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Under-the-radar fullback Jack Corcoran hoping to showcase more than stats at Rutgers Pro Day
By Tom Luicci/The Star-Ledger
March 10, 2010, 7:00AM
Chris Faytok/The Star-LedgerFullback Jack Corcoran runs after catching a screen pass against Navy earlier in his Rutgers career.Jack Corcoran finds himself in a sort of football limbo these days — talented enough to draw interest from NFL scouts but not quite productive enough as a college player to merit being drafted next month.
If nothing else, it’s a familiar situation for him. Corcoran’s final season at Rutgers ended in December and left him stuck in no-man’s land as well, a regular starter but a forgotten contributor.
“Of course I would have liked to have had a better senior year,” said the Knights’ former fullback, one of 16 ex-Rutgers players who will participate in the school’s annual pro-day drills Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t really know how to explain what happened. We did some different things on offense. There’s nothing else really to it. I don’t know how else to explain it.
“I wasn’t in games as much as I was my junior year because we did some different things.”
The 6-1, 230-pound Corcoran, a three-year starter, represents the other end of the spectrum from teammates Anthony Davis, a projected top-10 NFL Draft pick, and Devin McCourty, a potential late first-round pick. They will be the marquee names during the pro-day drills that will be conducted in the Bubble indoor facility across from Rutgers Stadium under the watchful eyes of NFL scouts from almost every team in league.
Davis, who left after his junior year, is rated as one of the Draft’s top three offensive tackles. And McCourty’s pro stock at cornerback continues to soar — an extension of an impressive senior year.
Corcoran? He is a bit undersized and comes off a senior year in which he didn’t get one of the team’s 484 carries and caught just five passes for 52 yards.
The challenge now is trying to convince pro scouts none of that matters, especially at his position, and that he does have the requisite size as well as the toughness to be an NFL fullback.
But he knows it’s an uphill climb starting today, just as it will be for former teammates Blair Bines, Ryan Blaszczyk, Pat Brown, Tim Brown, Andrew DePaola, Ryan D’Imperio, Shamar Graves, Kevin Haslam, George Johnson, Stephante Kent, Zaire Kitchen, Jabu Lovelace and Damaso Munoz. They also will be showcasing their skills today, hoping to catch someone’s eye.
“What it’s going to be, it’s going to be,” Corcoran said of his draft prospects. “I’m going to train the best I can to get my stock up. I’m hearing seventh (and final) round maybe, but I’ll probably be a free agent. Hopefully, I have time to raise my stock and impress scouts.”
Once a heralded recruit from St. Joseph’s in Hammonton, Corcoran was supposed to be Rutgers’ next Brian Leonard. Instead, he spent the past three years mostly as an under-the-radar starter.
“I’m not overly concerned with what happened last year or in my college career,” he said. “Obviously, I’d like to get drafted. If not, I’ll make the best of what happens. Certainly guys have done it without being drafted.”
Two, in fact (Gary Brackett and Eric Foster of the Colts), played in last month’s Super Bowl. Neither was drafted out of Rutgers.
“It’s all up to me now,” Corcoran said. “That’s how I like it.”
Tom Luicci may be reached at tluicci@starledger.com
By Tom Luicci/The Star-Ledger
March 10, 2010, 7:00AM
Chris Faytok/The Star-LedgerFullback Jack Corcoran runs after catching a screen pass against Navy earlier in his Rutgers career.Jack Corcoran finds himself in a sort of football limbo these days — talented enough to draw interest from NFL scouts but not quite productive enough as a college player to merit being drafted next month.
If nothing else, it’s a familiar situation for him. Corcoran’s final season at Rutgers ended in December and left him stuck in no-man’s land as well, a regular starter but a forgotten contributor.
“Of course I would have liked to have had a better senior year,” said the Knights’ former fullback, one of 16 ex-Rutgers players who will participate in the school’s annual pro-day drills Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t really know how to explain what happened. We did some different things on offense. There’s nothing else really to it. I don’t know how else to explain it.
“I wasn’t in games as much as I was my junior year because we did some different things.”
The 6-1, 230-pound Corcoran, a three-year starter, represents the other end of the spectrum from teammates Anthony Davis, a projected top-10 NFL Draft pick, and Devin McCourty, a potential late first-round pick. They will be the marquee names during the pro-day drills that will be conducted in the Bubble indoor facility across from Rutgers Stadium under the watchful eyes of NFL scouts from almost every team in league.
Davis, who left after his junior year, is rated as one of the Draft’s top three offensive tackles. And McCourty’s pro stock at cornerback continues to soar — an extension of an impressive senior year.
Corcoran? He is a bit undersized and comes off a senior year in which he didn’t get one of the team’s 484 carries and caught just five passes for 52 yards.
The challenge now is trying to convince pro scouts none of that matters, especially at his position, and that he does have the requisite size as well as the toughness to be an NFL fullback.
But he knows it’s an uphill climb starting today, just as it will be for former teammates Blair Bines, Ryan Blaszczyk, Pat Brown, Tim Brown, Andrew DePaola, Ryan D’Imperio, Shamar Graves, Kevin Haslam, George Johnson, Stephante Kent, Zaire Kitchen, Jabu Lovelace and Damaso Munoz. They also will be showcasing their skills today, hoping to catch someone’s eye.
“What it’s going to be, it’s going to be,” Corcoran said of his draft prospects. “I’m going to train the best I can to get my stock up. I’m hearing seventh (and final) round maybe, but I’ll probably be a free agent. Hopefully, I have time to raise my stock and impress scouts.”
Once a heralded recruit from St. Joseph’s in Hammonton, Corcoran was supposed to be Rutgers’ next Brian Leonard. Instead, he spent the past three years mostly as an under-the-radar starter.
“I’m not overly concerned with what happened last year or in my college career,” he said. “Obviously, I’d like to get drafted. If not, I’ll make the best of what happens. Certainly guys have done it without being drafted.”
Two, in fact (Gary Brackett and Eric Foster of the Colts), played in last month’s Super Bowl. Neither was drafted out of Rutgers.
“It’s all up to me now,” Corcoran said. “That’s how I like it.”
Tom Luicci may be reached at tluicci@starledger.com