout was amazed,'' Martin said. ''Jameson was really disappointed and asked if he could do it again. The scout said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Because I can jump a lot higher than that.' He got back up to 43 or 44 inches.''
Even with those numbers, Yee knows Konz might not be drafted.
''There's a lot of debate whether he simply performs well on these workout tests and whether that will translate into a good player at the NFL level,'' Yee said. ''That's always a fair question. We'll just have to see.''
Martin said Konz could eventually play tight end or wide receiver, especially with his speed.
''It's just a case of Jameson being comfortable,'' Martin said. ''If he will catch the ball well, he's going to play for a long time.''
Finding the right role for Konz might be a project that few teams are willing to tackle. One up to the task could be Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who brought Golden Flashes wrestler Jermail Porter to camp last year as an offensive lineman. (Porter is now with the Kansas City Chiefs.)
In the case of Konz, at least draft analysts are starting to take notice.
''Jameson Konz is a hell of an athlete,'' ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said during a conference call last week. ''He's got to get more reps catching the football. His blocking needs to improve. He's the kind of guy you bring in and find where he will carve a niche, whether it's fullback, H-back, move to tight end. Something that's going to allow him to at least get a chance. His workouts were enough to open some eyes and give him a chance to be draftable.''
Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly said Konz's 46-inch vertical jump was ''extremely rare.''
''He could be the potential next great one to come from that program,'' Nawrocki said on a recent conference call. ''He's clearly got a lot of athletic ability and he hasn't been developed enough.''
Nawrocki believes former Kent State players have proven the school's draft prospects should be taken seriously.
''These guys just haven't had enough of a platform and they haven't had enough opportunity, but they clearly recruit great athletes and they've got a lot of potential,'' Nawrocki said. ''When you've got good coaches who can work with these guys and mold raw clay, you've got something special in some cases.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marla Ridenour can be reached at [email protected]. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns.
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sports writer
POSTED: 03:38 p.m. EDT, Apr 10, 2010
http://www.ohio.com/sports/90528399.html
During Kent State's pro day last month, Jameson Konz's first attempt at the vertical jump didn't count.
The bar wasn't set high enough.
''They had to reset the whole contraption,'' KSU sports information director Alan Ashby said. ''His hand went over the top the first time.''
Konz, a linebacker-turned-tight end who could play H-back in the pros, hit 46 inches — two inches higher than anyone invited to February's NFL Scouting Combine. But only two or three scouts were there to see him.
Eight former Golden Flashes made an opening weekend roster in 2009, two reached the Super Bowl and three played in the Pro Bowl for the second time in the past three seasons. Yet Kent remains a virtual ghost town in the months leading up to the NFL Draft, which begins its three-day run on April 22.
Hall of fame linebacker Jack Lambert, the most famous Kent State product, is a long-forgotten memory. The success of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, a former Golden Flashes basketball player, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Browns receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs seemingly put Kent State back on the map. But the three Pro Bowlers entered the league as undrafted free agents.
Of 11 former KSU players who went to NFL training camps last summer, eight were undrafted. That group included the Browns' Cribbs and safety Abram Elam. The three who were selected — New Orleans Saints cornerback Usama Young, Detroit Lions cornerback Jack Williams, an ex-Denver Bronco, and New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, like Cribbs a former KSU quarterback — went in the third, fourth and seventh rounds.
Kent State's eight in the NFL on opening weekend led the Mid-American Conference, which had 50 players on that list. Toledo and Northern Illinois followed with seven apiece and Akron had six.
But KSU's pipeline to the pros continues to be ignored by many of the league's personnel directors.
''Clearly, there is some pattern here that can't be denied,'' said Los Angeles-based agent Donald Yee, who represents Konz and Edelman. ''Not only have some of these undrafted players made it in the NFL, but they've become far better than average NFL players.''
Some might include more than the big three in that assessment.
Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir, who entered the league as a rookie free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2007, was credited with shoring up the Colts' beleaguered run defense last season.
