It's time to do a little catching up. I've been in Michigan since Friday to attend my nephew's graduation from the University of Michigan. My intention was to make it a completely computer-free weekend but that lasted until the news broke that former Duke women's basketball star Azura' Stevens would be transferring to UConn. Saying that is big news would be an incredible understatement. I would say that if the UConn coaching staff could pick a player off any other college team to add to its roster for the next couple of seasons, I would only like South Carolina's A'ja Wilson ahead of the 6-foot-6 Stevens.

Since this is a blog about UConn football, I'll stop there with the women's basketball talk.

Now that I am at the airport waiting to start my journey back to Connecticut, it's a good time to get caught up on draft/free agent news.

After nine years of having at least one player taken in the NFL draft, no Huskies were selected in the three-day draft.

However, at least five seniors on the 2015 team will be headed to NFL training camps.

It's already been reported that safety Andrew Adams was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent. It is the second straight year that a UConn player received a call from the Giants as receiver Geremy Davis was taken by the Giants in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft.

There will be a couple of familiar faces in camp with Adams as Ray Brownell, agent for former UConn safety Junior Lee confirmed in an email to me that Lee would be headed to training camp with the Giants. Lee opened more than a few eyes with a sensational performance at UConn's pro day He also had a chance to take part in the Giants' local pro day and there were multiple reports that Lee had another strong showing. Just a few minutes ago, Breakout Athletes which trains a large number of Connecticut athletes sent me a tweet that former UConn defensive end Kenton Adeyemi would be going to camp with the Giants as well.

As often as the Giants have been pursuing UConn products in the last couple of seasons, they have a lot of work to do to catch the Indianapolis Colts in that department. Well, the Colts are at it again as former UConn defensive lineman Julian Campenni is heading to camp with the Colts.

Also, after I posted the blog about Adams, Lee and Campenni getting calls from NFL teams, I received a tweet about linebacker Graham Stewart going to camp with the Minnesota Vikings.

BreakOut Athlete BOA

@breakoutathlete

@NHRJimFuller my client Graham Stewart from UConn heading to Minnesota Vikings #boa

Campenni, who like Adams was a team captain on the 2015 UConn team, tweeted his appreciation to the Colts for giving him this opportunity.

 

Julian Campenni @Ima_BEAST_90

Just want to thank the @Colts for giving me an opportunity to live out my dreams!! Trust me you wont regret the decision!

Last year at this time it wasn't so much a question of if Byron Jones and Geremy Davis would be taken in the NFL draft but just when would the former UConn teammates hear their names called.

Jones joined Donald Brown as the only UConn player taken in the first round when the Dallas Cowboys took him with the 27th overall pick while Davis was selected by the New York Giants in the sixth round.

There's more of a wait and see approach with the current crop of UConn pro prospects.

At least one UConn player has been selected in each of the last nine NFL drafts and safety Andrew Adams seems like the most likely player capable of extending that streak.

While no former Huskies are listed on the ESPN draft database, Adams is the No. 13 free safety according to NFL Draft database maintained by www.cbsspports.com which I have found to be pretty accurate (or as accurate as these things get) in rating the under the radar prospects. Adams is rated as the 291st best player in the draft and lists him as either a seventh rounder or a free agent. Last year's No. 13 rated free safety was Ladarius Gunter out of Miami who went undrafted but was signed by the Green Bay Packers as a free agent.

At UConn's pro day Adams seemed to do what he needed to remain on the radar of NFL teams and considering the amount of tape that NFL teams must have watched on Jones a season ago, you would have to think Adams might have caught the eye of the film watchers.

I would not be surprised if Adams continues the trend of UConn players being drafted.

The player out of UConn seemingly creating the most pre-draft buzz is fellow safety Junior Lee who absolutely put on a show at UConn's pro day. I've also seen reports that he was impressive at the New York Giants local pro day. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle and National Football Post tweeted about a week and a half ago that Lee has worked out privately for the Giants, Jets and Colts.

One issue with Lee is that he was not a starter but consider that Jones was a first-round pick, Adams could very well get drafted and I would expect Obi Melifonwu and Jhavon Williams to be very much on the radar of NFL scouts next year with Jamar Summers most definitely being a draftable prospect in the next class so it is not like Lee was playing behind mediocre talents.


A lack of experience is not an issue for defensive lineman Julian Campenni or linebackers Marquise Vann or Graham Stewart. It will be interesting to see what happens with the trio but certainly would not be surprised to see them land in a training camp.

