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.

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.

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.

The feeling was that there could be a new coordinator in place for the UConn football team in 2013 but nobody thought defensive coordinator Don Brown would be the first one to go.

As first reported by Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports, Brown is headed to BC after two successful seasons running the defense at UConn. The Huskies finished the season ranked 10th in total defense among FBS teams while ranking seven in rushing defense and 13th tackles for losses.

Brown has an impressive resume finding success wherever he's been. Eight of his 10 stops have been in New England including head-coaching stints at Plymouth State, Northeastern and Massachusetts. Not only does Brown figure to improve the Boston College defense but with Brown joining BC head coach Steve Addazio, a Farmington native and former head coach at Cheshire High School, recruiting Connecticut and the rest of New England is about to become even more challenging. Brown also recruited Florida for the Huskies and of course Addazio built relationships in the Sunshine State during his time as an assistant coach at the University of Florida so it will be interesting to see if BC beats out UConn for Florida prospects.

Here is a link to Boston College's release on Brown's appointment

Even if Brown had stayed, he would have had plenty of work to do with the graduation of UConn's all-time sacks leader Trevardo Williams, starting linebackers Jory Johnson and Sio Moore, starting cornerbacks Dwayne Gratz and Blidi Wreh-Wilson and top interior defensive lineman Ryan Wirth. The Huskies do return leading tackler Yawin Smallwood and injuries on the defensive line enabled plenty of returning players to see quality time in the defensive line rotation. The defensive line should also get a boost assuming defensive end Jesse Joseph is granted a fifth season of eligibility.

Brown also coached the cornerbacks at UConn and there is no position on the defense which will be under more scrutiny than the CBs. The ability of Wreh-Wilson and Gratz to lock up in man coverage enabled Brown to be more aggressive in sending his linebackers on blitzes. Taylor Mack  played well at times but was also beaten in man coverage. The other cornerbacks coming back are untested and head coach Paul Pasqualoni said late in the season that starting safety Byron Jones could be shifted to cornerback.

Safety Ty-Meer Brown is also back as are eight other players (including Joseph) who started at least one game on defense for the Huskies and the linebacking corps will be aided by Florida transfer Graham Stewart so Brown's departure does not mean that it won't be a dominant unit but it certainly does not help.

Senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson was named UConn's MVP at the team's awards banquet on Sunday.

Senior tight end Ryan Griffin was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year, senior defensive end Trevardo Williams and senior receiver Nick Williams were named the Defensive Player of the Year and Special Teams Player of the Year.

Other award winners were DT Ryan Wirth (Jasper T. Howard Award), OG Adam Masters (Football Alumni Award), LB Sio Moore (Kendall Madison Award), TE John Delahunt (Joseph M. Gianelli Unsung Hero Award), LB Jory Johnson (John L. Toner Scholar-Athlete Award) and CB Dwayne Gratz (Brian Kozlowski Award).

There are no lack of emotional sidebars to write about leading into tomorrow's UConn/Rutgers game.

Defensive stalwarts Dwayne Gratz and Ryan Wirth, two of the six New Jersey natives on the Huskies' travel squad, didn't hide their contempt for Rutgers when they met with the media earlier this week. On the Rutgers side, perhaps there is still some emotional baggage after UConn's 40-22 win over the Scarlet Knights a year ago, a game that ended Rutgers' hopes of earning the Big East's bid to a BCS bowl.

However, to me one of the most remarkable story lines has to be that tomorrow will be the first Big East game for the Huskies' often-injured fifth-year senior Jimmy Bennett.

Bennett, the starting offensive left tackle, was downright giddy when he looked ahead to finally getting able to play in a conference game in his fifth year at UConn.


"It seems like it has turned into a little bit of a rivalry against them," Bennett said. "I feel like it is going to be a really good game so be in the atmosphere of playing there I am excited. I’ve never had the opportunity to go to Rutgers. Each time I’ve had the opportunity to go, I’ve been injured. I am excited to get down there and play and see what everybody is talking about.

