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 players starting to report to voluntary workouts with their NFL teams, I thought it would be a good time to look at the offseason movement involving UConn pruducts.

The biggest news was made by Donald Brown who signed with the San Diego Chargers after spending the previous five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Also, Dan Orlovsky is headed back to Detroit, rejoining the team he played for from 2005-08 after stints in Houston, Indianapolis and Tampa Bay.

However, not all the movement news involves changing teams. The departure of established stars could also pave the way for bigger roles this season for some former Huskies as Ryan Griffin could see more time at tight end in Houston with Owen Daniels now in Baltimore, Jordan Todman has a chance to compete for a starting running back spot in Jacksonville with Maurice Jones-Drew now a member of the Oakland Raiders and Blidi Wreh-Wilson could move into a starting cornerback role in Tennessee now that Alterraun Verner signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

There was plenty of comings and goings involving UConn products in the Canadian Football League as well.

Larry Taylor, one of the most productive return specialists in CFL history, was traded from Calgary to Montreal, John Delahunt was taken in the expansion draft by Ottawa and most recently, Lindsay Witten was signed by Saskatchewan.

It's hard to imagine there has been a day where so many different UConn products made splash plays on the same NFL weekend.

Jordan Todman had a 5-yard touchdown run, his second of the season, and Dwayne Gratz had five tackles and an interception in his return to the starting lineup as the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated Tennessee for their first win of the season. Todman also had a 2-yard catch and returned three kickoffs for 99 yards including a 46 yarder.

Donald Brown scored the Indianapolis Colts' only touchdown on a 13-yard reception and finished with 64 yards on five receptions in a 38-8 loss to St. Louis.

Ryan Griffin caught a 2-yard touchdown pass, the first of his NFL career, in the Houston Texans' 27-24 loss to Arizona. It was his first catch in nearly a month as Griffin had his first two career catches in an Oct. 13 loss to St. Louis.

Sio Moore had a sack, a forced fumble and a team-high nine tackles in Oakland's 24-20 loss to the New York Giants. There aren't any stats for offensive lineman but Giants left tackle Will Beatty started and helped the Giants' Andre Brown run for 115 yards.

Also, Marcus Easley had his first two career receptions as he had 13 yards on a pair of catches in Buffalo's 23-10 loss to Pittsburgh.

Kendall Reyes had four tackles in San Diego's 28-20 loss to Denver.

Today is a huge one for former UConn players on the proverbial roster bubble as NFL teams have to get down to the regular-season maximum 53-player rosters.

While the list of cuts start trickling in, I figured I would post about where the UConn players finished in preseason stat lists.

Jordan Todman, who has made Jacksonville's 53-man roster, was the second-leading rusher in the preseason with 223 yards averaging an impressive 7.7 yards per carry.

Ryan Griffin, a sixth-round pick of the Houston Texans, finished second with 14 receptions while Buffalo's Marcus Easley was tied for seventh with 12 catches and second with 223 receiving yards.

Dwayne Gratz of Jacksonville was tied for second with two interceptions and Trevardo Williams of the Houston Texans was tied for fourth with 3.5 sacks.

It's not all good news as there are multiple reports out of Oakland that Raiders' rookie linebacker Sio Moore could miss the season opener with a toe injury. If that is the case it would only be a temporary setback with Moore, who is expecting to make a major impact for the Raiders.

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.

Danny Lansanah (47) celebrates with his New York Jets teammates
after making an interception against Jacksonville on Saturday.

On Friday it was Marcus Easley continuing to make a push for a roster spot with the Buffalo Bills and Saturday night fellow former Huskies Danny Lansanah certainly helped his chances of making the opening-day roster of the New York Jets with an impressive interception in a 37-14 win over Jacksonville. Lansanah also had a solo tackle in the game. For Jacksonville, Dwayne Gratz had three tackles while Jordan Todman ran six times for 13 yards.

Also, UConn's career sack leader Trevardo Williams recorded his first two quarterback sacks in Houston's 24-17 win over Miami. Ryan Griffin had three catches for 32 yards in the game for the Texans

Blidi Wreh-Wilson finished with two solo tackles in Tennessee's 27-19 loss to Cincinnati.

Also, in Canadian Football League action John Delahunt had his second touchdown catch of the season with a 1-yard TD grab in the first quarter in Hamilton's 37-18 win over Winnipeg and Larry Taylor had 166 all-purpose yards in Calgary's 26-22 loss to British Columbia.

