Former UConn WR Nick Williams is tied for the team lead with seven
catches in two preseason games with the Atlanta Falcons

Nick Williams continues to make his presence felt in his push for a roster spot with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.

Williams finished with four catches for 43 yards in last night's 30-22 loss to the New York Jets. He was targeted six times, tying him for the team lead with former East Carolina Justin Hardy, taken in the fourth round in this year's draft. Williams also returned three kickoffs for 77 yards and had 10 yards on two punt returns.

Led by Julio Jones, Roddy White, Leonard Hankerson and special teams ace Devin Hester, the Falcons currently have 10 receivers on the active roster so Williams has some work to do. Of course, he has been down this road before. After being under utilized during his time at UConn, he made the 2013 Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent after making seven catches in four preseason games. He had catches three times in a five-game span in the second half of the 2013 season for Washington. Despite catching six passes including two TD receptions in the 2014 preseason, he did not make the 2014 Washington roster.

In other pro football news, Byron Jones told reporters that his injured left shoulder feels good and he is hoping to return to practice with the Dallas Cowboys next week while Marcus Easley, sidelined with a knee injury, returned to practice with the Buffalo Bills. Also, Jesse Joseph made his first regular-season tackle with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes in last night's 23-13 win over the BC Lions.

HAHN TO START SENIOR SEASON ON SIDELINE
UConn commit Eddie Hahn underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus on Thursday.

Hahn, who was an all-state quarterback as a junior at Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic, told the NJ.com's Joe Zedalis that "everything happens for a reason" and he was told by the doctor who did the operation that he was fortunate that he did not suffer a torn ACL which would have forced him to miss his entire senior season. Instead, Hahn is hopeful that he will miss just a game or two.

"I can begin throwing and light workouts in about two weeks," Hahn said. "After that, it all depends on how things go. I don’t know if it will be one game or two, I just want to get back on the field."

The injury happened when he was tackled in a scrimmage against Pope John on Tuesday. He told the UConn coaching staff about the injury on Friday.

"They were happy it wasn’t anything major and that I wasn’t going to miss my entire senior year," Hahn said.

Red Bank Catholic opens the season with a game against on Long Branch on Sept. 11.

A day after making former UConn receiver Nick Williams one of the final roster cut the Washington Redskins announced he was one of  eight players named to the team's practice squad.

Williams was originally signed by Washington as an undrafted rookie free agent last April. He spent some time on the practice squad during the 2013 season before being promoted to the active roster on Nov. 8. He made his debut nine days later and had a five-yard reception in a loss to Philadelphia. He finished with three catches for 15 yards in five games. He also averaged 20.9 yards on nine kickoff returns and returned one punt for no yards.

During the preseason Williams finished tied for third on the team with six catches and he had touchdown receptions in back to back games.

The Atlanta Falcons named the first eight players signed to the practice squad but former UConn linebacker Yawin Smallwood, taken by the Falcons in the seventh round of this year's draft before being cut. wasn't among then. The team is supposed to announce the names of the final two practice-squad players tomorrow.

Ryan Griffin and Nick Williams were teammates and classmates at UConn as well as underutilized offensive options with the Huskies. They have something else in common, they both had touchdown catches and led their teams in catches in yesterday's preseason games highlighting a day when 11 former UConn products were not only in action by many of them played starring roles.

Griffin had five catches (on five targets) for 71 yards and a 31-yard touchdown reception with 59 seconds remaining in the Houston Texans' 18-17 win over Denver. Griffin's TD pulled the Texans within a point and Tom Savage connected with Travis Laphart for the go-ahead two-point conversion.

Williams caught three passes (on four targets) for 17 yards highlighted by a 7-yard touchdown with 5:03 left to play in Washington's 23-17 loss to Baltimore. It was the second straight game with a TD catch for Williams who is making a late bid for a roster spot among a very crowded group of receivers in Washington.

