NFL Announces Combine Invitees

[Ronpatz11]

http://www.nfl.com/combine/participants?campaign=Twitter_participants

Good showing by the Huskies with the following participants:

1. Dwayne Gratz, CB
2. Sio Moore, LB
3. Trevardo Williams, DE
4. Blidi Wreh-Wilson, CB

Rutgers leads the way in the Big East with 6 invitees. Syracuse, Cincinnati and UConn all with four.

Some teams that stood out:
1. LSU leading the way with 13 invitees
2. Florida State close behind with 12 (talk about underachieving)
3. Georgia has 11 invitees
4. Alabama and Florida both have 10 invitees

And not so much:
1. Pitt and Louisville with only 1 invite each. Great sign of things to come for Louisville. Another top recruiting flop for Pitt.
2. UConn with more invites than Texas (3), Michigan (1), Oklahoma St. (3), Miami (2), Maryland (1), Iowa (2), Georgia Tech (2), Clemson (3), Baylor (2) and Auburn (3)

Make no mistake about it, kids that are deciding on schools all think they are going to the NFL. We need to throw numbers like the above out to every recruit that will listen. UConn, with 12/13 active NFL players and another four at the combine is quickly becoming an impressive pipeline amongst its' peers.

 

[jbdphi]

A bit surprised that Griffin didn't make the list and I'm sure he's disappointed. I still hope / think he gets drafted.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Griffin is a sure fire NFL starter shocked he didn't get invited

 

[B1GEast]

That's too bad for Griffin, he should have gotten the invite, hope he does well at pro day.

 

[businesslawyer]

Griffin is not a sure fire NFL starter. There are reasons he didn't play every down at UConn and shared time in one TE formations with Delahunt.

He has the capability to be an NFL TE based on his receiving ability.

More proof that our only problem the last two years has been that every other team in the conference has far more talented players than us. Not.

 

[sportsart]

If Griffin had Bridgewater as his QB....

I'm not qualified to judge his blocking skills but you don't have to be a genius to see he has great hands, and at the college level, he also has the ability to get open.

Also when his father posts here it's rarely about his son. Scouts look for that you know.

 

[noeynox]

Griffin is not a sure fire NFL starter. There are reasons he didn't play every down at UConn and shared time in one TE formations with Delahunt.

He has the capability to be an NFL TE based on his receiving ability.

More proof that our only problem the last two years has been that every other team in the conference has far more talented players than us. Not.

Have we had a single offensive player invited to the combine or drafted the last two years? I can't remember from last years team. There was talent on this team no doubt, but the roster overall was (the only word I can think of,) unbalanced. Yes the coaching failed with the offensive talent on hand, but lack of playmakers on offense, and an underperforming OL caused problems even a standout defense couldn't over come. And yes bad coaching also doomed the performance of the defense.

 

[Ronpatz11]

Have we had a single offensive player invited to the combine or drafted the last two years? I can't remember from last years team. There was talent on this team no doubt, but the roster overall was (the only word I can think of,) unbalanced. Yes the coaching failed with the offensive talent on hand, but lack of playmakers on offense, and an underperforming OL caused problems even a standout defense couldn't over come. And yes bad coaching also doomed the performance of the defense.

Last year...Kashif Moore was invited.

Year before that, Zach Hurd, Anthony Sherman and Jordan Todman were all invited.

 

[nimzovich]

Have we had a single offensive player invited to the combine or drafted the last two years? I can't remember from last years team. There was talent on this team no doubt, but the roster overall was (the only word I can think of,) unbalanced. Yes the coaching failed with the offensive talent on hand, but lack of playmakers on offense, and an underperforming OL caused problems even a standout defense couldn't over come. And yes bad coaching also doomed the performance of the defense.

2012- Kashif Moore, Dave teggart
2011- Zach Hurd, Jordan Todman, Anthony Sherman

 

[noeynox]

2012- Kashif Moore, Dave teggart
2011- Zach Hurd, Jordan Todman, Anthony Sherman

The 2011 kids all played for Edsall not P.