Edelman was selected in the final round because the Patriots didn't want to fight for his services in the hours after the draft. He came to the rescue when Wes Welker suffered a season-ending knee injury, starting seven games as a rookie and finished with 37 catches for 359 yards and a touchdown.
''The amazing thing about those guys to me is none of them were highly recruited out of high school, either,'' Kent State coach Doug Martin said. ''We were the only scholarship offer Edelman and Konz had. Several of those other guys playing in the NFL were the same way.''
Yee said one reason scouts might overlook Kent State is ''that some of these players don't fit into the prototypical NFL height, weight and speed standards. Many people could argue, however, that these standards lack some merit.''
Martin said Williams (now 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds) weighed 160 pounds when he arrived at KSU. Muir played at 275 when he was a first-team all-MAC selection; Martin said he weighed 320 when he spoke to the team last fall. The same was true of Lambert, who tipped the scales at 187 pounds when he arrived on campus. Before they selected him in the second round in 1974, the Steelers worried that Lambert, then 6-4 and 220, was too small.
Another reason for the lack of NFL foot traffic and draft choices is the Golden Flashes' record of 39-77 in the 2000s, with only two nonlosing seasons. Martin's teams have gone 24-46 in his six years. That's not going to help draw scouts, even on a side trip from big Division I schools.
''We haven't had success as a team. That may be one of the things that gets these guys to fly under the radar,'' Martin said. ''But we've had a lot of individual success and I think that's beginning to draw NFL scouts back to us.''
The NFL supposedly turns over every rock to find talent. But that approach might be more applicable to Martin and his staff, who take an unusual approach in recruiting.
''Our coaching staff has developed a reputation of being really good recruiters and really good evaluators,'' Martin said. ''We've never been shy to sign a kid just because other schools don't recruit him. We rely on our own evaluations and I think that's rare.
''When you go into other schools, the first thing a recruiter asks the coach is, 'Who else is recruiting him?' If a coach says, 'Nobody is really recruiting him,' they just assume he can't play. We never ask that. We just make our own opinions.''
That might give the Golden Flashes a collection of what the league could consider misfits — players who are too small or too slow, or players with academic issues. The latter was the case with Muir, whom Martin said was '''immature and struggling in the classroom'' his first two years. Martin said he doesn't take a chance on recruits who have had run-ins with the law.
''We've recruited guys who we thought were good players and when they got here, we've done a good job developing them,'' Martin said.
The next to follow in the overlooked footsteps of Cribbs, Harrison and Gates might be Konz. He played linebacker in 2005-07, then was moved to tight end in 2008, when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the opener. In 2009, Konz switched to H-back, catching 21 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns, his numbers limited by a rash of injuries at quarterback.
Konz, 6-3 and 234 pounds, was not invited to the combine, but dazzled at pro day. He hit 10 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump (better than any combine tight end by 3 inches) and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 and 4.46 seconds. A Browns scout was reportedly one of the few there.
Martin said Konz's recent workout for the Super Bowl champion Saints was just as spectacular, especially in the vertical jump.
''He jumped 41 inches on his first one and the scout was amazed,'' Martin said. ''Jameson was really disappointed and asked if he could do it again. The scout said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Because I can jump a lot higher than that.' He got back up to 43 or 44 inches.''
Even with those numbers, Yee knows Konz might not be drafted.
''There's a lot of debate whether he simply performs well on these workout tests and whether that will translate into a good player at the NFL level,'' Yee said. ''That's always a fair question. We'll just have to see.''
Martin said Konz could eventually play tight end or wide receiver, especially with his speed.
''It's just a case of Jameson being comfortable,'' Martin said. ''If he will catch the ball well, he's going to play for a long time.''
Finding the right role for Konz might be a project that few teams are willing to tackle. One up to the task could be Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who brought Golden Flashes wrestler Jermail Porter to camp last year as an offensive lineman. (Porter is now with the Kansas City Chiefs.)
In the case of Konz, at least draft analysts are starting to take notice.