I received this question and answer blog with Campenni emailed to me. I think the key for Campenni could be how NFL teams view the Missouri tape since Campenni was normally lining up across from Evan Boehm, who is rated as the fourth best center in the draft according to cbssports.com. Other than getting invited to the major all-star games, which was an opportunity not afforded any of the UConn players, the best way to catch the eyes of scouts is to have strong tape in head to head matchups with fellow NFL prospects.

Stewart saw his work at UConn's pro day ended prematurely due to a hamstring issue but he had healed up well enough to take part in the Yale pro day held earlier this month. I was covering the women's Final Four at the time but talked to one person who was at the event and was told that Stewart did a nice job there. He is also the only other UConn player listed on the CBS Sports database. Stewart also started his collegiate career at Florida. The Gators have nine players listed in ESPN's draft database and 12 listed by CBS Sports so perhaps NFL scouts' familiarity with Florida players could aid Stewart in his quest to continue his collegiate career.

I haven't been hearing too much about Vann but he's played a ton of football for the Huskies and took part in the Tropic Bowl along with defensive end Kenton Adeyemi and guard Tyler Samra.

I really thought that Adeyemi's stock could take a similar jump to what happened a year ago with B.J. McBryde. While he did not have the eye-popping numbers at UConn's pro day that McBryde did, the 300 pounder showed more than enough to make me think that he could land in a camp.

Running back Max DeLorenzo is a player that David Schuman from NUC Sports believes NFL teams should be looking at.

Normally my late April/early May schedule includes watching the NFL draft waiting for UConn players to be drafted. However, my nephew is graduating from the University of Michigan this weekend so I will be out of the loop and my colleagues at the Register will be called upon to provide NFL draft coverage. Staying on that subject, I am not a pro scout but from what I am hearing the top prospects with Connecticut ties are former high school rivals Tyler Matakevich, a Stratford native who played at St. Joseph High in Trumbull, Milford Academy and Temple, and fellow linebacker Don Cherry, a former Trumbull High star who starred at Villanova. It will also be interesting to see if Yale quarterback Morgan Roberts, Branford's Kyle Nolan out of Georgetown and former Notre Dame of West Haven and University of New Hampshire star Sean Goldrich get signed by NFL teams.

Other than two-time captain Marquise Vann there might not be a more vocal member of UConn's senior class than reserve safety and special-teams dynamo Junior Lee.

So with the Huskies preparing for Saturday's huge showdown with undefeated Houston in a game that doubles as the final home game for the seniors, I felt it was a perfect time to catch up with Lee at practice a couple days ago and I don't regret that decision one bit as he set the scene better than I ever could have.

"You can't ask for anything better, since we have been here for five years we want to end it off great with a win against a top 15 team and also go to a bowl game so that is what we have been thinking of," Lee said.

"We are going to take it all in, Husky Walk, walking into the locker room, touching that Husky head, remembering what it is like as freshmen coming in, We will be remembering this moment that we are going to have leaving. It is going to be most memorable ever coming in against a top 15 team in the nation, that is something you want to end your senior season with, something you want to come up with a win and go to a bowl game. It is definitely something we are looking at."

Lee opened some eyes as a special teams performer in his first two seasons but the arrival of head coach Bob Diaco and defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter has paved the way for Lee to make an impact on defense as well. Poindexter's defense utilizes the backups on a regular basis so while Lee hasn't seen as many snaps as starting safeties Andrew Adams and Obi Melifonwu, he is certainly out there quite a bit on a week to week basis. Lee had a career-high 22 tackles last season and is at 17 stops this year.

"I feel great about the role, they ask us to do a while bunch of things, they put me in a position where I can succeed at whatever they ask me to do," Lee said. "I feel a lot more (comfortable) within the defense, some of the things I do I feel like I am very much capable of doing them. I have become a lot smarter watching film, reading concepts and things like that so they put me in a position where I learned more and got a better experience out of it.

"Special teams is something people always overlook, I went out there made plays left and right and coaches starting noticing that we need to put him in more so that really raised my participation up."

Lee is a leader on the kickoff and punt coverage teams

Houston ranks in the top 30 in both kickoff and punt returns with a touchdown on both a kickoff and punt return so UConn's coverage units that rank 30th on kickoff returns and ninth on punt returns will be tested.

"We are very aggressive on the coverage teams,  we have been able to run down there, hit people back and make a lot of tackles on the 20 yard line, 10 year line on kickoffs," Lee said. "On punt coverage nobody has been able to get punt returns on us and that is something we have been grateful for as well. Houston, they have been getting a lot of returns and they have great returners back there so we are going to have to continue to do that to stop that (against) Houston."

