Pittsburgh Sports Report April 2014

2014 NFL DRAFT PREVIEW

NNEEIILL WWAALLKKEERR

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Alex Nseir How do you wind downfrom the highs and lows of Sochi?Dave Ogrean: Those of us who workin the Olympic movement, yourbrains get wired in a four-yearcycle, and when the Olympicflame goes out you just reset theclock for four years. Because nomatter how well you do or howpoorly you do, it’s never a final re-port card. You’ve got to do yourvery best to be prepared the nexttime that you go out. And so thereare things that you learn, and oneof those things that you learn issometimes you’ve done everythingpossible and you just lost. Becauseof a bad bounce, a bad call, some-body was better that day. And justlike in real life, you just have to goon from those days.

AN: What were your thoughts onthe women’s tournament?DO: The women’s loss was about asgut-wrenching as we’ve ever hadbecause, as you probably know, wewon the Gold Medal for the firsttime in ‘98 in Nagano. Canada haswon the three since then. Wewanted to be back on top so much.We thought we were going to winthis time. It’s always razor-thin

when U.S. and Canadian womenplay, but we had won the last threeor four games against them. So, wewere very, very optimistic and con-fident… with four minutes to playwe were up 2-0. It was just a stakein the heart, the way we lost. Ithought there was a call, it justkills me, but I’ve never blamed therefs for a loss, I’m not going to putit all on them now.

AN: And the men’s tournament?DO: I think we had as good a teamas we’ve ever had in the Olympicsand they played great through thepreliminary rounds. The gameagainst Russia was probably one ofthe most electrifying sports atmos-pheres that I was ever in.

But we were frustrated againstCanada, lost 1-0. And I think thatwhen we got behind to Finland itseemed like the gas in the tankwent out. It’s very hard to get upfor a Bronze Medal game becauseit means you’ve lost the game be-fore. We did it successfully and wewon the Bronze Medal in theWorld Championships last May,but sometimes you’re just so downand it’s a tougher thing to do... Youput so much into it, you lose to

Canada 1-0 and then… It is frus-trating, but the exposure that wemade the medal round, with bothteams, the exposure our game gotwith all of those games being liveon NBC Sports Network and re-streamed and all the other stuff,the numbers are just astronomical.

AN: No regrets about who you sentto man the bench in Sochi?DO: I think they’re terrific. I thinkthe coaching staff was great, themanagement was great. I don’t sec-ond-guess those guys. They play inthe NHL; I haven’t seen any ofthem go 80-0. You’re going to losegames and you’re going to losegames sometime that youshouldn’t lose, you’re going to wingames you shouldn’t win. But thepuck bounces, sometimes it getsstopped, sometimes it doesn’t, butI think we had a tremendouscoaching staff. I think Dan Bylsmais dynamite, I think our GM’s whoselected our team put a great teamtogether for the right reasons. Youknow, everybody’s a good Mondaymorning quarterback, and I can betoo, but you empower people whoyou trust to make decisions andthen you go with it.

“You’re going to lose games, and you’re going to lose games some-time that you shouldn’t lose.”

-Dave Ogrean, USA Hockey

DAVE OGREANJust a few weeks removed from the 2014

Winter Olympics, USA Hockey Executive

Director Dave Ogrean was in northern Virginia

for the annual Congressional Hockey

Challenge. PSR contributing writer Alex Nseir

caught up with Ogrean to discuss Sochi, Pen-

guins coach Dan Bylsma, Bronze Medal games

and the “stake in the heart” that was the ending

to the Women’s Olympic Tournament.

www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 3www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 3

PSRINTERVIEWINTERVIEW

UP CLOSE

DAVE OGREANListed among The Sporting News’ Top100 Most Powerful People in Sportsfrom 1993-99, Ogrean is currentlyamong The Hockey News’ Top 50People of Power and Influence.