Kash Moore I've felt was under utilizd by both P and Edsall. Off the top of my head I can recall athletic TD grabs against Notre Dame, South Carolina, Iowa State, and West Virginia. Teggart was a kicker. Point remains one offensive player that jumps out at you the last two seasons though I would also include Griffin in that.

As a program we need more Playmakers. We had one play last year where an offeensive player made a catch, made a defender miss, and took it to the house for a long TD. It came from the tightend in the last game of the year. One. The year before we the Nick Williams whirling dervish TD grab against Buffalo. Not enough.

 

[Ronpatz11]

The 2011 kids all played for Edsall not P.

Kash Moore I've felt was under utilizd by both P and Edsall. Off the top of my head I can recall athletic TD grabs against Notre Dame, South Carolina, Iowa State, and West Virginia. Teggart was a kicker. Point remains one offensive player that jumps out at you the last two seasons though I would also include Griffin in that.

As a program we need more Playmakers. We had one play last year where an offeensive player made a catch, made a defender miss, and took it to the house for a long TD. It came from the tightend in the last game of the year. One. The year before we the Nick Williams whirling dervish TD grab against Buffalo. Not enough.

Uhhh...you asked if we've had any offensive players invited to the combine in the last two years? We responded with four names. Strange.

 

[Husky25]

Pro Day and private workouts mean more for kids coming out of UConn. Much of the top invited talent don't even do their position specific drills. How many QBs don't throw at the Combine and wait for their pro day? That is when coaches and personnel guys who are actually interested in the prospects can watch them do actual football activity.

BTW, Griffin wasn't invited because he wasn't the featured component of an offense ranked in he triple digits of D1A college football. He could very well be a late round pick or UFA and still have a very good NFL career.

 

[Dann]

im pretty upset that griffin didn't get a invite. what about jory also?

 

[noeynox]

Uhhh...you asked if we've had any offensive players invited to the combine in the last two years? We responded with four names. Strange.

Not strange. There was a post indicating the talent has been better than the record the last two years indicates based on combine invites. I asked how many of the combine invites over the last two years ( the years we went 5-7,) were offensive players. Kash Moore, and Teggart are the only ones. Teggart was a wonderful weapon but he was a kicker. So Kash Moore is the answer. We need to upgrade the offensive talent. If you want to include the 2011, kids who were never part of the 5-7, squads, you're going back three years since they last played for UConn in the 2010 season. Still confused?

 

[Ronpatz11]

Pro Day and private workouts mean more for kids coming out of UConn. Much of the top invited talent don't even do their position specific drills. How many QBs don't throw at the Combine and wait for their pro day? That is when coaches and personnel guys who are actually interested in the prospects can watch them do actual football activity.

BTW, Griffin wasn't invited because he wasn't the featured component of an offense ranked in he triple digits of D1A college football. He could very well be a late round pick or UFA and still have a very good NFL career.

That logic really only applies to QBs. Most don't throw at the combine because they want ideal conditions with receivers they know and ALL eyes on them. Can't say I blame them for it, it rarely hurts their stock and usually only helps it.

For nearly everyone else (kickers/punters excluded), the Combine is still very significant. In fact, most players who perform well at the Combine choose not to perform particular events at their Pro Day at all. Just ask Darius Butler, Donald Brown or Cody Brown. Hell, Cody went from a tweener potential mid-round pick to the 63rd pick overall by blowing up the combine.

I would agree that if you can't get an invite to the Combine, which most UConn seniors can't, Pro Days and second-tier senior bowls are their only chance to impress scouts leading up to the draft. However, as we aren't getting close to the representative sampling of NFL teams and front office personnel at our Pro Day, the Combine is the way to go if you can get an invite for optimal exposure.

 

[Ronpatz11]

Not strange. There was a post indicating the talent has been better than the record the last two years indicates based on combine invites. I asked how many of the combine invites over the last two years ( the years we went 5-7,) were offensive players. Kash Moore, and Teggart are the only ones. Teggart was a wonderful weapon but he was a kicker. So Kash Moore is the answer. We need to upgrade the offensive talent. If you want to include the 2011, kids who were never part of the 5-7, squads, you're going back three years since they last played for UConn in the 2010 season. Still confused?