Lee and Brice McAllister are among the most consistent playmakers on special teams and Lee said there is nothing quite like the feeling that comes with a huge hit while covering a kickoff or punt return.

"You have a home game on opening kickoff, you go out there lay this dude out, helmet going off, that rolls everything into play even the offense, the quarterback feels, everybody gets the electricity out on the first hit," Lee said. "You go out on the opening kickoff and you want to make a statement, that is how you make a statement."

Lee was one of 16 players to sign with the Huskies back in February of 2011, seven have moved on while Deshon Foxx played as a true freshman and his four-year run ended a season ago leaving just eight of the 2011 signees with the program.

"This is where you distribute the boys from men," Lee said, "You get a whole bunch of guys here especially my freshman year when I was recruited by Edsall and it came to a point where we were going through a period where we were running through coaches You find out the boys from men, who quit on us and who is staying there fight through the storm, staying with the team. I was one of those guys as well as the seniors who are here with me now, they are very proud of being UConn Huskies and staying UConn Huskies through the mud and through everything we have been through.

"We have always been close. Me and Julian (Campenni, UConn's senior defensive lineman and team captain) have been roommates since freshman year, we have stayed roommates, always hung out with each other wherever we have went and that is how all of our senior class has been. We have always been close together, we always looked at each other as brothers, when we first came in we saw each other as teammates now we see each others as brothers and family that we will always remember and keep in contact with each other."

When adding in Graham Stewart, who played at Florida as a freshman, Tyler Samra (who played as a true freshman in 2012) and three either walk-ons or former walk-ons, there will be 13 seniors suiting up for the final time on Saturday.

UConn is being creative in an attempt to pack Rentschler Field for Saturday's game (3:30 p.m., ESPNU) including offering $15 tickets to people with ticket stubs from Saturday's men's basketball game against Furman. When I asked on Tuesday, the ticket sale number was in the 23,000-24,000 range.

There's plenty of question marks as UConn players report for preseason camp tomorrow. However, the safety position is not among them.

UConn returns Andrew Adams, who has started 19 games over the last three seasons, and Obi Melifonwu, who has started 23 games in the last two seasons. Adams was ranked second and Melifonwu fourth in total tackles a season ago. Reserve safety and special teams dynamo Junior Lee is also back.

UConn football coach Bob Diaco did not pull any punches when I asked him about starting safety tandem at American Athletic Conference media day.

"Tell me who is better tandem of safeties in the conference, tell me a better one?" Diaco said. "They played 800/900 plays so they are veterans, those two guys go into every single game expecting to dominate their individual matchups and be in disbelief when they have bad moments, it is good to have that kind of swagger, that kind of energy."

Perhaps the only things standing in the way of Adams and Melifonwu being touted as an elite safety tandem is improved play in pass coverage by Melifonwu. He is an intriguing prospect with size (listed at 6-foot-3, 216 pounds on UConn's roster), speed and intelligence. With two seasons as a starter under his belt, there's no reason he can't make strides defending the passing game.

Adams loves the potential of the secondary which includes the stating quartet from the latter stages of the season.
"I am very excited to see what our secondary can do," Adams said. "We worked hard in the offseason and in the spring on our pass defense. Jhavon is becoming a great player, he is becoming a great leader. Jamar Summers has some games under his belt last year so I am excited to see what he is going to do and Obi plays right next to me, I am excited to see what he is going to do. He is a freak athletically, he can run out of the gym, he is so fast and I have taken some extra time in the film room to study with him. I am just excited to see what we are all going to do as a group.

"We definitely know each other very well now, he knows what I am going to do before I do it and I am pretty sure he know what I am going to do before I do it. That definitely helps us, we have each other's back on the field.

"We are excited that we can improve. We have a lot of returning starters, we have grown as a defense, the chemistry has grown in the spring and over the summer we have worked on our defense. "

If there is any uncertainty surrounding the secondary it would center around who will be the No. 3 and 4 cornerbacks. It was a role filled by Summers last season before Byron Jones' season-ending injury.

"Brice McAllister got some snaps last year, he is a good player, he is coming along really well, we have Javon Hadley, I like Hadley, he is small but he is feisty. he will stick his nose in on the run and he is not afraid of anybody so I like where we are at (with) the corner position."

McAllister, Hadley and converted John Green got a bit of a baptism of fire a season ago and the game experience they were able to get a season ago could start paying dividends this season.