• 2005 - present: Executive Director,USA Hockey

• 2002 - 2005: Executive Director ofUSA Football

• 2000 - 2002: President and CEO,Colorado Springs Sports Corporation

• 1999 - 2000: Deputy Executive Director of Marketing, UnitedStates Olympic Committee

• 1993 - 1999: Executive Director,USA Hockey

• 1990 - 1993: Director of Broadcast-ing, United States Olympic Committee

• 1988 - 1990: Assistant ExecutiveDirector for Television, CollegeFootball Association

• 1980 - 1988: Corporate Communi-cations and Programming, ESPN

4 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com4 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com

It’s all starting to make sense.The Steelers have not made the play-

offs the past two seasons. The team parted ways with players

who were integral to a sustained run ofsuccess that resulted in a pair of SuperBowl championships. The defense gotold, the offense fizzled and the lockerroom purged the veteran leadershipthat made the 2000’s so special.

So it all went according to plan.When general manager Kevin Col-

bert signed so many veteran players tolong-term extensions several years ago,he knew full well he was risking the fu-ture for the now. The deals were goingto blow up future salary caps. The hope,however, was to keep that champi-onship window open just a little longer.

It almost worked. The 2010 teamreached the Super Bowl; a season laterthey went 12-4 before losing a freakish

overtime game in Denver to the TimTebow-led Broncos. Then, right on cue,players got old, cap hits came and theplayoffs passed by.

And the rebuilding—to the extentthat consecutive .500 seasons can beconsidered “rebuilding”—took place.

That rebuild is not yet complete, butthe heavy lifting has been done.

The Steelers released former All-Prolinebacker LaMarr Woodley last monthand let out a sigh of relief that echoedthroughout the AFC North. They werefinally out from under their most disas-trous contract in recent memory.

When the Steelers signed Woodley toa $61.5 million extension in 2011, theyhad little way of knowing that he wouldmiss nearly 45 percent of the team’s de-fensive plays over the next three sea-sons. But that’s exactly what happened.Nagging injuries turned a once-lethalweapon into just another guy opposingteams handled with one blocker. It dra-matically hastened the demise of theonce-feared Steelers defense.

Now, with the overpaid and seldom-

played Woodley out of the picture, thefinal piece of the Steelers salary cup puz-zle is in place. His release saves the team$25 million over the next three seasons.The savings this year alone will pay forthe entire 2014 draft class.

The Steelers are currently on thebooks for $94 million in salary for the2015 season, according to OverThe-Cap.com. The NFL salary cap is ex-pected to reach $140 million that sameyear. Factor in the next two draft classes,and the Steelers will realistically enternext offseason more than $30 millionunder the cap.

That will allow them to extend BenRoethlisberger’s deal and do the samewith Maurkice Pouncey and David De-Castro if they choose. The extra capspace will allow them the luxury ofdoing so with ease, and still have moneyto add pieces in free agency.

This didn’t happened by accident.The current financial reality of the NFLdictates that you have to pay the piper.

The Steelers are paid up.

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Pittsburgh Sports Report is published 12 times annually by Pittsburgh Sports Report, Inc. a Penn-sylvania business corporation, Norwin Profes-sional Building, 40 Lincoln Way, Suite 301, IrwinPA 15642-1887. Distribution at selected outlets.This and every issue of Pittsburgh Sports Report,and all contents therein, are subject to copyrightprotection held by Pittsburgh Sports Report, Inc.(“Corp. 2014 Pittsburgh Sports Report, Inc.”).

PUBLISHEREllis G. Cannon

BUSINESS MANAGERLarry Appolonia

PRODUCTION DIRECTORMichael Betters

EDITORTony DeFazio

[email protected]

SENIOR MEDICAL ADVISERDJ Phillips, MD

Sam Akhavan, MDAllegheny General Hospital

WEBMASTERTom Ballas

BNS Web Creations

BEAT WRITERSNate Barnes, Scott Kromko,

Anthony Jaskulski, John Krysinsky, Alex Nseir, Joel Peretic,

Eric Shultz, Kenneth Torgent

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSRyan Bertonaschi, Steve Flinn,

Jack Godzuk, Chris Galiszewski, Guilio Gasparin, Kurt Hackimer,

Nate Marsh, Kelley Anne McGrath, Tyler Pecyna, Geoff Pfiel, Anthony Priore,

Erika Schneider, Dan Sostek,Heidi Swanson, Carley Thieret

FILM CREWShelby Cassesse, Andrew Havranek,

Taylor Duncan, Nick Frost

CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHERSCharles LeClaire, Justin Berl

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSMark Alberti, Aaron Doster,

William McBride, Kris Mellinger, Vincent Pugliese, Nick Susnjer, Ronald Vezzani Jr.