On the other side of the ball, Danny Lansanah and Shamar Stephen earned starts to help Tampa Bay and Minnesota post victories.

Lansanah had five tackles, one shy of the team lead, and a tackle for a loss in the 27-14 win over Buffalo. I've been a Buccaneers fan since living in Florida in the mid-1980s and I cover UConn so perhaps I'm paying more attention to this than most people but I think Lansanah is one of the better stories to emerge out of the preseason as he has been bouncing around trying to land a spot in the NFL and it certainly looks like he will be there when the Buccaneers select their 53-man roster.

Stephen, a seventh-round pick by the Vikings, has been opening eyes in Minnesota's camp. He drew the start in place of an injured Linval Joseph and had three solo tackles in the 30-12 win over Kansas City.

Lawrence Wilson had three tackles in the St. Louis Rams' 33-14 win over Cleveland 

With the news that former UConn running back Lyle McCombs, the Huskies' leading rusher in each of the last three seasons, is enrolled at Rhode Island it got me wondering where the other players who have departed from UConn for one reason or another have landed.

The only new news I can report is that former running back Joe Williams is on the roster at ASA College in New York, which begins the season ranked No. 7 in the National Junior College Athletic Association national poll after posting a 9-1 record a season ago.

Williams came to UConn with plenty of hype out of Fork Union Military Academy. He enrolled at UConn for the spring semester in 2012 and took part in spring practice. I still remember in my first sit-down interview with then UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni when I was assigned to cover the team that Pasqualoni mentioned how much potential Williams had. However, his final career totals were three carries for nine yards all coming in a 2012 game against Temple.

A season ago Williams was suspended before the season started due to larceny charges and was never reinstated. He is listed as a sophomore on the ASA College so if he can have a strong season he can making his way back to a Division I team for his final two seasons of eligibility.

FORMER UCONN RECEIVERS STAND OUT
According to the ESPN box score, former UConn receiver Nick Williams was only targeted twice in the Washington Redskins' 24-23 win over the Cleveland Browns but he made the second one count as he caught the game-winning 30-yard touchdown pass for the Redskins.

There is also a video of an impressive catch in Buffalo Bills practice by former UConn receiver Marcus Easley.

Former UConn wide receiver Nick Williams failed in his bid to make the Washington Redskins' season-opening 53-man roster when he was one of the last cuts but he will be sticking around for a while as he was signed to the practice squad by the Redskins. The team announced the news on its official Twitter account.

Williams, an undrafted rookie free agent, was tied for the team lead with seven receptions in the preseason. Williams had 51 receiving yards and returned one punt for 29 yards during the preseason.

With a wave of cuts on the horizon it is now or never for the former UConn stars who are fighting to make it onto the regular-season roster.

Running back Jordan Todman continues to make a statement that he belongs by ripping off a scintillating 63-yard TD run as part of an eight-carry, 105-yard rushing performance in the Jaguars' 31-24 loss to Philadelphia.

With injuries limiting the preseason work of the Jaguars' top running backs, Todman has had plenty of chances to show what he is capable of and he is making the best of his situation. He is currently ranks third with 163 rushing yards in the preseason.

"Any opportunity I get, my goal is to score and make a big play," Todman said in a post on the Jaguars official site. "I’m definitely trying to take advantage of every opportunity. I leave it on the field every day.”

In the same game rookie cornerback Dwayne Gratz intercepted his second pass of the preseason which ties him with three other players for the preseason lead.

As for other UConn products in action:

Donald Brown rushed five times for 35 yards and Darius Butler had two tackles in the Indianapolis Colts' 27-6 win over Cleveland

Danny Lansanah had three tackles in the New York Jets' 24-21 overtime win over the New York Giants.

Nick Williams had two catches for 19 yards during the final scoring drive in Washington's 30-7 win over Buffalo.

Blidi Wreh-Wilson had a tackle and pass breakup in Tennessee's 27-16 win over Atlanta. Robert McClain had solo tackles for the Falcons.