''Jameson Konz is a hell of an athlete,'' ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said during a conference call last week. ''He's got to get more reps catching the football. His blocking needs to improve. He's the kind of guy you bring in and find where he will carve a niche, whether it's fullback, H-back, move to tight end. Something that's going to allow him to at least get a chance. His workouts were enough to open some eyes and give him a chance to be draftable.''
Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly said Konz's 46-inch vertical jump was ''extremely rare.''
''He could be the potential next great one to come from that program,'' Nawrocki said on a recent conference call. ''He's clearly got a lot of athletic ability and he hasn't been developed enough.''
Nawrocki believes former Kent State players have proven the school's draft prospects should be taken seriously.
''These guys just haven't had enough of a platform and they haven't had enough opportunity, but they clearly recruit great athletes and they've got a lot of potential,'' Nawrocki said. ''When you've got good coaches who can work with these guys and mold raw clay, you've got something special in some cases.''
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marla Ridenour can be reached at [email protected]. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns. During Kent State's pro day last month, Jameson Konz's first attempt at the vertical jump didn't count.
The bar wasn't set high enough.
''They had to reset the whole contraption,'' KSU sports information director Alan Ashby said. ''His hand went over the top the first time.''
Konz, a linebacker-turned-tight end who could play H-back in the pros, hit 46 inches — two inches higher than anyone invited to February's NFL Scouting Combine. But only two or three scouts were there to see him.
Eight former Golden Flashes made an opening weekend roster in 2009, two reached the Super Bowl and three played in the Pro Bowl for the second time in the past three seasons. Yet Kent remains a virtual ghost town in the months leading up to the NFL Draft, which begins its three-day run on April 22.
Hall of fame linebacker Jack Lambert, the most famous Kent State product, is a long-forgotten memory. The success of San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates, a former Golden Flashes basketball player, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison and Browns receiver/returner Joshua Cribbs seemingly put Kent State back on the map. But the three Pro Bowlers entered the league as undrafted free agents.
Of 11 former KSU players who went to NFL training camps last summer, eight were undrafted. That group included the Browns' Cribbs and safety Abram Elam. The three who were selected — New Orleans Saints cornerback Usama Young, Detroit Lions cornerback Jack Williams, an ex-Denver Bronco, and New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman, like Cribbs a former KSU quarterback — went in the third, fourth and seventh rounds.
Kent State's eight in the NFL on opening weekend led the Mid-American Conference, which had 50 players on that list. Toledo and Northern Illinois followed with seven apiece and Akron had six.
But KSU's pipeline to the pros continues to be ignored by many of the league's personnel directors.
''Clearly, there is some pattern here that can't be denied,'' said Los Angeles-based agent Donald Yee, who represents Konz and Edelman. ''Not only have some of these undrafted players made it in the NFL, but they've become far better than average NFL players.''
Some might include more than the big three in that assessment.
Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Dan Muir, who entered the league as a rookie free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2007, was credited with shoring up the Colts' beleaguered run defense last season.
Edelman was selected in the final round because the Patriots didn't want to fight for his services in the hours after the draft. He came to the rescue when Wes Welker suffered a season-ending knee injury, starting seven games as a rookie and finished with 37 catches for 359 yards and a touchdown.
''The amazing thing about those guys to me is none of them were highly recruited out of high school, either,'' Kent State coach Doug Martin said. ''We were the only scholarship offer Edelman and Konz had. Several of those other guys playing in the NFL were the same way.''
Yee said one reason scouts might overlook Kent State is ''that some of these players don't fit into the prototypical NFL height, weight and speed standards. Many people could argue, however, that these standards lack some merit.''
Martin said Williams (now 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds) weighed 160 pounds when he arrived at KSU. Muir played at 275 when he was a first-team all-MAC selection; Martin said he weighed 320 when he spoke to the team last fall. The same was true of Lambert, who tipped the scales at 187 pounds when he arrived on campus. Before they selected him in the second round in 1974, the Steelers worried that Lambert, then 6-4 and 220, was too small.
