Anxious couple of days for UConn's NFL draft hopefuls

Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Sio Moore lead the list of former
UConn players expected to be taken in the NFL draft.

All the workouts and interviews are in the books, the countless hours of film study are also complete and now it is finally time for the NFL draft.

For a handful of former UConn players it is a couple of days they won't soon forget.

It's a foregone conclusion that cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson, linebacker Sio Moore and defensive end Trevardo Williams will heat their names called but the question is which day and by what team.

Donald Brown is the only UConn player to be taken in the first round when the Indianapolis Colts selected him with the 27th overall pick in the 2009. Will he have some company after all 32 first-round picks are announced tonight?

Wreh-Wilson figures to have the best shot of going in the first round although most of the pre-draft databases have him slated as a second rounder. There have been mock drafts with Wreh-Wilson going late in the first round so that means a long night of watching and wondering for the two-time UConn captain as the first round is held tonight. Tomorrow figures to be a special day in UConn football history with as many as four Huskies going by the end of the third round. The NFL draft marathon ends on Saturday with rounds 4-7.

The NFL Network's Mike Mayock, considered by many to be the best NFL draft analyst in the business, has Moore as his top-rated UConn prospect at No. 64 in his final pre-draft Big Board which is two spots ahead of Wreh-Wilson and eight ahead of Gratz.

This draft is intriguing on a variety of levels for the UConn prospects. Of course you have the story line surrounding whether Wreh-Wilson or perhaps even Moore could sneak into the end of the first round and then will four Huskies be gone by the end of day two or will one of them have to wait. Finally, you have players like tight end Ryan Griffin and linebacker Jory Johnson would have a chance to hear their names called late in the draft or at least will get signed as free agents. They could have company as receivers Michael Smith and Nick Williams, tight end John Delahunt and offensive guard Adam Masters are in some draft prospect databases.

Barring a stunning development, there will be a player from Connecticut taken in the first round tonight - kind of. Bjoern Werner out of Florida State is one of the top defensive ends available in the draft and his football career began at Salisbury. As for the former Connecticut public school stars, I would guess that Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins, who played at Maloney High in Meriden, will be the first one taken. Jenkins' situation is similar to that of Wreh-Wilson as he figures to go either late in the first round or in the second round. Other Connecticut natives to keep an eye on are Florida tight end Jordan Reed out of New London and Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison from Stratford who are projected to go between rounds 3-5.

Offensive line looks to rebound after forgettable 2012 season

The 2012 season was not the best of times for UConn's offensive line.

UConn was 100th nationally in sacks allowed and 117th in rushing offense a combination that resulted in a disappointing 5-7 final record despite ranking ninth in total defense.

Six offensive linemen who started games last season are back so obviously optimism is high among the returnees as they look to reestablish the line as a dominant unit.


"I think we are going to go up," said senior guard Steve Greene. "I know I am not going to stand for it and all the other guys are with me, we are not going to be the weak point of this team. We are going to be the driving force behind this team that helps us win the game.

It was awful. There is no other word that says it. When you can’t run the ball it makes you so one dimensional and teams can virtually just tee off on you and it makes everything else a lot harder. When you can run the ball you can control the game and that is what we need to be back to. That is what we’ve been preaching and what we’ve been working. We are going to run the football and be successful at it."

Running the ball has been a trademark of recent UConn squads which made what happened last season tough to swallow for players and fans alike.

"It was a collaboration of everything, it wasn’t everybody all the time it was one person having a breakdown," Greene said. "On offense you need 11 guys functioning together or it is not going to work. Right now I feel like we are on that page, we are working real well and you are going to see some results.

"The standard has been set. We know what needs to get done. Really there is nothing left to do but to do it. I know it is a corny saying but that is what it comes down to."

The only returning starter gone is right guard Adam Masters who missed the last three games of the season with an ankle injury. 

"We lose Masters who is a special dude, he is tough to replace but he (got injured) early," Greene said. "Gus (Cruz) came out and got a lot of time so you can say we return the five guys we finished the season with which is going to be huge for us."

A bonus is the return of starting left tackle Jimmy Bennett for a sixth season of eligibility.