Kendall Reyes had a pair of solo tackles in San Diego's 24-7 win over Arizona.

Four more former Huskies could be in action when New Orleans plays Houston as Lawrence Wilson is a linebacker with the Saints and linebacker Trevardo Williams, tight end Ryan Griffin and receiver Michael Smith play for the Texans.

Also, up North former UConn TE John Delahunt had one catch for 18 yards as the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated Winnipeg 37-14.

Former Super Bowl winning quarterback Joe Theismann didn't hold back when expressing his thoughts on former UConn wide receiver Nick Williams when Williams grabbed a pair of third-down grabs in Saturday's preseason game against Buffalo which was aired like on NFL Network.

When Williams made an 11-yard catch on the sideline, Theismann said "I like Nick Williams. Somehow, some way, somewhere this young man is going to wind up playing football in the National Football League. He is that prototypical slot receiver."

When Williams picked up another first down with an 8-yard catch Theisman continued to rave about the undrafted rookie free agent.

"I like him," Theismann said.. "I watch him in practice, the enthusiasm he has. This is the fourth quarter and he is seizing the moment."

Former UConn cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson
had three tackles in his NFL preseason debut

The NFL Network's whiparound coverage of tonight's preseason games stopped long enough to see a couple of matchups between former UConn teammates Nick Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson.

Williams, an undrafted rookie free agent receiver, had a pair of catches for six yards in the Washington Redskins 22-21 win over Blidi Wreh-Wilson and the Tennessee Titans.

Williams' first pro catch was a screen pass as he was dropped for a one-yard loss. Although Wreh-Wilson, a third-round pick of the Titans, did not get credit for the tackle on the play he was in the backfield and helped disrupt the screen. Williams later dropped a pass with Wreh-Wilson the closest defender.Williams had a seven-yard catch during Washington's game-winning scoring drive.

Wreh-Wilson finished with three solo tackles in his preseason debut.

The game is set to be aired on NFL Network on Monday beginning at 5 p.m.

Robert McClain had two tackles in Atlanta's loss to Cincinnati, Kendall Reyes had one tackle in San Diego 's loss to Seattle and Dan Orlovsky did not play in Tampa Bay's loss to Baltimore.

While the NFL's preseason schedule began last week with Dallas beating Miami in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, tonight will be the first chance for former UConn players to get in on the act.

It begins when Tampa Bay hosts Baltimore at 7:30 p.m. with Dan Orlovsky among the Buccaneer quarterbacks.

Cornerback Robert McClain, one of the most surprising performers during the 2012 season, and the Atlanta Falcons will host Cincinnati at 8 p.m. in a game being televised live by ESPN.

At the same time a pair of members from the 2012 UConn team will be on opposing teams as receiver/return specialist Nick Williams of the Washington Redskins could cross paths with cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson of the Tennessee Titans.

Defensive lineman Kendall Reyes and the San Diego Chargers will play Seattle at 10 p.m. and the game can be seen on the NFL Network beginning at 11 p.m.

With a program-record five players drafted and three others heading into NFL training camps, it's been a rather productive few days for the UConn football program.

The question now is what are the draft prospects for UConn in 2014?

At first glance the answer is that it will be nowhere like it was this year.

Dwayne Gratz, Sio Moore, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Trevardo Williams and Ryan Griffin came into their seniors seasons as known commodities since they have been making plays since they were freshmen or sophomores. It's not a huge shock that they caught the eyes of NFL scouts. Nick Williams, Michael Smith and Ryan Wirth, who are heading into training camps as undrafted signees, all had the talent and enough impactful moments to get invites from NFL teams.

Looking at the current group of UConn football seniors and it seems to be a different story.

Many of the seniors in line to start next season would be players like Taylor Mack, Tim Willman and Ryan Donohue who have been role players in the past. The most experienced seniors are defensive end Jesse Joseph and offensive linemen Jimmy Bennett, Kevin Friend and Steve Greene.