ContentsApril 2014 Vol. 18, No.3

DEPARTMENTSPSR FOCUS

3 UP CLOSE WITH PSR USA Hockey’s Dave Ogrean

4 EDITOR’S DESK Steelers winning the offseason

PHOTO CREDITSJustin Berl - 1, 6, 7a, 8a, 8b, 8c, 8d,9d, 10a, 10bCharles LeClaire - 14, 21, 22Aaron Doster - 12aRonald Vezzani Jr - 19, 20, 23

USA Hockey - 3; Brett Davis/USA TodaySports - 4; Getty Images - 7b, 7c, 15; BillGreenblatt/UPI - 9a; Bill Smith/Getty Images -9b; Streeter Lecka/Getty Images - 9c; Pitts-burgh Pirates - 11a, 11b; GrantHalverson/Getty Images - 16; Sam Green-wood/Getty Images - 17

6 BLUE LINE: PenguinsAs the playoffs arrive. the Pens are turn-ing out to be just another hockey team.

10 NORTH SHORE NOTES: PiratesNeil Walker, Charlie Morton, GregoryPolanco and more.

14 PURE STEEL: NFL Draft PreviewSteelers targets, PSR’s big board, futurestars, 2015 prospects & more.

21 ON CAMPUS: College SportsPitt and Penn State spring previews plusa look at the top local draft prospects.

2014 NFL Draft2014 NFL Draft

TONY DEFAZIOPSR EDITOR

All The Right Moves

EDITOR’SDESKDESK

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BY JOEL PERETIC

The Penguins will not win the Stan-ley Cup this year. That is not opinionor overreaction. It is, according to thenumbers, fact. Both the 2013 ChicagoBlackhawks and 2012 Los AngelesKings fared far better in the finalstretch of the season than the Pen-guins are this year. Statistically, atleast, Pittsburgh stands little chanceto win their fourth championship.

A recent trend of struggling againstplayoff contending squads is certainlytroubling, but add in the Penguins in-creasingly consistent defensive woes,and the recipe is disaster. Worse yet,as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkinfound out last spring, offensive hockeyis no cure-all in the postseason.

“We are more focused on how wewant to play in the games before theplayoffs,” said Crosby. “We judge andevaluate ourselves on playing a playoffstyle of game going into the playoffs.”

Two-time Cup champion RobScuderi echoed similar sentiments.

“We have a lot of talent on thisteam, but it doesn’t mean we are goingto win 4-1 or 5-2 every game. Thereare going to be times where you haveto grind out a game,” the veteran de-fenseman said. “If you’re playing thepercentages, it will most times be a 3-2 or 2-1 game in the playoffs. We haveto learn how to play in those gamesand play the right way.”

No period of the regular season is as

telling as the final 25 games. Teamsneed the first 70 percent of the seasonto gauge their playoff chances; theyneed the final 30 percent to calculatetheir Stanley Cup chances. Currently,the Penguins odds are slim.

Pittsburgh kicked off the first 14contests of their home stretch with a6-5-3 record. That means the Pen-guins are winning just 43 percent oftheir games during this crucial period.It’s a small sample size, sure, but theten matches against fellow postseason

teams isn’t, considering that a playoffseries is only seven games long.

Just twice in the last 14 games havethe Penguins topped a team that willalso be competing in May. With onlyseven games remaining against suchsquads entering the month of April,the best Pittsburgh can hope for is a9-8 record. Of course, there is no in-dication that a sweep is on the hori-zon.