"Jimmy is one of my best friends, a great kid and the sky is the limit for him," Greene said. "It is good to see him finally play a full year of football last year and it is going to be good to see what he can do in his second year back. I am excited, we are all excited. We have been working well in the spring without Jimmy and when we gets inserted back into the lineup, I feel like it can only go up."

Bennett has shoulder surgery in December forcing him to miss the entire spring camp. In his place Xavier Hemingway and Dalton Gifford have had an opportunity to take first-team reps at left tackle.

"Jimmy is my right arm, I guess my left arm since he plays on my left side," Greene said. "Me and Jimmy have such a good chemistry out there, we don’t even have to make calls to know what each other is doing. It is huge for them to step in and get this time. I honestly felt they have been doing a great job. Honestly I was a little skeptical coming into the spring having X (Hemingway) on my left, a guy who hasn’t had much experience but he has done a great job. He got hurt, he is down right now and Gifford has stepped up and he has done a great job too."

Not only will Bennett be out of the lineup and Hemingway is iffy as well, but Alex Mateas (who started the first four games at center during the 2012 season) at has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. At the last open practice Tyler Bullock was at center with Cruz and Greene at guard,  Kevin Friend and Gifford at tackle on the first team. The second team featured Kyle Bockeloh at center, Zach Rugg and Tyler Samra at guard with Paul Nwokeji and Richard Levy at tackle.

Parking lots will open at Rentschler Field tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. with gates set to open at 10:30 a.m. for the spring game which will start at noon. In the wake of the events in Boston security could be tighter than normal. UConn put out a reminder that  that personal bags are not allowed to be brought into events at Rentschler other than bags containing personal medical supplies.

Plenty of Huskies on NFL Draft Bible's Big Board

                                                                     (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson (left) and Sio Moore are both projected to be second-round
 selections in the NFL Draft Bible database which was released on Thursday.

The NFL Draft Bible site released one of the largest databases of draft prospects with 10 members of the 2012 UConn team among those prospects listed.

The list of more than 1,500 players is done by position. Sio Moore, who was the No. 6 outside linebacker Blidi Wreh-Wilson (No. 8 CB) and Trevardo Williams (No. 9 OLB) were the only UConn products to crack the top 10 at their position. A total of 10 Huskies are on the list (actually the number is 11 but Jesse Joseph is listed as the No. 69 defensive end and he is still a member of the Huskies).

Here's the list:
Rank Player Position  Projected round
6 Sio Moore OLB                   2
8 Blidi Wreh-Wilson CB          2
9 Trevardo Williams OLB      2/3
14 Dwayne Gratz CB            2/3
27 Ryan Griffin TE                 FA
45 Jory Johnson OLB           FA
68 John Delahunt  TE            FA
78 Michael Smith WR           FA
83 Adam Masters OG           FA
112 Nick Williams WR          FA

Also listed is former UConn safety Jerome Junior is the No. 50 listed strong safety, the University of New Haven has three players listed as Ryan Osiecki is the 68th quarterback, Kameel Lashley is the 70th rated tight end and Jason Thompson is 159th at the wide receiver position. New Haven native Jeremy Moore out of Georgetown is the 95th rated cornerback sack, Meriden's John Jenkins out of Georgia is No. 5 defensive tackle while Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison out of Stratford is 20th at his position.

It's job interview time for former Huskies

                                                                                   (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Sio Moore and Trevardo Williams lead the list of UConn
products for the 2013 NFL draft. Nearly every NFL team is expected to send
representatives to today's pro day being held at UConn.

It was impossible to walk around the Burton Family Complex during the time that UConn was holding its most recent spring practice yesterday and not bump into one of the seniors from the 2012 squad.

I spotted Sio Moore, Adam Masters, Nick Williams and Michael Smith checking out the practice. They had a good reason to be back in town as they will
take part in UConn's annual pro day this afternoon.

Between strong showings in postseason all-star games or eye-opening efforts at the NFL combine, there is quite the buzz surrounding the UConn's pro prospects.