I took a look at the www.nfldraftscout.com site's 2014 NFL draft database and the players at the top of the positional rankings are Greene (the No. 61 rated offensive guard) and Cole Wagner (the 24th rated punter) which would make both of them free agents at best. Defensive end Tim Willman, defensive tackle Shamar Stephen, offensive linemen Friend and Tyler Bullock and running back Martin Hyppolite also are in the database. Obviously there's plenty of time for the UConn players to create waves but I would have to think that if the Huskies have a year similar to the one they just had that not too many scouts will be pursuing the veteran offensive linemen. However, if they turn the corner and emerge into a dominant offensive line, that will only help their chances to getting into NFL camps in 2014.

Recent history has shown that UConn's best showings in the NFL draft have come in odd numbered years with four players taken in both the 2009 and 2011 drafts and the five taken this season. That trend could be continuing in 2015.

I would have to think that linebacker Yawin Smallwood will be a sought after prospect with NFL prototype size. Defensive backs Ty-Meer Brown and Byron Jones and receivers Geremy Davis and Shakim Phillips could also emerge into NFL prospects.

According to their personal Twitter accounts former UConn receivers Michael Smith and Nick Williams have signed as undrafted free agents with Houston and Washington respectively.

Smith, a Houston native, will be one of three members of the 2012 UConn squad at Houston's training camp as Trevardo Williams was taken by the Texans in the fourth round while Ryan Griffin was a sixth-round pick.

Williams is one of two receivers with ties to Connecticut signed by free agents by the Redskins joining former University of New Haven WR Jason Thompson who had 16 touchdown receptions as a senior.

Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Sio Moore lead the list of former
UConn players expected to be taken in the NFL draft.

All the workouts and interviews are in the books, the countless hours of film study are also complete and now it is finally time for the NFL draft.

For a handful of former UConn players it is a couple of days they won't soon forget.

It's a foregone conclusion that cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson, linebacker Sio Moore and defensive end Trevardo Williams will heat their names called but the question is which day and by what team.

Donald Brown is the only UConn player to be taken in the first round when the Indianapolis Colts selected him with the 27th overall pick in the 2009. Will he have some company after all 32 first-round picks are announced tonight?

Wreh-Wilson figures to have the best shot of going in the first round although most of the pre-draft databases have him slated as a second rounder. There have been mock drafts with Wreh-Wilson going late in the first round so that means a long night of watching and wondering for the two-time UConn captain as the first round is held tonight. Tomorrow figures to be a special day in UConn football history with as many as four Huskies going by the end of the third round. The NFL draft marathon ends on Saturday with rounds 4-7.

The NFL Network's Mike Mayock, considered by many to be the best NFL draft analyst in the business, has Moore as his top-rated UConn prospect at No. 64 in his final pre-draft Big Board which is two spots ahead of Wreh-Wilson and eight ahead of Gratz.

This draft is intriguing on a variety of levels for the UConn prospects. Of course you have the story line surrounding whether Wreh-Wilson or perhaps even Moore could sneak into the end of the first round and then will four Huskies be gone by the end of day two or will one of them have to wait. Finally, you have players like tight end Ryan Griffin and linebacker Jory Johnson would have a chance to hear their names called late in the draft or at least will get signed as free agents. They could have company as receivers Michael Smith and Nick Williams, tight end John Delahunt and offensive guard Adam Masters are in some draft prospect databases.

Barring a stunning development, there will be a player from Connecticut taken in the first round tonight - kind of. Bjoern Werner out of Florida State is one of the top defensive ends available in the draft and his football career began at Salisbury. As for the former Connecticut public school stars, I would guess that Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins, who played at Maloney High in Meriden, will be the first one taken. Jenkins' situation is similar to that of Wreh-Wilson as he figures to go either late in the first round or in the second round. Other Connecticut natives to keep an eye on are Florida tight end Jordan Reed out of New London and Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison from Stratford who are projected to go between rounds 3-5.