I took a ride up to Worcester earlier today so I could catch up with former UConn kicker Dave Teggart who hosted the first camp as part of the Teggart Total Kicking program he recently started with his father. A story on how he decided to become a kicking coach will appear in tomorrow's edition of the Register.

However, don't think for a minute that this endeavor means that he is giving up on his aspirations to be a kicker in the NFL.

Teggart impressed at a kicking showcase in Arizona in March which resulted in a tryout with the Seattle Seahawks. Although he was not signed by Seattle, he is hoping he opened enough eyes there to be on the radar when a team needs a kicker.

He was signed as a free agent by Chicago coming out of UConn and made it to training camp but he was unable to unseat the Bears’ incumbent kicker Robbie Gould. He spent six months in Los Angeles working out under former NFL kicker Michael Husted that culminated with an impressive showing at a showcase in March.

“Robbie Gould he is a great kicker,” Teggart said. “He is a great guy to learn from but competing against a guy like that, I think he is pretty safe there. It was a great learning experience, I learned from the best. I went to California and trained. At a showcase in Arizona in March, won the field goal portion and I ended up they flew me to Seattle for a workout.

“Hopefully I keep getting these workouts,” Teggart said. “All I can control is staying ready and be ready when I get the call.

“There are so many kickers out there and so few spots. I have no illusions that it is easy. Obviously it is not the easiest position to make it, there are four quarterbacks, four linebackers for each position and for kickers there is only one. You have to get lucky and stay ready; you never know when the call is going to come. I will always stay in shape, always stay ready. I am still booming the ball. I am going to keep training forever, it is one of those things that I can use my abilities to help kids and keep myself in shape.”

Teggart said the biggest improvement he has made as a kicker has come on kickoffs since he knew that a kicker who struggled kicking the ball off has little chance to making it an NFL roster.

“I feel like I am kicking better than I ever have,” Teggart said. “At UConn I never really (kicked off) because we had Desi Cullen and he got it into the end zone every time and Chad (Christen) does very good kickoffs and I never really got the chance to showcase that ability. That is something I have improved upon; field goals have never been a problem for me it is just kickoffs. I am putting the kickoffs out of the end zone now and it is just a matter of getting into the right place at the right time, have somebody see me and take a chance on me.

Regardless of whether Teggart ever appears in an NFL regular-season game, his legacy in Connecticut was forever sealed when he blasted a 52-yard field goal against South Florida in the 2010 regular-season finale to kick the Huskies into a BCS game and showdown with Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

“That was one of my favorite moments to be able to go to a BCS game like that,” Teggart said. “At the time when you are lining up you are not really thinking of all the things that go with it. You are like ‘man, I’ve got a kick here and I’ve got to treat it like an extra point. I have to put it through or we are going to lose.’ That whole experience, that whole Fiesta Bowl ride, that was something you will never forget.”

I also addressed some other UConn-related topics with Teggart including his take on seeing five of his former UConn teammates (Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson, Sio Moore, Trevardo Williams and Ryan Griffin) taken in April's NFL draft.

"It goes to show everyone of those guys who were drafted are great people off the field as well," Teggart said. "I am really good friends with all of them and it just goes to show how much off the field matters as much as one the field. They are all great guys and they deserve everything they get. I wish them luck in the upcoming season."

When current UConn kicker Chad Christen missed four field goals in a loss to Temple, he told the media that Teggart was one of the first people to reach out to him.

"I have known Chad for a long time," Teggart said. "I have developed a great relationship with him over the time he was here, he was my holder for two years. He had a huge game winner against Louisville and believe me I was up on that screen watching. I was dying for him ‘hey, you’ve got to make it.’ When he did, I was going nuts. I was probably more excited than if it was me kicking it."

Finally here are Teggart's thoughts on his time at UConn.

"UConn was the best four years of my life," Teggart said. "It is indescribable what I think of that place, all the fans, everybody treated me great. Coach Edsall gave me a shot and Coach Pasqualoni when he came in he treated me very well. It has given me opportunities I wouldn’t have had any other place, I attempted more field goals than any other place in the country. UConn is a great place to be a field goal kicker, we were always in tight end games and we were always kicking field goals. I loved every minute at UConn."

I thought I would pass on what Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak had to say about former UConn defensive end Trevardo Williams after a recent practice during the team's rookie mini-camp.


"(Williams) was exactly what we thought,” Kubiak said in a post-practice report posted on the team's official site on Sunday: “Tremendous speed. He can really run. (He) is a little ahead of (third-round pick Sam) Montgomery.”