"My first season I got hurt in camp so I didn’t play in any games at all. The next year I got hurt in the Vanderbilt game so I didn’t get to play in the Big East because the Rutgers game was the next week. It is upsetting to be out there, be healthy and then get hurt again and not be able to play those games. I’ve watched them, I’ve been around them for home games. I know what the atmosphere is like but being in the game is probably a whole other level."

Opening Big East play on the road against a nationally-ranked opponent would get the members of the UConn football team raring to go under normal circumstances. But when you add in the fact that six New Jersey natives are expected to be members of the travel squad and get to play in front of friends and family at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway, N.J. and clearly motivation is not going to be an issue.

UConn has three starters who hail from New Jersey led by senior cornerback Dwayne Gratz from Piscataway. Gratz did not pull any punches when talking about playing in his hometown for the final time.

“I get to play in my hometown,” Gratz said. “A lot of people come to see me every time I go to Rutgers. It is a special feeling to play in front of everybody who watched you grow up as a child. I hate Rutgers and that is all that really matters. It doesn’t matter if we are going back home, I am there to beat them. We are just going to go there and try to get this ‘W’.”

Gratz still recalls how Rutgers was indifferent towards him until the Huskies began to pursue him.

“The funny thing about that is they offered me a scholarship only because UConn did,” Gratz said. “I couldn’t respect that and hated them for that because I wanted to go to Rutgers so I am going to use that for motivation.

“(Rutgers) week is always heightened intensity. The team sees how much the guys from New Jersey hate Rutgers and it rubs off on them. Every time we play Rutgers the emotions are high.”

Although there are 10 New Jersey natives on the team, only six are expected to be on the travel squad including starting receiver Nick Williams and defensive tackle Ryan Wirth who were also recruited lightly or not at all by the Scarlet Knights.

“The stage is set,” Williams said. “They are ranked in the top 25, they are undefeated. They just went down to Arkansas in front of 90,000 people and beat a pretty good team. I know the Jersey guys on the team set the tone on the team early on this week and everybody kind of feeds off that energy and I am expecting that to happen this week.

“I think in Big East play everything turns up a little bit. I wish that wasn’t the case. I wish you could simulate that atmosphere for every single game but it is human nature, it is impossible to do that. If you are playing in the Super Bowl it is going to be different than if you are playing in week one. For us New Jersey guys this is kind of like our Super Bowl. The rest of the team sees that, the game is in New Jersey and we lost a couple nail biters to them. It is an important game for us.”

For Wirth, who was called the most pleasant surprise of the team by Paul Pasqualoni during Tuesday’s press conference, one of the highlights of the early portion of his career at UConn was a matchup against former high school teammate Ryan Blaszczyk back in 2009.

“Growing up a couple of my buddies from high school went to Rutgers,” Wirth said. “Ryan Blaszczyk was a center there so looking up to him; that was a place I wanted to go to first. My redshirt freshman year I actually got to play against Blaszczyk. I wanted to go to Rutgers and I landed here and playing Rutgers is going to be exciting.

“I have the same story as everybody else. I guess I wasn’t good enough for them. I am happy where I ended up.”

Other New Jersey products on the two-deep chart are reserve linebacker Ryan Donohue and backup offensive guard Tyler Samra while linebacker David Kenney is a key special teams' player for the Huskies.

Competition for tickets has been fierce among UConn's Jersey contingent.

"All the Jersey guys including this one next to me (Gratz) scooped up all the tickets," Williams said with a laugh. "I struggled to get tickets. I couldn’t meet the demand and couldn’t decide who gets these four tickets out of x amount (he is allotted) so I told everybody you are on your own for this one. I spoke to my mom, my aunts and my brother plus my friends and there will probably be over 100 people at the tailgate they are throwing."

UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni said that knee injuries will keep senior defensive end Teddy Jennings and junior defensive tackle Shamar Stephen out of action for Saturday's game against North Carolina State.

It would be challenging enough to face the Wolfpack with the full complement of defensive linemen but going forward without two of the more underrated linemen on the squad is certainly a cause for concern among the UConn staff.

North Carolina State's starting offensive line had combined to play 137 games and start 104 of them with 85 of those starts coming from guards Zach Allen and R.J. Mattes and center Camden Wentz.


"This will be by far our biggest challenge," Pasqualoni said. "It is a very good offensive line, players who have been in big games. We'll find out where we are this week."