                                                                     (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson (left) and Sio Moore are both projected to be second-round
 selections in the NFL Draft Bible database which was released on Thursday.

The NFL Draft Bible site released one of the largest databases of draft prospects with 10 members of the 2012 UConn team among those prospects listed.

The list of more than 1,500 players is done by position. Sio Moore, who was the No. 6 outside linebacker Blidi Wreh-Wilson (No. 8 CB) and Trevardo Williams (No. 9 OLB) were the only UConn products to crack the top 10 at their position. A total of 10 Huskies are on the list (actually the number is 11 but Jesse Joseph is listed as the No. 69 defensive end and he is still a member of the Huskies).

Here's the list:
Rank Player Position  Projected round
6 Sio Moore OLB                   2
8 Blidi Wreh-Wilson CB          2
9 Trevardo Williams OLB      2/3
14 Dwayne Gratz CB            2/3
27 Ryan Griffin TE                 FA
45 Jory Johnson OLB           FA
68 John Delahunt  TE            FA
78 Michael Smith WR           FA
83 Adam Masters OG           FA
112 Nick Williams WR          FA

Also listed is former UConn safety Jerome Junior is the No. 50 listed strong safety, the University of New Haven has three players listed as Ryan Osiecki is the 68th quarterback, Kameel Lashley is the 70th rated tight end and Jason Thompson is 159th at the wide receiver position. New Haven native Jeremy Moore out of Georgetown is the 95th rated cornerback sack, Meriden's John Jenkins out of Georgia is No. 5 defensive tackle while Rutgers receiver Mark Harrison out of Stratford is 20th at his position.

                                                                                      (Associated Press photo)
Former UConn teammates Nick Williams and Sio Moore share a laugh
during a break at Wednesday's Pro Day at UConn.

There's no question who the headliners are among the current group of former UConn stars taking part in pre-draft preparations.

There are some who believe that comeback Blidi Wreh-Wilson may have run his way into first-round consideration after a pair of impressive 40-yard dashes at UConn's Pro Day on Wednesday and linebacker Sio Moore have been soaring up the draft boards with eye-opening efforts in post-season all-star game. I have seen Dwayne Gratz rated higher among corners than Wreh-Wilson and Trevardo Williams certainly has the production as UConn's career sacks leader and dazzled at the NFL combine.

Likely the majority of the 29 teams represented at the NFL timing day were lured by the aforementioned quartet who all had scintillating efforts at the NFL combine. However, the Pro Day was a chance for some of the other Huskies to show what they could do.

Receivers Nick Williams and Michael Smith, linebacker Jory Johnson, offensive lineman Adam Masters and tight end Ryan Griffin were among the under the radar prospects who should at least be on the radar of the teams who made the trip to Storrs.

"I think a lot of these guys have long careers ahead of them and I am really excited for them," Nick Williams said.

"I think we will have a few guys drafted and we will have a couple of guys in camps. It just shows that UConn 10 years ago, that wasn’t the case and now you can see that you can make the professional ranks out of UConn and it is all a cycle."

While Gratz, Moore, Trevardo Williams and Wreh-Wilson already posted the numbers to catch the attention  of all the NFL teams regardless of what happened on Wednesday, that was not the case for their former UConn teammates.

"I woke up this morning and said this is really my opportunity to show so I wanted to come out here and have a good day. I think I did pretty well in the weight room and with some other stuff," Johnson said. "Hopefully I did as well as I could, I have been planning for this for a few months. It was great being out there with those guys, they did a great job at the combine and we really showed what kind of players we had.

"I've been very busy, it's a lot of hard work. A lot of us were real dedicated, we want this so bad so we put a lot of work into it. You saw it (Wednesday) and you saw it at the combine.