There may not be a player at any school who has upper his stock more since the season ended than Moore. He went from being an under the radar guy to being the No. 4 rated 4-3 outside linebacker by NFL Network's Mike Mayock. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is Mayock' No. 5 rated cornerback and Wreh-Wilson has been slotted in as a late first-round pick on previous mock drafts done by ESPN's Todd McShay. There are some, however, who rate Dwayne Gratz ahead of Wreh-Wilson in their pre-draft coverage. Trevardo Williams is another one of the former Huskies who put up scintillating testing numbers at the NFL combine. It's not out of the realm of possibility that all four of them could go somewhere in the top four rounds.

Considering how well they performed at the combine, I would not be the least bit surprised to see those four sit out many of the drills today since they have done more than enough to catch the eyes of NFL scouts. However, this is a huge day for players like tight ends Ryan Griffin and John Delahunt, offensive guard Adam Masters, linebacker Jory Johnson and receivers Smith and Williams.

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni has encouraged all the 2012 seniors to take part because you never know who might catch the attention of the NFL scouts converging on UConn this afternoon.

Here is where the UConn players are ranked on CBS' NFLDraftScout.com database
Player                                 Pos      Posiiton Rank     Overall Rank      Projection
Dwayne Gratz                   CB               12                          86                    2nd-3rd
Ryan Griffin                      TE               22                        414                  Free agent
Jory Johnson                    OLB             34                         366                  Free agent
Sio Moore                        OLB              6                           66                     2nd
Michael Smith                   WR             91                        692                   Free agent
Trevardo Williams           OLB              8                           76                     2nd-3rd
Blidi Wreh-Wilson            CB              14                        101                     3rd

3 Huskies will play in Senior Bowl

UConn cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson and defensive end Trevardo Williams have accepted invitations to play in the Senior Bowl next month.


Gratz had 53 tackles and three of the Huskies’ six interceptions during the 2012 season, He finished his career with 189 tackles and eight interceptions.

Wreh-Wilson, a two-year captain, had 47 tackles and broke up nine passes as a senior. His only interception of the season came in overtime in a win at Louisville. He finished his career with 181 tackles and eight interceptions. He is currently ranked as the No. 11 cornerback in the NFL Draft Scout site who projects Wreh-Wilson as a third-round pick in April's draft,

Williams had 11.5 sacks as a senior and finished as UConn's career with a program-record 40.5 sacks. The NFL Draft Scout site lists Williams as the 16th best outside linebacker prospect and projects him to be a fifth-round pick.

The Senior Bowl will be played on Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala. and will be televised live on NFL Network.

Other Huskies in the NFL Draft Scout site are Sio Moore, the 13th best OLB,  Ryan Griffin (No. 19 TE), Jory Johnson (No. 25 OLB), Dwayne Gratz (30th best CB), Adam Masters (No. 34 OG) and Michael Smith (No. 73 WR).

Wreh-Wilson named UConn's MVP

Senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson was named UConn's MVP at the team's awards banquet on Sunday.

Senior tight end Ryan Griffin was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year, senior defensive end Trevardo Williams and senior receiver Nick Williams were named the Defensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year.

Other award winners were DT Ryan Wirth (Jasper T. Howard Award), OG Adam Masters (Football Alumni Award), LB Sio Moore (Kendall Madison Award), TE John Delahunt (Joseph M. Gianelli Unsung Hero Award), LB Jory Johnson (John L. Toner Scholar-Athlete Award) and CB Dwayne Gratz (Brian Kozlowski Award).

Trevardo Williams unanimous All-Big East selection

The Big East announced its all-conference teams today. Senior defensive end Trevardo Williams was one of the three players named as unanimous selections and he was joined on the first team by sophomore linebacker Yawin Smallwood and senior linebacker Sio Moore.

Williams had 11.5 sacks as a senior and finished his career with a program-record 30.5 sacks. Smallwood led the Huskies with 59 solo tackles and 120 total tackles while adding four sacks, 15 tackles for losses and two forced fumbles. Moore had 15.5 tackles for losses including eight sacks.

Senior tight end Ryan Griffin and senior offensive guard Adam Masters were second-team selections as was return specialist Nick Williams while senior cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson were named to the second-team as well.