In other notes from the Texans, former UConn tight end Ryan Griffin was signed by the team on Friday. Griffin was taken by the Texans in the sixth round. Meanwhile,former UConn receiver Michael Smith was one of 19 undrafted rookie free agents signed by the team on Friday.

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.

                                                                                  (Associated Press photo)
Ryan Griffin, seen making a catch against South Florida as a senior, moved
up 10 spots to be rated as the No. 17 tight end by the NFL Draft Bible site.

The NFL Draft Bible site released its final "Big Board" for the upcoming NFL draft and of the 10 UConn products on the list nobody made a bigger jump than Ryan Griffin who moved up 10 spots and was ranked as the 17th best tight end in the draft. Grffin's jump enabled him to go from being a projected free agent to be a seventh rounder.

Sio Moore is the highest rated UConn player as he is the No. 5 outside linebacker (up one spot from the most recent list) and Adam Masters moved from No. 83 to 81 among offensive guards.

Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Trevardo Williams held steady as they came in as the No. 8 cornerback and No. 9 outside linebacker while Dwayne Gratz fell two spots to the No. 16 CB and receivers Michael Smith (from 78 to 80) and Nick Williams (112 to 113) fell slightly.

Among the non-UConn in-state natives, the player to make the biggest jump going from being the No. 20 to No. 15 wide receiver.

The site ranks players by position and projects which round the player will go in. Moore leads the way as a projected second rounder, Williams and Wreh-Wilson are second or third rounders with Gratz going in the fourth round.

The NFL Network's Mike Mayock released his top 100 prospects recently and three Huskies made the list.

Moore checks in at No. 64, two spots ahead of Wreh-Wilson with Gratz rated No. 72 overall. Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins out of Georgia is rated as a potential second-round pick by the NFL Draft Bible site and is Mayock's No. 71 overall prospect.

                                                                     (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 tight end Ryan Griffin, who visited with the Buffalo Bills today,
could be a late-round pick in the NFL draft according to ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.

While the quartet of Dwayne Gratz, Sio Moore, Trevardo Williams and Blidi Wreh-Wilson are generating the pre-draft buzz out of UConn, tight end Ryan Griffin should not be overlooked at a potential draft prospect.

On a recent conference call with ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., I asked him if he could see Griffin going in a late round or if he is more likely to head to camp as an undrafted rookie free agent.


"I think he is an asset to a football team," Kiper said. "I think he is a late rounder or priority free agent but I think he can make a football team."

Nobody has to tell that to new Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone.

Marrone came to Buffalo after being the head coach at Syracuse. In Syracuse's 40-10 dismantling of UConn last season Griffin was one of the few bright spots with six receptions for 72 yards including a 32-yard TD catch which pulled the Huskies within 13-10 in the second quarter. He also had three catches against Syracuse as a sophomore and 10 of his 116 career receptions came against the Orange so it should hardly come as a shock that Griffin joined Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones and Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones as players hosted by the Bills today according to the team's official twitter account.

                                                                                      (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

With national signing day in the books, it's a pretty good time to look back on what could have been.

When you factor in the departure of one coordinator and readjustment of duties of another, the bitter taste of  a second straight 5-7 season and never-ending rumors regarding conference realignment, this could have been the most frustrating recruiting year in recent memory.

However, at first glance that simply doesn't seem to the case. UConn's recruiting class has drawn praise from those who devote their time to judging such things. I can't sit here and tell you that players A, B and C are going to become the next Trevardo Williams, Sio Moore and Ryan Griffin but what I can say is that the Huskies seemed to secure commitments from the players it pursued the hardest. Case in point is that 12 of the 24 players who committed to UConn attended camp with the Huskies.

UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni was quick to credit the way new offensive coordinator T.J. Weist and running backs coach/special teams coordinator Kermit Buggs were able to get down to business shortly after being hired.

"When Kermit came in and got right out recruiting, T.J. got in and got us going, it kind of gave us a little energy coming down the stretch, coming down the final turn," Pasqualoni said. "I think it kind of helped us with the guys that they knew and fortunately Kermit Buggs knows the East coast. He was a high school coach in Virginia, he was at Penn State for eight years so this is not his first rodeo. He knows a lot of people up and down the coast."

Pasqualoni addressed the hiring of Weist as offensive coordinator and decision to promote Hank Hughes to defensive coordinator.

"He (Weist) is a tremendous human being, he is a high-energy guy and has an extensive background in football," Pasqualoni said, "I looked for somebody who had the responsibility of being a coordinator, how he put a package together and a guy who the kids would respond to on the field, in the meeting room and we like what we are doing offensively. We kind of like the marriage of what they are doing in Cincinnati (using) a lot of tight ends which is very important. You know how good that tight end they had so it made a lot of sense. We knew it would be a very good fit and give us a chance to get a guy in who can help us be productive and run the offense.