"It has been kind of shocking. I heard a lot of scouts were going to be here but then you see all of these guys out here and it is not every day that this many teams come to UConn. It was great. There are a lot of guys out here who didn’t get to go (to the combine or all-star games) so it was good to show. I was real nervous to get out here and I am relieved that it is over, show what I can do and it is kind of out of my hands right now."

While the main objective was to dazzle the NFL scouts on hand, Wednesday's event brought out plenty of emotions as it is the last time UConn football's Class of 2012 will share a football field together.

"It is fun being back with the guys, just be loose and have fun even though there is some pressure on us, it is fun being back," Griffin said. "It is a good opportunity to show what we’ve got."

Maybe it is because this was my first time at UConn's Pro Day and I was accustomed to having another three or four NFL teams at Yale's NFL timing day over the last few years, but I came away extremely impressed with what I saw today.

                                                          (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Sio Moore could be the first two
UConn players taken in April's NFL draft.

By the count of us media folks, the only teams not sending a scout, coach or player personnel rep to Storrs were Dallas (which is ironically the place head coach Paul Pasqualoni was working when he accepted the UConn job), Minnesota and Washington. Obviously the appearance of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick created quite the stir but most of the waves were made by the Huskies.

The NFL combine stars (Dwayne Gratz, Sio Moore, Trevardo Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson) only did a select few drills because they posted such spectacular numbers at the NFL combine.

Wreh-Wilson did cause a few jaws to drop by running the 40 under 4.4 seconds according to a few of the unofficial times. His two 40s at the combine were so far apart that the scouts wanted him to show he had the elite speed necessary for a cornerback to be drafted in the first or second round.


"I just wanted to put a stamp on it," Wreh-Wilson said. "At the combine my hand time was a 4.47 and my second one wasn’t anything that I even wanted to talk about. The last two weeks, I went home for a couple of days and trained and I really wanted to put a stamp on it and show how fast I really am so there are no question marks."

The news was not as good for Trevardo Williams who was battling ankle, groin and back issues which flared up while doing the agility drills like the 3-cone drill and 60-yard shuttle.


"I gave them everything that I had and I just hope they appreciated it," Williams said. "I was a little concerned about how it was going to affect me especially after the shuttle and kind of tweaked it and I knew right them it wasn’t going to be a good run."

With UConn's top four pro prospects didn't take part in too many drills, that opened up a chance for some of the under the radar prospects to shine.

Nobody seemed to take advantage of that more than receiver Nick Williams as his strong day was highlighted by a 37-inch effort in the vertical jump.

Williams is better known as a dynamic punt and kickoff returner but if he is to make it in the NFL, he will need to do so at a slot receiver as well. The good news is that players like Davone Bess and Danny Amendola have done quite nicely for themselves as NFL slot receivers even though they went undrafted.

"I am not trail blazing right now, guys who are like me have been successful; guys who don’t run 4.3 have gone onto the NFL and have had great careers so you just have to put your mind to it, believe and hopefully you make the most of your opportunity," Williams said.

The day started with offensive guard Adam Masters and defensive tackle Ryan Wirth doing 33 reps at 225 pounds in the bench press.

Tight end Ryan Griffin also did pretty well for himself including a vertical jump of 34.5.


"I just wanted to prove that I deserved a shot at the combine and I deserve a shot in the league," Griffin said. "I feel like I did that. I could have done a little better in some of the areas but overall I am pretty happy with how I performed. I am going to get a shot whether I just sign in camp and hopefully I will hear my name called but either way you have to perform."

It made for a special day for this senior class which has endured some ups and downs over the years.

Tight ends Ryan Griffin and John Delahunt
work out during UConn's Pro Day


"I think we will have a few guys drafted and we will have a couple of guys in camps," Nick Williams said. "It just shows that UConn 10 years ago, that wasn’t the case and now you can see that you can make the professional ranks out of UConn and it is all a cycle. You don’t realize it but it is marketing for the program and even Johnny Mac (quarterback Johnny McEntee) when he makes a trick-shot video it gets five million views and that is five million people seeing the UConn facility so the publicity is a great thing for the program and to see those guys go out and perform on the stage and have (NFL Network drat guru) Mike Mayock and all of those guys talking up the program."