Griffin led the Huskies with six touchdown receptions and an average of 16.7 yards per catch as a senior. Griffin hauled in 29 passes for 484 yards as a senior. Masters was named to the all-conference squad despite playing in just seven games in an injury-shortened senior season. Williams returned two punts for touchdown, averaged 12 yards per punt return and 20.4 yards per kickoff return. Gratz led the Huskies with three interceptions and 14 passes defended. Wreh-Wilson, a two-time captain, broke up 10 passes and his lone interception came in overtime in the upset win over Louisville.

Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was named the Big East offensive player of the year while the defensive player of the year honor when to Rutgers' Khaseem Greene. The Big East Rookie of the Year was given to Stratford native Tyler Matakevich out of Temple.

Greene and Syracuse receiver Alec Lemon joined Williams as the only other unanimous All-Big East selections.


2012 BIG EAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AWARDS
BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville (So., Miami, Fla.)

BIG EAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Khaseem Greene, LB, Rutgers (Sr., Elizabeth, N.J.)

BIG EAST SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Matt Brown, RB, Temple (Sr., Baltimore, Md.)

BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Tyler Matakevich, LB, Temple (Fr., Stratford, Conn.)

BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR
Charlie Strong, Louisville
Kyle Flood, Rutgers

ALL-BIG EAST FIRST TEAM 
OFFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
WR Alec Lemon * Syracuse Sr. 6-2 204 Crofton, Md./Arundel
WR DeVante Parker Louisville So. 6-3 205 Louisville, Ky./Ballard
OT Eric Lefeld Cincinnati So. 6-6 287 Coldwater, Ohio/Coldwater
OT Justin Pugh Syracuse Sr. 6-5 297 Holland, Pa./Council Rock South
OG Austen Bujnoch Cincinnati Jr. 6-5 285 Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder
OG Antwan Lowery Rutgers Jr. 6-4 305 Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus
C Mario Benavides Louisville Sr. 6-4 280 Los Fresnos, Texas/Los Fresnos
TE Travis Kelce Cincinnati Sr. 6-6 260 Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights
QB Teddy Bridgewater Louisville So. 6-3 218 Miami, Fla./Northwestern
RB Ray Graham Pittsburgh Sr. 5-9 190 Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth
RB Montel Harris Temple Sr. 5-10 207 Jacksonville, Fla./Trinity Christian
K Maikon Bonani USF Sr. 5-10 176 Lake Wales, Fla./Lake Wales
RS Matt Brown Temple Sr. 5-5 165 Baltimore, Md./Peddie School/Milford Academy
             
DEFENSE
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
DL Dan Giordano Cincinnati Sr. 6-4 260 Frankford, Ill./Lincoln-Way East
DL Trevardo Williams * Connecticut Sr. 6-2 233 Bridgeport, Conn./Canterbury 
DL Aaron Donald Pittsburgh Jr. 6-0 275 Pittsburgh, Pa./Penn Hills
DL Scott Vallone Rutgers Sr. 6-3 275 Central Islip, N.Y./St. Anthony’s
LB Greg Blair Cincinnati Sr. 6-2 252 Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley/Lackawanna CC
LB Sio Moore Connecticut Sr. 6-2 229 Apex, N.C./Apex 
LB Yawin Smallwood Connecticut So. 6-3 235 Worcester, Mass./Doherty 
LB Khaseem Greene * Rutgers Sr. 6-1 230 Elizabeth, N.J./Avon Old Farms
CB Adrian Bushell Louisville Sr. 5-11 184 DeSoto, Texas/Cedar Valley CC
CB Logan Ryan Rutgers Jr. 6-0 190 Berlin, N.J./Eastern
S Duron Harmon Rutgers Sr. 6-1 200 Magnolia, Del./Caesar Rodney
S Shamarko Thomas Syracuse Sr. 5-10 206 Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes
P Brandon McManus Temple Sr. 6-3 190 Hatfield, Pa./North Penn
* unanimous selection
                                                                                                                                                   