Last year’s Blackhawks finishedwith a 10-2-2 record over the final 25

percent of the shortened season. Thatincluded a not-so-spectacular 3-2-1mark against playoff teams, but the.500 record will likely still be betterthan the Penguins work over theirfinal 25 games of this season.

What is more impressive about theJonathan Toews led team is that theyposted three of their six seasonshutouts in the final 14 games. Thoseblanks dropped the team’s regulation


Injuries and less-than-stellar play have pushed the Penguins to the middle of the pack.

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goals against average to an impres-sive 2.00, which was below their sea-son average.

The Penguins have allowed an av-erage of 2.92 goals over the first 14games of their final 25. That is nearly.5 more goals allowed than their sea-son average. In six of the 14 games,Pittsburgh surrendered at least fourgoals.

The 2011-12 Kings followed a sim-ilar path as the reigning NHLchamps. Los Angeles sported a 12-8-5 mark leading into the postseasonthanks in large part to their 11-4-4record over the final 19 games of the

term. Jonathan Quick also allowedalmost one entire goal less per gamethan the Penguins currently allow.Their 2.04 GAA mark was, like theBlackhawks, less than their seasonaverage. In fact, the Kings combinedfor five of their 11 season shutoutsover those 25 games. A 7-5-3 recordagainst playoff teams wasn’t sterlingfor the Kings during their run, butthe eight total losses already matchthe Penguins number with a fewweeks yet to go in the 2013-14 NHLregular season.

Obviously neither of those teamsdealt with injury blows to their toptwo defensemen. Los Angeles, how-ever, did deal U.S. Olympian JackJohnson at the trade deadline while

Chicago forged ahead with a platoonin net.

Clearly, the Penguins have somework to do. As Dan Bylsma notes,though, maybe that’s not all that badfor his team.

“For right now, I’m kind of glad Idon’t have to hear that we are the fa-vorite or a lock from the televisionshows,” Bylsma said. “We are work-ing and striving to be a better team.The game against St. Louis (a 1-0loss) was a great indicator. That’s aplayoff game and we came up short.I think we can do better, so it is finethat we don’t have to hear we are afavorite.”



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PENGUINS, from PAGE 6

POST-CUPPOSTSEASONS

The Penguins won multiplepostseason series last year for thefirst time since they won theStanley Cup in 2009. Here’s alook at the team’s playoff strug-gles since putting together back-to-back Finals appearances in2008 and 2009.

2009-10•Beat Ottawa Senators 4-2 in

Conference Quarterfinals• Lost to Montreal Canadiens

3-4 in Conference Semifinals

2010-11• Lost to Tampa Bay Lightning

3-4 in Conference Quarterfinals

2011-12• Lost to Philadelphia Flyers 2-4

in Conference Quarterfinals

2012-13• Beat New York Islanders 4-2 in

Conference Quarterfinals• Beat Ottawa Senators 4-1 in

Conference Semifinals• Lost to Boston Bruins 0-4 in

Conference Finals


The Big FourBY NATE MARSH

The play of Penguins captain Sid-ney Crosby has a tremendous impacton every game the team plays. What-ever success the Penguins have in theStanley Cup Playoffs will dependlargely on the opposition’s ability tocontain No. 87.

But he is not doing it alone.

Goaltenders: Fleury, Vokoun and/orZatkoff— Everyone knows the lastfew postseasons have been unkind toMarc-Andre Fleury. He has to have agood performance this spring, not onlyto quiet critics but to solidify his statusas the Penguins’ franchise goalie.Fleury is in the midst of a career sea-son and shows few signs of slowingdown, but strong regular seasons havenot equaled strong postseasons lately,as recent playoffs always seem to turnFleury into Swiss cheese. If he faltersyet again, the coaching staff has quitea predicament on their hands: Jeff Za-tkoff, who has played well in his debutyear but is ultimately inexperienced,or veteran Tomas Vokoun who hashad great postseason success with thePens, but hasn’t played a game allyear? Whatever the decision, it couldbe the difference between winning afourth Stanley Cup or coming upshort yet again.