Here is what Pasqualoni had to say in updating the status of Stephen (who injured his knee during fall camp) and Jennings, who was hurt in the third quarter of Thursday's win over UMass.

"Right now I would say that Shamar, for this week, is out. We had an evaluation over the weekend and it is not realistic (that he will be back). I could say he is questionable but my sense is he is going to be out for this week. Losing Teddy is a big deal for us. He is one of three (defensive ends) in the rotation for us, he  is a senior and a good player so that is a huge loss for us. Somebody else is going to have to step it up. Timmy Willman  came in and stepped it up, E.J. Norris played a little bit as a freshman and he stepped it up. The way I always looked at a guy being injured, you don't get emotional or sad about it. You get the next guy and put them in the game, keep going that is what you have to do. Those guys are going to pick it up.

"I thought (senior defensive tackle) Ryan Wirth played a solid game for us. I thought he played pretty solid. I think the younger guys in there Angelo Pruitt, Julian Campenni, they've got technique there, they gave effort but they have to keep going. They still have Mykal Myers in the wings, we still have B.J. McBride, they have to continue to improve and get better in there."

Pasqualoni also addressed UConn's non-conference schedule which features the next two games against ACC squads.

"I think in this day and age with how important every conference victory is,  preferably early in the year you'd like to have a game where you say 'OK,  this is our early  first game of the year and we are going to go out and work out the kinks.' From there non-conference wise we  are going to play some good people, we are going to have some ACC people, Big 10 people, SEC people and we have always done that and see how we stack up against that level of play. Hopefully we will be battle tested and know exactly where we are when we go into the conference schedule.

"We have two ACC teams, Western Michigan is an awfully good team. I know everybody considers the MAC not to be the ACC or SEC but they are a very good team. Buffalo went down to Athens, Georgia and are hanging right with Georgia Bulldogs... I am happy with the schedule right now."

The quarterback and defensive tackle spots were already positions of concern before QB Michael Nebrich left the program and DT Shamar Stephen was sidelined for a few weeks with a sprained right knee so the quality and quantity of players at those positions was the focus of my main story off UConn's annual media day.

Second-year UConn Paul Pasqualoni expressed confidence that the Huskies should be in good shape at both positions moving forward.

First here is his reaction to Nebrich's decision to leave.

“It was his decision to transfer,” Pasqualoni said. “I would love to have had Mike stay because Michael could come in and contribute and be a good player for us but at the same time the player has got to be happy. We are not going to stand in a guy's way in regards to what he wants to do but we are optimistic with the guys we have. Johnny McEntee played 12 games for us last year, played more than Mike played so it is good to have Johnny. Casey Cochran, he will be healthy pretty soon (after breaking his left wrist in an offseason bicycle accident) and Casey is making progress.

“I think at the quarterback position we are in the developmental phase. It is a work in progress every day but we are happy with the progress we are making.”

Cochran said he hoped to be able to practice without restriction perhaps as soon as before the Aug. 30 season opener against Massachusetts. Also Pasqualoni said he is hoping to have quarterback Scott McCummings back at practice next week. McCummings, used primarily in the Wildcat formation in 2011, has been excused from the first week of practice to tend to a personal matter.


As far as defensive tackle, Stephen suffered a minor sprain to his right knee but there is a chance he could be ready in time for the UMass game.

“It is frustrating but I am learning to deal with it so everything is all right now,” Stephen said. “They are
stepping up and filling in for me.”

Sophomores Angelo Pruitt and B.J. McBryde are among those defensive tackles seeing more time lining up next to starting defensive tackle Ryan Wirth with UConn’s starting defensive unit.

“It was good to know that he (Stephen) was going to be OK,” Wirth said. “He rehabs hard, he works hard and he will be back really quickly. We have a lot of talented guys who are working hard. The sky is the limit for some of these guys “

The defensive line could get a boost from 6-foot-9 freshman Andreas Knappe from Denmark who is expected to go through his first practice in full pads shortly.

UConn’s practices on Tuesday (3-5:30 p.m.) and on Aug. 18 (8:45-11:15 a.m.) at the on-campus practice field off Alumni Drive are open to the public.