 ALL-BIG EAST SECOND TEAM 
OFFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
WR Mike Shanahan Pittsburgh Sr. 6-5 225 North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
WR Devin Street Pittsburgh Jr. 6-4 190 Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty
WR Brandon Coleman Rutgers So. 6-6 220 Accokeek, Md./Bishop McNamara
OT Alex Kupper Louisville Sr. 6-3 298 Louisville, Ky./Trinity
OT Kaleb Johnson Rutgers So. 6-4 300 Jacksonville, Fla./Edward H. White
OT Martin Wallace Temple Sr. 6-6 300 New York, N.Y./Beacon School
OG Adam Masters Connecticut Sr. 6-4 298 Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman 
OG Mark Popek USF Sr. 6-7 299 Plant City, Fla./Plant City
C Ryan Turnley Pittsburgh Sr. 6-6 320 Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell
QB Ryan Nassib Syracuse Gr. 6-3 227 West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep
TE Ryan Griffin Connecticut Sr. 6-6 247 Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry 
RB George Winn Cincinnati Sr. 5-11 210 Southfield, Mich./Detroit Jesuit
RB Jawan Jamison Rutgers So. 5-8 200 Stark, Fla./The Bolles School
K Brandon McManus Temple Sr. 6-3 190 Hatfield, Pa./North Penn
RS Nick Williams Connecticut Sr. 5-10 184 East Windsor, N.J./The Hun School 
             
DEFENSE 
Pos. Player School Cl. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
DL Walter Stewart Cincinnati Sr. 6-5 249 Ashville, Ohio/Teays Valley
DL Cory Grissom USF Sr. 6-2 316 La Grange, Ga./Troup County
DL Brandon Sharpe Syracuse Sr. 6-1 255 Virginia Beach, Va./Ocean Lakes
DL John Youboty Temple Sr. 6-4 250 Houston, Texas/Klein
LB Preston Brown Louisville Jr. 6-2 255 Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest
LB Sam Barrington USF Sr. 6-1 230 Jacksonville, Fla./Terry Parker
LB Tyler Matakevich Temple Fr. 6-1 220 Stratford, Conn./St. Joseph’s/Milford Academy
CB Dwayne Gratz Connecticut Sr. 6-0 198 Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway 
CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson Connecticut Sr. 6-2 190 Edinboro, Pa./General McLaine 
S Calvin Pryor Louisville So. 6-2 213 Port St. Joe, Fla./Port St. Joe
S Hakeem Smith Louisville Jr. 6-1 187 Jonesboro, Ga./Riverdale
S Jason Hendricks Pittsburgh Jr. 6-0 180 Brooklyn, N.Y./Hudson Catholic
P Pat O’Donnell Cincinnati Jr. 6-5 222 Lake Worth, Fla./Palm Beach Central
P Justin Brockhaus-Kann USF Sr. 6-2 214 Winter Springs, Fla./Winter Springs
Additional players added to the All-BIG EAST teams due to ties in the voting

USF, UConn dealing with host of injuries

On Paul Pasqualoni's conference call on Thursday he was asked if he felt the Huskies were snake bitten in the injury department after senior offensive guard Adam Masters and freshman defensive end E.J. Norris were lost for the season with ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.


"It is part of the game," Pasqualoni said. "Losing Adam Masters and the versatility he gave us, that was unfortunate. We’ve been in this and we’ve lost good players. It’s not at the point where I feel snake bitten."

If Pasqualoni wants to see what it's like to be a bit snake bitten injury wise, he needs to merely take a glance across the field tonight as the number of injuries suffered by South Florida is staggering.

Leading rusher Lindsey Lamar is the latest key player for USF to go down as he fractured his collarbone in the fourth quarter of last week's loss to Syracuse. USF coach Skip Holtz is not ready to declare Lamar lost for the season  but said he definitely is out for tonight's game. He is far from the only one.

The Bulls could be without both starting offensive guards Danous Estenor and Mark Popek, tight end  Evan Landi, receivers Derrick Hopkins,  Andre Davis and D'Vario Montgomery and defensive end Ryan Giddens for the game tonight. If all of those players are held out of the game, the injured players will have more receptions (84), receiving yards (1,053) and TD catches (10) than the ones who are suiting up. For those scoring at home, USF could be without 56 percent of its catches and receiving yards and 71 percent of its TD receptions.