Another reason for the lack of NFL foot traffic and draft choices is the Golden Flashes' record of 39-77 in the 2000s, with only two nonlosing seasons. Martin's teams have gone 24-46 in his six years. That's not going to help draw scouts, even on a side trip from big Division I schools.
''We haven't had success as a team. That may be one of the things that gets these guys to fly under the radar,'' Martin said. ''But we've had a lot of individual success and I think that's beginning to draw NFL scouts back to us.''
The NFL supposedly turns over every rock to find talent. But that approach might be more applicable to Martin and his staff, who take an unusual approach in recruiting.
''Our coaching staff has developed a reputation of being really good recruiters and really good evaluators,'' Martin said. ''We've never been shy to sign a kid just because other schools don't recruit him. We rely on our own evaluations and I think that's rare.
''When you go into other schools, the first thing a recruiter asks the coach is, 'Who else is recruiting him?' If a coach says, 'Nobody is really recruiting him,' they just assume he can't play. We never ask that. We just make our own opinions.''
That might give the Golden Flashes a collection of what the league could consider misfits — players who are too small or too slow, or players with academic issues. The latter was the case with Muir, whom Martin said was '''immature and struggling in the classroom'' his first two years. Martin said he doesn't take a chance on recruits who have had run-ins with the law.
''We've recruited guys who we thought were good players and when they got here, we've done a good job developing them,'' Martin said.
The next to follow in the overlooked footsteps of Cribbs, Harrison and Gates might be Konz. He played linebacker in 2005-07, then was moved to tight end in 2008, when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the opener. In 2009, Konz switched to H-back, catching 21 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns, his numbers limited by a rash of injuries at quarterback.
Konz, 6-3 and 234 pounds, was not invited to the combine, but dazzled at pro day. He hit 10 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump (better than any combine tight end by 3 inches) and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 and 4.46 seconds. A Browns scout was reportedly one of the few there.
Martin said Konz's recent workout for the Super Bowl champion Saints was just as spectacular, especially in the vertical jump.
''He jumped 41 inches on his first one and the scout was amazed,'' Martin said. ''Jameson was really disappointed and asked if he could do it again. The scout said, 'Why?' and he said, 'Because I can jump a lot higher than that.' He got back up to 43 or 44 inches.''
Even with those numbers, Yee knows Konz might not be drafted.
''There's a lot of debate whether he simply performs well on these workout tests and whether that will translate into a good player at the NFL level,'' Yee said. ''That's always a fair question. We'll just have to see.''
Martin said Konz could eventually play tight end or wide receiver, especially with his speed.
''It's just a case of Jameson being comfortable,'' Martin said. ''If he will catch the ball well, he's going to play for a long time.''
Finding the right role for Konz might be a project that few teams are willing to tackle. One up to the task could be Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who brought Golden Flashes wrestler Jermail Porter to camp last year as an offensive lineman. (Porter is now with the Kansas City Chiefs.)
In the case of Konz, at least draft analysts are starting to take notice.
''Jameson Konz is a hell of an athlete,'' ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. said during a conference call last week. ''He's got to get more reps catching the football. His blocking needs to improve. He's the kind of guy you bring in and find where he will carve a niche, whether it's fullback, H-back, move to tight end. Something that's going to allow him to at least get a chance. His workouts were enough to open some eyes and give him a chance to be draftable.''
Nolan Nawrocki of Pro Football Weekly said Konz's 46-inch vertical jump was ''extremely rare.''
''He could be the potential next great one to come from that program,'' Nawrocki said on a recent conference call. ''He's clearly got a lot of athletic ability and he hasn't been developed enough.''
Nawrocki believes former Kent State players have proven the school's draft prospects should be taken seriously.
''These guys just haven't had enough of a platform and they haven't had enough opportunity, but they clearly recruit great athletes and they've got a lot of potential,'' Nawrocki said. ''When you've got good coaches who can work with these guys and mold raw clay, you've got something special in some cases.''
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Marla Ridenour can be reached at [email protected]. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/. Follow the Browns on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ABJ_Browns.
DAL @ GB