Brandon Sutter— In their 2009Stanley Cup season, the Pens had thebest third line in hockey, centered byfan-favorite Jordan Staal. Eventhough Sutter has been slightly more

productive offensively than his pred-ecessor since the trade with the Car-olina Hurricanes, the third line as aunit is nowhere near as productive asit was four years ago. The third linemust get involved offensively if theteam is to make a deep playoff run.Sutter’s play on the penalty kill unitwill also be a huge factor in the post-season. Though they’ve consistentlyhad the best PK in the regular season,the playoffs are a different monster.

Olli Maatta— Maatta has had anoutstanding rookie season and has so-lidified himself as one of the best de-fensemen on the team. It is vital tonote that it is his rookie season, how-

ever. No situation has been too big forthe physically imposing teenager thisyear, but he has yet to see an NHLpostseason. The stability of the de-fense will depend on how well the 19-year-old Finn handles the pressure ofthe Stanley Cup playoffs. With in-juries plaguing the defensive pairings,Maatta has taken on extra minutes—and time on the power play unit—andcapitalized with both. If he carries thismomentum through the playoffs, andPaul Martin and/or Kris Letang returnto the lineup, the Penguins blue linewill be an imposing one.

Lee Stempniak— In his first eightgames with the Penguins, Stempniak

made quite an impact playing along-side Crosby on the top line. With 10points in his first 18 games, he haswasted no time with getting comfort-able with Crosby. The chemistry hasto continue into the playoffs for a suc-cessful run. With plenty of time towork together before the postseason,that chemistry should only build, cre-ating a scarier first line than expectedsince Pascal Dupuis sustained hisACL injury. Stempniak gets into thecorners to fight for the puck and keepshis head up for unexpected passesfrom Crosby – pretty much the job de-scription for a winger on the Crosbyline.

Fleury, Sutter, Maatta and Stempniak (left to right)

Four Players Whose Efforts Are Crucial to the Pens Postseason Chances



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In the midst of this excitement surrounding the dawn of a new base-ball season, a champion must be crowned in the sport of hockey. Sixteenteams are lacing up their skates and preparing for the upcoming huntfor the Stanley Cup. Here are the four favorites.

St. Louis BluesThe Blues entered the month of

April leading the Western Division.With one of the most talented goal-tenders in the league in the form ofRyan Miller—recently obtainedfrom the Buffalo Sabres—the Blueslook to continue their hot streak ap-proaching the playoffs. The Blueshave shown a high quality of play allseason long, but their track recordin the playoffs could pose somequestions in the minds of fans. Theyblew a 2-0 series lead against the LosAngeles Kings in the 2013 StanleyCup playoffs. While their regularseason has been impressive, trheirrelative lack of playoff experiencewill be something to keep in mind.The strength and aggression of theirtop lines will make it difficult for op-ponents to match once the postsea-son starts.

Chicago BlackhawksThe defending champion Black-

hawks sit a close second behind theBlues in the race for the West title.The Blackhawks return almost theentire roster from the team that cap-tured the franchise’s second StanleyCup in the past four years. The‘Hawks possess arguably the mostdepth in the NHL as well as experi-ence on the big stage in playoffgames. They acquired defensemanDavid Rundblad from the PhoenixCoyotes to make the Cup run. thelast few weeks of the season havebeen rough on the defendingchamps, however, as injuries havetaken their toll on the top line aswell as taken a bite out of theironce-considerable depth. The Pen-guins, who know all about injuryproblems, are shedding no tears.

Boston BruinsSitting atop the Eastern Confer-

ence standings are last year’s confer-ence champs, the Boston Bruins.The Bruins will be no strangers to inthe annual quest for the cup andhave steadily seemed to improve asthe season has worn on. They puttogether a double-digit winningstreak, the team’s longest in threeyears, last month and coach ClaudeJulien has said that he feels the teamis playing far from its best hockey asthe playoffs approach. Boston’sstrength comes from consistencyand seeing contributions up anddown all four lines. No team in theNHL is playing better as the post-season nears. Top players to watchduring the playoffs will be DavidKrejci and Jarome Iginla.

Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Penguins will chase the Bru-

ins for the top seed in the EasternConference, but they enter Aprilwith a comfortable lead in the Met-ropolitan division standings. SidneyCrosby and Evgeni Malkin are play-ing well heading into the season’sfinal games, and the addition of LeeStumpniak to the top line seems tobe working. The blue line has takenmajor hits with Kris Letang’s strokeand Paul Martin’s broken hand, butperhaps the biggest weakness for thePenguins is their goaltending. Thequestion seems to hold true everyyear: how will Mark-Andre Fleuryplay in the postseason? Fleury’splay—or the Penguins ability to re-place him should he struggle—arethe keys to a successful playoff runfor the Penguins.

Playoff Favorites


BY CARLEY THIERET

10 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com10 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com10 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com10 PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 www.pittsburghsportsreport.com

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“Since 2009 I’ve been with the organization and I feel like I’m a

Pirate. I feel like I came up with this organization.”

Pirates’ righthander Charlie Morton putan exclamation point on his recovery fromTommy John surgery in 2012 with the bestmajor league season of his career, posting 7-4record with a 3.26 ERA. He added a strongperformance against the Cardinals in the

NLDS, pitching into the sixth inning and allowing just three hits and two runs in thePirates’ Game 4 loss. Morton signed a three-year deal with the Pirates this off-season. Hetalked about his upcoming season.

CHARLIE MORTONIn theDugout

Q: Why was your three-year deal theright move for you?A: Just my experience here with the Pi-rates. Since 2009 I’ve been with the or-ganization and I feel like I’m a Pirate. Ifeel like I came up with this organiza-tion even though I was with the Bravesfor seven years. I’ve gone through a lotwith this organization and there’s beennothing but support, so this is wheremy wife and I wanted to be.

Q: What can this team take awayfrom the postseason last year as youmove forward into 2014?A: The same thing can be saidabout success, no matter when youhave it, to that degree. You builtconfidence on 2011 and 2012, andjust carried through in 2013. So it’sall about just building and movingforward.

Q: You were once a young up-and-coming pitcher in this organization,not unlike Gerrit Cole and JamisonTaillon now. What make you ex-cited to be part of a roation thatwill include Gerrit and potentiallyJamison at some point?A: It might be different becausethey are younger, but they are pro-fessionals. You see it with JeffLocke, you see it with BrandonCumpton, and Gerrit. It’s excitingto see young guys come up andhave success. It’s exciting to seeyoung guys come up and contributeand be ready, and be professional,and be mature and take the reins.That’s something that I struggledwith for a long time, so it’s nice tosee the organization build thoseguys and see the success that theorganization has had in producingthat kind of talent.

Q: Was there a certain point lastyear after the surgery, during theseason, where you really felt likeyou were back to where you wantedto be?A: The first game I pitched downhere in extended (spring training), Iwas excited just because I felt goodand there was no pain. The velocitywas great, the stuff was great, therewas movement. But it was a processand it still is. There is still mainte-nance work that I have to do and allthat, but there was never really a"moment." There was never really amoment where I said, "I’m back" be-cause it really was a long process. So,I think I learned a lot just goingthrough the rehab and learning howto take better care of my shoulderand my arm. Even though I feltgood, I did do a pretty good job ofthat. You learn what you have to do.

www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 11www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 11www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 11www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 11

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Pirates Prospect Watch

GREGORY POLANCOOutfielder Gregory Polanco will start

his season with Triple-A Indianapolis,but if all goes according to plan, hecould be in Pittsburgh by mid-season.

Polanco, considered the Pirates topprospect, looks to man an outfield ac-companied by veteran National LeagueMVP Andrew McCutchen and risingstar Starling Marte, a combination thatcould prove to be lethal for opposingteams.

Polanco’s strength stems from his 6-4, 220-pound frame. The massive leftyhas been described by teammates asable to get to first base in four strides.His agility, athleticism and outfield playstood out in the major league camp thisspring, reinforcing the notion that hewill make the jump to the majors soon.

His time in Indianapolis will be spentsmoothing out the rough edges, most atthe plate.

