Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Posted: 12 p.m.
By Rob Michel
CSNPhilly.com Contributor
Last season when I reviewed PSU players that could go in the 2010 draft, the Lions had a sizeable departing class. Six of the 10 players I examined were drafted. The group included a first rounder (Jared Odrick, 28th overall to Miami), a linebacker corps (Sean Lee, second round, to Dallas; Navarro Bowman, third round to San Francisco; and Josh Hull, seventh round to St. Louis) and an eventual Super Bowl Champion (Andrew Quarless, fifth round to Green Bay).
After all of those departures, the 2010 Lions showed youth at many positions on their way to a 7-6 record. This year there were only two Lions invited to the combine, so theres a genuine possibility that only one will be drafted for the first time since the 1950s.
Heres a look at the two 2010 combine invitees:
Stefen Wisniewski, GC, 6-3313
Wisniewski hopes nature and nurture pave his way to playing on Sundays. Wisniewskis Father Leo and Uncle Steve played in the trenches for Joe Paterno in the 1980s, then in the NFL. Coming out of Pittsburghs Central Catholic, Wiz delivered for the Lions early, as he started games as a freshman. As a sophomore he started 12 games at guard for one of the top offenses in the country. He then shifted to center as a junior flawlessly and earned All Big-Ten honors at his new position.
Wisniewski returned to guard last season but didnt keep All Big-Ten honors off his mantle. A leader on and off the field, He was the first Penn Stater to win Academic All-American three times. This kid has got some depth to him, having made multiple mission trips to the Dominican Republic.
But as nice as all that looks on a resume, the real test for his next employer is how hell perform on the field. Wisniewski is a good zone blocker. He shows good push and plays with aggression, but he might not be as fiery as some teams hope. He is good at shadowing or turning his man, depending on his assignment and was strong at the point of attack. Will he be able to handle the size and strength of NFL defenders?
Wisniewski shows great pull and attack, although he can get a little plodding in the open field. As a pass blocker, he does a good job with his head on a swivel and doesnt miss assignments.
Wisniewski did not snap during drills at the combine, a sign teams are looking at him as a guard more than a center, a more valuable position. The more team that see him as a center, the higher hell be drafted. At the combine, he was one of the top performers on the bench, putting up 30 reps. But some teams could see the short arms that pushed out those 30 reps as a concern.
Projected draft position: second or third round
(Keep and eye out at pick No. 48the Raiders recently brought back Uncle Steve as an Assistant Offensive Line Coach)
Evan Royster, RB, 6-0212
Its called Linebacker U, but Penn State has had its share of running backs: Bonners John Cappelletti, Franco Harris, Curt Warner, Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter.
They all take a back seat to Evan Royster when it comes to rushing yards in Happy Valleyand they all were drafted in a different stratosphere (early first round) than Royster will.
As a high school prospect Royster was attractive to Penn State because the Virginia native also played Lacrosse. Under Paterno, the Lions have seen athletes who have played multiple sports as an advantage. The cutting, movement and, especially in Roysters case, vision used in Lacrosse helped him cross over into the football backfield. Its the same skills that had Lacrosse powers Virginia and Johns Hopkins at his door.
Despite his talents, Royster put down his lacrosse stick and never looked back. After a redshirt season in State College, Royster piled up 513 rushing yards in his first season, at over six yards a pop. Each of his next three seasons he put up over 1,000 yards on the ground, but his total and yards per carry slipped as a junior and then again as a senior. In that final year, Royster came to campus at close to 230 pounds. It was a move that drew the ire and public criticism of Paterno, although JoePa tried to turn the spotlight away from the weight issue later in the season.
A good experienced college back, Royster can take a hit. Although hes not going to run past players at the next level, the slippery Royster is a good runner between the tackles and has nice wiggle on broken field runs. He is versatile and can split out wide. Royster has solid hands and could turn into a nice third-down back for NFL teams always looking for that flexibility. He does a nice job in blitz pickup; hes not afraid to take on a larger defender.
Royster reminds me a lot of the player now sits at number 3 on the Lions all time rushing list, Tony Hunt (2007 3-90 Eagles). Hunt was a back that was good at making something out of nothing, had hands, and held onto the football. Also like Royster, Hunt used vision, durability and the ability to fight for extra yards to become a workhorse back for the Lions. But hopefully Royster finds a better NFL fit than Hunt did with the Birds.
The 4.65 40-yard dash Royster recorded the combine didnt do him any favors, although he is blaming a bad hamstring slow him down. He shaved a tenth of a second off it at Penn States pro day (4.54). He probably would have seen a better draft status had he declared last year.
Projected draft position: sixth or seventh round
(In 2005, no Lion was drafted. Although in hindsight, plenty of teams would love to have Pro Bowlers Cameron Wake and Robbie Gould on their roster).
Rob Michel produces SportsNite and The Orange Line for CSN. E-mail him at rmichel@comcastsportsnet.com.
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