I still have to finish transcribing my tape, especially with the interviews with Moore and Jory Johnson so I will have more at some point but one last thing I found out today is that the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL already own tight end John Delahunt's rights so if the NFL doesn't come calling, the Ottawa native could find a home north of the border.

"I’ve talked to them and told them I was going to come down and give the NFL a try and they supported me in that and I will just see what happens after today," Delahunt said.

                                                                                   (Associated Press photo)
Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Sio Moore and Trevardo Williams lead the list of UConn
products for the 2013 NFL draft. Nearly every NFL team is expected to send
representatives to today's pro day being held at UConn.

It was impossible to walk around the Burton Family Complex during the time that UConn was holding its most recent spring practice yesterday and not bump into one of the seniors from the 2012 squad.

I spotted Sio Moore, Adam Masters, Nick Williams and Michael Smith checking out the practice. They had a good reason to be back in town as they will
take part in UConn's annual pro day this afternoon.

Between strong showings in postseason all-star games or eye-opening efforts at the NFL combine, there is quite the buzz surrounding the UConn's pro prospects.

There may not be a player at any school who has upper his stock more since the season ended than Moore. He went from being an under the radar guy to being the No. 4 rated 4-3 outside linebacker by NFL Network's Mike Mayock. Blidi Wreh-Wilson is Mayock' No. 5 rated cornerback and Wreh-Wilson has been slotted in as a late first-round pick on previous mock drafts done by ESPN's Todd McShay. There are some, however, who rate Dwayne Gratz ahead of Wreh-Wilson in their pre-draft coverage. Trevardo Williams is another one of the former Huskies who put up scintillating testing numbers at the NFL combine. It's not out of the realm of possibility that all four of them could go somewhere in the top four rounds.

Considering how well they performed at the combine, I would not be the least bit surprised to see those four sit out many of the drills today since they have done more than enough to catch the eyes of NFL scouts. However, this is a huge day for players like tight ends Ryan Griffin and John Delahunt, offensive guard Adam Masters, linebacker Jory Johnson and receivers Smith and Williams.

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni has encouraged all the 2012 seniors to take part because you never know who might catch the attention of the NFL scouts converging on UConn this afternoon.

Here is where the UConn players are ranked on CBS' NFLDraftScout.com database
Player                                 Pos      Posiiton Rank     Overall Rank      Projection
Dwayne Gratz                   CB               12                          86                    2nd-3rd
Ryan Griffin                      TE               22                        414                  Free agent
Jory Johnson                    OLB             34                         366                  Free agent
Sio Moore                        OLB              6                           66                     2nd
Michael Smith                   WR             91                        692                   Free agent
Trevardo Williams           OLB              8                           76                     2nd-3rd
Blidi Wreh-Wilson            CB              14                        101                     3rd

Former UConn receiver Michael Smith, who was third on the 2012 squad with 31 receptions and 407 receiving yards, is the latest Husky to get a chance to shine for NFL scouts when he plays in tomorrow's Texas vs. The Nation Game.

Smith, a Houston native, will be playing for the Texas squad in the game being played at Eagle Stadium in Allen, Tex., at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Smith will become the seventh member of the 2012 squad to appear in a postseason all-star game.

Sio Moore starred in the East-West Shrine Game and joined Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson in the Senior Bowl, Jory Johnson and Ryan Griffin played in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic and receiver Nick Williams took part in the Casino Del Sol All-Star game.

Trevardo Williams was selected to play in the Senior Bowl but he injured his ankle during a Senior Bowl practice and was replaced on the roster by Moore.

Shortly before the start of the UConn/Louisville women's basketball game at the XL Center last night I caught up with UConn director of athletics Warde Manuel.

