Dion Lewis may have been the most productive Pitt player last year, but he is a small back with a draft status that at times has been questioned as to when* and if he will be more than a second or third round pick.
DE Greg Romeus and WR Jonathan Baldwin, however, have already been projected in various insanely early mock drafts as possible 1st rounders. That’s nice
I have to be honest. I could care less about mock drafts a week after the actual draft. It has even less value than a way too soon preseason top-25 in football or basketball. At least the early preseason top-25s come somewhat close to matching the bias-inducing, essentially useless preseason top-25s.
Heck, mock drafts that happen right after college football ends are rarely close aside from some order for the top 3-5 picks. Remember the projections for LeSean McCoy?
Really, for Pitt fans, mock drafts in football (and especially basketball) have been far more rosy than reality — aside from Revis and Fitzgerald.
That’s not to say that both Romeus and Baldwin aren’t worthy of hype and the possibility of being 1st rounders come next April. They are.
Both keep working harder at improving their game.
When Greg Romeus watches film of himself from last season, he says he sees all kinds of mistakes. Poor technique, bad footwork, not finishing off plays — those things all jump out at him.
And remember, he is the reigning Big East co-defensive player of year.
Still, Romeus believes he has plenty of room for improvement that will make him a better player and a richer man soon. That’s why the defensive end decided to return to the Pittsburgh Panthers for his senior year instead of entering the NFL Draft this winter.
“Next year, I’ll be more prepared,” he said. “The more experience I have, the better chance I have [of being a high draft pick].”
At being better at their position.
But he vowed to become a more complete receiver as a sophomore and worked at getting better on all the routes.
The result was a 1,111-yard season with eight touchdowns. Only two receivers in the country last year topped 1,000 yards while averaging more than Baldwin’s 19.5 yards per catch. So what’s next for Baldwin?
“My goal this year is to get better at my yards after catch,” he said. “I want to run my routes crisper. And destroy defenders when I block them.”
Other teams will certainly game plan around him, but if they roll coverage to him, that opens up things for other receivers like Shanahan. That’s what happened in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, when Baldwin was held to just three catches for 31 yards, but Shanahan grabbed five passes for 83 yards.
“Pick your poison,” Baldwin said. “Do you want to get beat my Mike or do you want to get beat by me?”
Trying to cover Baldwin with just a cornerback is asking for trouble, especially in the Big East where most corners are going to surrender at least five or six inches to him. And he’s so big that it’s hard to jam him at the line.
“On film, it doesn’t look like I’m as fast as I am because my legs are so long,” he says. “If you try to do that stuff, I’ll beat the press and run right by you.”
In 2010, the Pitt SID will be working hard with plenty of individual players to promote for the various positional awards up through the tough call of promoting Lewis or Baldwin for Heisman.
You know what will help their candidacies, probably as much as their own hard work, effort and production? Winning the games.
* Yes, I know that it is now clear that he could come out after this year, but think about how long and confused most were before that was understood clearly.
Lewis should get the Heisman hype. He’s already capture the national media attention with his Freshman performance and his style is pure excitement to watch. He’d be the easier candidate to elevate.
these are the schools that win Heismans these days (last 15 years)
D McFadden (Arkansas), P White (WVU), Larry Fitz, to name only three, were more worthy
The bottom line, however, is that the rule, as written, states that a player can petition for entry into the NFL draft 3 years after the class with which he entered into high school graduates. I have read commentary that the rule was intended to cover the more typical prep school case (i.e., graduate high school in 4 years, then attend an “extra” year of prep school), but not necessarily the situation where a player takes 5 years to graduate high school. That being said, as written, the rule makes no such distinction, and it now seems clear that Lewis can come out after next season if he so desires.
Off topic but here is a CNN story / listing of profits for NCAA basketballl teams. As you can see, Pitt does very well though not nearly as good as Louisvile and UNC .. but much better than Duke which reported a loss (creative accounting I’m sure. If not, they should definitely drop their program.)
link to deadspin.com
I vaguely recall the argument when this was put in place. It wasn’t that players weren’t spending enough time in college, but that they were physically too young to handle the punishment of the NFL versus other sports like basketball. I think that’s why the last part regarding the player’s HS class graduating exists. It makes it more about the player’s age rather than how long he stays in college.
Until Lewis being able to leave after this year is vetted on a national broadcast of a Pitt game, I’m sure someone will question it each time it comes up. It’s confusing because it’s such an odd interpretation of the rule.
… that is until we get kids wanting to come out who have skipped earlier grade school classes and are under 21 with this rule – which will happen sooner or later.
more big ten speculation…
I don’t think McCoy had to literally “apply” to the NFL, nor do players now if they meet the criteria that is clearly laid out by the NFL – which Lewis does. I believe it is just a matter of having the NFL verify the facts in each case. Perhaps that is an application process I suppose – but it’s not like the NFL can turn one kid down and accept another if both are in the same situation though.
