The Penn State Football Show

I was not able to make it to Penn State for the Blue White Game, and it was not televised, so I can’t really provide any insight on the game. I know Rudy dished out ten bucks to watch it online, so hopefully he can share what he saw.

Of course, you can’t really take much out of the Blue White Game anyway. Remember how good Morelli looked in his first Blue White game? Anyway, from what I’ve read about it, everything went as expected: Clark looked great. Offensive line struggled. Secondary struggled. I read that Derek Moye looked pretty good at wide receiver. Also, apparently Andrew Quarless had a big game… maybe he will finally come to play this year. If so, he could be in store for a huge senior season. I also heard good things about Hodges, the freshman safety.

While I missed the Blue White Game, I certainly did not miss the NFL Draft this weekend. As most of you know, the NFL Draft is my favorite event of the year, and this year did not disappoint. I watched every second of the first round, missed the second round because I had to make my pitching debut for the Brookline Black Sox, but then watched almost all of Day 2, missing only some of the seventh round. So, basically, on the only weekend of nice weather I’ve had since moving to Pittsburgh, I sat in front of the television for over 15 hours watching nothing but the draft. And I loved every second of it.

Since this is a Penn State Football blog, I will once again start with my thoughts on Penn Staters in the draft, before moving on to the draft as a whole:

I was EXTREMELY pleased with the way the draft went for the Nittany Lions. Maybin went very high (#11 to Buffalo) and to a perfect fit for him. As stated in my earlier post, I really didn’t think Maybin projected well as a 3-4 outside linebacker as many people had projected him to be. Putting him at linebacker takes away his biggest strength: His explosive first step off the line. I think Buffalo will handle Maybin the right way: Slowly let him get his feet wet in the NFL. I think he will start out as a third down pass-rushing specialist, because I don’t think he is ready to be a 3-down player in the NFL. But if they put him in on passing downs, he can make in impact early. Eventually he can become an every down player too. I also like the fact that he is teamed with Poz.

Derrick Williams went in the third round, which is right about where most people expected. I personally don’t think he is worth a third round selection, but I hope he proves me wrong. I’m sure Detroit will plan on using him as a returner, but I don’t think he will pan out as a punt returner. He may work out as a kick returner though.

Deon Butler went surprisingly early (round 3 to Seattle). I am happy for him and hope he succeeds.

The pick I was most happy to see was Rich Ohrenberger going to New England in the fourth round. Most people didn’t have Ohrenberger getting drafted at all, so fourth round is extremely early for him. He was a tremendous college player that many people didn’t think translated well to the NFL, mainly due to a lack of size. However, if there is a team that knows what they are doing in the draft, it’s the New England Patriots. They obviously saw something in Rich that they liked, and I’m sure he will succeed in their program with the coaching he will get.

I was also very happy to see AQ Shipley go to Pittsburgh. Again, another perfect fit. I knew as soon as Pittsburgh passed on Unger in the first that they would take Shipley later in the draft. They love taking Penn State guys, and Shipley is the perfect Steeler. He is a little undersized and has short arms, but is a very hard worker, and just a great overall football player. I’ve heard a lot of discussion about whether or not he will make the squad. I think he will, and I think he will have a 15 year career with the Steelers. He played high school football in Moon, college ball at Penn State, and now professional football for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the words of Nick Powden, “That’s ideal. That’s what you want.”

Gerald Cadogan, Maurice Evans and Jordan Norwood all went undrafted. Cadogan and Norwood don’t surprise me, but I thought someone would take a shot on Evans just based on the potential he showed as a sophomore. I have NEVER, seen anyone’s draft stock plummet as much as Mo Evans. After his sophomore campaign, he was projected as a top 15 pick. I really doubt that there have been many players that have fallen from a top 15 pick to being completely undrafted. I’m sure all three will be signed by a team, if they haven’t already.