Misunderstood the time frame of two years, assuming it to be the two years prior to this. Who pissed in your Fruit Loops this morning?

Agreed that we need to upgrade our offensive skill players 100%. Other than Labelle, not sure we've done that the last two years at WR/RB. We'll see.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm not qualified to judge his blocking skills but you don't have to be a genius to see he has great hands.

If only, sportsart. He dropped too many easy ones to get that accolade.

 

[Husky25]

That logic really only applies to QBs. Most don't throw at the combine because they want ideal conditions with receivers they know and ALL eyes on them. Can't say I blame them for it, it rarely hurts their stock and usually only helps it.

For nearly everyone else (kickers/punters excluded), the Combine is still very significant. In fact, most players who perform well at the Combine choose not to perform particular events at their Pro Day at all. Just ask Darius Butler, Donald Brown or Cody Brown. Hell, Cody went from a tweener potential mid-round pick to the 63rd pick overall by blowing up the combine.

I would agree that if you can't get an invite to the Combine, which most UConn seniors can't, Pro Days and second-tier senior bowls are their only chance to impress scouts leading up to the draft. However, as we aren't getting close to the representative sampling of NFL teams and front office personnel at our Pro Day, the Combine is the way to go if you can get an invite for optimal exposure.

20 NFL teams were represented last year, and 17 the year before. Also, remember that athletes from other area schools (ECSU, CCSU, Yale, Weslyan, Trinity, etc.) work out for coaches at UConns pro day. 2/3rd of the Leagues team is a pretty solid sample.

 

[sportsart]

If only, sportsart. He dropped too many easy ones to get that accolade.

You could not be more wrong. Maybe the year before but not this year.

Did he drop a few? Probably but what sticks out more than anything is when he was thrown to, and the ball was actually catchable, he caught it way more often than not.

 

[Husky25]

20 NFL teams were represented last year, and 17 the year before. Also, remember that athletes from other area schools (ECSU, CCSU, Yale, Weslyan, Trinity, etc.) work out for coaches team reps at UConns pro day. 2/3rd of the Leagues team is a pretty solid sample.

 

[Husky25]

You could not be more wrong. Maybe the year before but not this year.

Did he drop a few? Probably but what sticks out more than anything is when he was thrown to, and the ball was actually catchable, he caught it way more often than not.

Talk about not having a representative sample.... Hopefully that changes for our receivers this year with the additional offensive line talent and a different person calling the plays.

 

[Ronpatz11]

im pretty upset that griffin didn't get a invite. what about jory also?

Not a huge surprise, just a product of the numbers. 19 TEs got the invite this year. Griffin on most TE rankings is somewhere between 20-25 in the class. He was a fringe player that I'm sure merited consideration.

Same goes for Jory. You can make the case that either deserved to be invited, but there are limited spots and bother players probably sat in a pool of 5 to 10 players on the fringe.

 

[noeynox]

Misunderstood the time frame of two years, assuming it to be the two years prior to this. Who pissed in your Fruit Loops this morning?

Agreed that we need to upgrade our offensive skill players 100%. Other than Lamelle, not sure we've done that the last two years at WR/RB. We'll see.

My bad if that sounded condescending. Wasn't meant to be. I like Lamelle, and Bradley's explosiveness speaks for itself. I like Mariner, I like Fuchs. I think they did okay this cycle.

 

[huskymedic]

My bad if that sounded condescending. Wasn't meant to be. I like Labelle, and Bradley's explosiveness speaks for itself. I like Mariner, I like Fuchs. I think they did okay this cycle.

Who be this "Labelle"??

 

[Ronpatz11]

NFL regional college scouts for 20 teams who travel the circuit of pro days (sometimes multiple pro days in one day) vs. nearly the entire front office/members of the coaching staff for every NFL organization, coached by NFL positional coaches, are two different beasts.

Plain and simple, the Combine is the single most important place to get optimal coverage. Players that leave the Combine with buzz can usually ride that into a draft picked slotted higher than they were coming in to the Combine.