Considering the news that broke earlier in the day that George DeLeone was relinquishing his offensive coordinator position, it wasn't too hard to figure out what was the first subject broached with him. However, Manuel declined to comment on either the move of DeLeone to associate head coach while remaining the offensive line coach and the departure of defensive coordinator Don Brown to Boston College.


"I don't want to comment on that until we have our coordinators," Manuel said. "I’ll comment when we have hire our coordinators."

I was able to ask Manuel about a conversation I heard he had with the team shortly after the end of the regular season. I had heard that he lit into the team telling them to get with the program or head for the exits and that head coach Paul Pasqualoni has his full support.

Manuel said he did meet with the team but the conversation did not transpire the way I described above.

"I talked to them but it wasn’t because I felt like I needed to stand up for the coaches and I think they knew that," Manuel said. "It wasn’t a question about that but it was making sure they understood that we need to continue to work, we need to continue to get better and depending on their effort, the coaches’ effort, everybody in the room’s effort including mine that we have to put ourselves in the right position to do the right things and be prepared to have success."

Coming off back to back losing seasons, I was curious if he viewed this upcoming season even more pivotal than normal.

"Every game and everything we do is designed and should be designed to win and have success and when we don’t have a winning record we have to work even harder, work smarter and put ourselves in position in the right positions to do the right things to make success happen," Manuel said. "Every season is important and when you don’t win whether it is one season, two seasons you have to get down to the work and make things happen."

Since I periodically see reports out of Michigan with Michigan AD Dave Brandon continuing to hope that next year's UConn/Michigan game gets moved out of Rentschler Field and into a larger stadium, I asked Manuel for his take on the subject.

"It hasn’t been raised by their AD and I am not changing my perspective," Manuel said.

Finally, he spoke about having eight members of the 2012 squad playing in postseason all-star games as Nick Williams returned a pair of kickoffs for 37 yards in the Casino Del Sol College All-Star Classic last week, Jory Johnson and Ryan Griffin are playing in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic on Saturday while Sio Moore will be playing in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday as well. On Jan. 26 the trio of Dwayne Gratz, Trevardo Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson are taking part in the Senior Bowl and Michael Smith compete in the Texas vs. The Nation event on Feb. 2.

"That I love, it always wonderful when any of our guys go and to have eight is a real testament to talent we have on the squad and the potential that we continue to have," Manuel said. "We just have to fulfill the potential that we have because we have talent and we have a lot of guys with ability, a lot of high quality, high character kids. They’ve been through a lot and never stopped playing for UConn and their teammates. It is a testament of who they are and how they were raised, how they carried themselves and I will always be proud of this senior class."

The first of the college postseason all-star games is being played tonight with former UConn receiver and record-breaking returner Nick Williams taking part in the Casino Del Sol College All-Star game at Kino Stadium Is Tucson, Ariz.

Williams will wear the familiar No. 31 and will suit up for the East team. The game starts at 7 p.m. Arizona time and will be available on ESPN3.

As a senior Williams caught 30 passes for 334 yards. He also returned 21 punts for 230 yards and pair of touchdowns and had 489 yards on 24 kickoff returns while adding another 40 yards on 10 carries and a TD. His 2,505 combined kickoff and punt return yardage is more than another other UConn player. He finished 18th among FBS players in punt return yards per return.

Receiver and record-setting return specialist Nick Williams will be playing in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game which is being played a week from tomorrow in Tucson, Ariz.

Williams finished his UConn career with more combined kickoff and punt return yardage than any other Husky and is the only player in program history with multiple kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns.

Williams becomes the sixth UConn announced to play in postseason all-star games. Dwayne Gratz, Trevardo Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson will be playing in the Senior Bowl on Jan. 26, Jory Johnson will play in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic on Jan. 19 in Mobile, Ala. while Michael Smith will play in the Texas vs. the Nation game on Feb. 2 in Allen, Tex.