"The systems are similar. T.J. was very attractive to me because there is the blend, there is no ego there of ‘this is mine, that is yours.’ There is a marriage there of putting the thing together and that was pretty exciting and a guy that everyone on the staff can work with and feel great about. What we are trying to do is try to utilize the players that we’ve got and that is the key."

Pasqualoni said he "talked to a lot of people" for the defensive coordinator gig when Don Brown left to take the same job at Boston College.

"Hank has done this, he has an extensive background, knows the demands," Pasqualoni said. "I like to have coaches I can work with. Hank is a guy who since I have been here for two years is terrific. We can work together and develop what’s best. Don was that way and I wanted to make sure that we didn’t reinvent the wheel. If we bring somebody (new) in, we have to change everything. The kids are comfortable with we are doing, I wanted to be fair to the players on both sides of the ball, I wanted to be fair to the program so Hank was a natural candidate. Matt Cersosimo (who moved from receivers coach to working with the cornerbacks) was a natural, he played corner, he played defensive back, has an excellent background. He is a high-energy coach with a strong background and that made a lot of sense so it just kind of fit together."

One the subject turned to the new coaches on staff, I asked Pasqualoni if he felt a change at offensive coordinator was necessary considering the incredible struggles of the Huskies' offense in the last couple of seasons.

"One of the things that hurt us a year ago was the number of turnovers that we had," Pasqualoni said. "We were minus 12 and it is hard in close games to win some of those games and the reality of the deal was when we didn’t turn the ball over we did pretty good. Was it necessary? It gives us a chance to start again and have a fresh start, get moving and everybody understands what we are doing, everybody is on board and are working hard."

There is not a person in the coaching profession Pasqualoni has more respect and admiration for that his former offensive coordinator George DeLeone who is now working exclusively with the offensive line while Weist is now calling plays.

"The thing about George is there is no greater professional in this business," Pasqualoni said. "There is no one that works harder, has more knowledge or greater character than George so George is one tremendous human being, he really is."

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.

Former UConn linebacker Jory Johnson had two tackles as the Stripes team defeated the Stars 31-3 in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic. Tight end Ryan Griffin also played for the Stripes team but did not record a reception. I only saw him targeted once when he dropped a swing pass but did have nice blocks leading to touchdown runs by Virginia's Perry Jones and Missouri Western's Michael Hill in the second half and was on the field for all five of the Stripes team's five scoring drives.

Sio Moore started at linebacker for the East squad in the East-West Shrine Game. I haven't seen any official defensive statistics yet but I taped the game and unofficially had Moore with four tackles (although the three-hour window I taped ended with 1:33 remaining). He has been drawing plenty of praise from people who were at the game.

I am watching a replay of the game and after Moore made a tackle behind the line of scrimmage on Texas A&M running back Christine Michael, the NFL Network announcing crew sounded like they were members of Sio's fan club.

They mentioned that East head coach Jerry Glanville, a former head coach of the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons, said "put an asterisk next to that guy because you are going to know who he is in the next couple of years."

Mike Mayock raved about Moore as well.

"I like the combination of heavy production at a BCS school, a great week of practice and following it up with a solid game. I thik as this process goes on you are going to see this guy start to rise and I wouldn't be surprised at all if at the end of April he doesn't end up in the third round."
Also, heights and weights were announced for the Senior Bowl. Cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson came in at 6-0, 198 and 6-1, 190 respectively while Trevardo Williams, who will play linebacker in the game, is listed at 6-2, 233.

Three members of the 2012 UConn football team will get some air time today and even more importantly will be playing in front of a host of NFL scouts in a pair of all-star games.

Tight end Ryan Griffin and linebacker Jory Johnson will be playing in the Raycom College Football All-Star Classic. Both Griffin and Johnson and will playing for the Stripes squad. Griffin will wear No. 94 and Johnson No. 28 (the same numbers they wore with such distinction at UConn). The game can be seen on CBS Sports Network

Then at 4 p.m. linebacker Sio Moore will be suiting up for the East team in the East-West Shrine Game at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. Moore will be wearing No. 3 and the game can be seen live on the NFL Network.

Speaking of NFL Network, that station will be airing Senior Bowl practices next week beginning on Monday at 4 p.m. so there could be a chance to see the three former Huskies (Dwayne Gratz, Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Trevardo Williams) playing the game during the week.

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."