"The biggest maturation he will haveto go through is learning how pitchersattack him,” said Pirates hitting coachJeff Branson. “And how to lay off thatpitch inside.” Branson added thatPolanco must make small adjustmentslike shortening his arms and maintain-ing patience when in the batters’ box.

Polanco was often paired with Mc-Cutchen and Marte during cage workthis spring, a potential sign of things tocome. McCutchen noted that the balljumps off of Polanco’s bat, and that heis ready. It’s only a matter of time beforehe makes his arrival.

JAMESON TAILLONTaillon is also close to making his

major league debut, perhaps followingthe same path that current Piratesstarter Gerrit Cole did last season.

Taillon totes a nasty curveball in thelow 80’s that compliments a mid 90’sfastball, but he’ll work on refining thecurve and strengthening his change-up in Triple-A. Adding stronger off-speed stuff to his repertoire willamplify the velocity on his fastball.

Controlling the opposition’s run-ning game, however, is probably thebiggest area of concern and improve-ment for Taillon before he makes thetransition to the majors.

“He’s a very astute young man, helistens well, he practices sharp,” saidPirates manager Clint Hurdle about

the 22 year old prospect. Hurdle be-lieves that Taillon has taken big stridesin the past year, not only with hisgame but personally as well.

Solidifying his consistency withinhis game, especially through pitch se-lection and controlling the runners, isthe final obstacle for Taillon on theway to the majors.

“I am already extremely, extremelymotivated to get up there, and that’sbeen my goal since I’ve been little,”said Taillon.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Taillon sufferedan injury to the ulnar collateral liga-ment in his right elbow in spring train-ing. He will undergo Tommy Johnsurgery and miss the 2014 season.

BY CARLEY THIERET

Before the country

celebrates its 238th birth-

day this coming July, the

Pirates could very well be

celebrating the arrival of

the next two stars to

come through PNC Park.


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BY KURT HACKIMER

There was a time when Neil Walkerappeared to be the next Pirate on thelist for a contract extension.

However, given the team’s recent$31 million deal with budding super-star Starling Marte, Walker, 28, seemsto have lost his place in line.

That begs the question: Why hasWalker, a hometown hero whowas drafted in the first roundafter a stellar career at Pine Rich-land High School, never signeda long-term contract with the Pi-

rates?The answer may lay in the Pitts-

burgh public’s perception of NeilWalker.

In this year’s Baseball Prospectus, anannual book that previews the up-coming baseball season, Walker is de-scribed as “The rare player who isunderrated nationally and overratedlocally.”

Sports Illustrated columnist and for-mer Baseball Prospectus contributor JoeSheehan agrees with this assertion.

“[Walker] has no national profilewhatsoever,” Sheehan said. “He’s agood balanced player but, if you’re aPirates fan and he’s a hometown guywho was drafted number one, youtend to pay more attention to him.”

“If you’re not in Pittsburgh, and youdon’t watch him play every day, he’ssomeone who gets lost in the mix,” PatLackey, owner of the Where Have You

Gone Andy VanSlyke? blog, said. “Idon’t know thatthere would be apush to extend himif he didn’t play inhis hometown.”

Of course, thisdoes not mean thatWalker is a badplayer. Walker is anabove average of-fensive secondbaseman and hisglove is almost asgood as his bat.

In 2013, he posted the best winsabove replacement total (WAR) of hiscareer despite only hitting for a .251batting average, down from .280 in2012. His 2.7 WAR, buoyed by im-proved defense and power numbers,ranked fourth among National Leaguesecond basemen.

MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo suggeststhat Walker’s importance may evenextend beyond the numbers.

“I think he’s the glue of the team,”Mayo said. “As much as Andrew Mc-Cutchen is the leader because he’s thebest player, Neil Walker is because he’sthe local kid. There is something verysolidifying behind him that makes methink he’s more valuable than thenumbers he puts up.”

Walker’s clubhouse leadershipmakes him a valuable asset to the Pi-rates even when he is not in the

lineup, which, unfortunately, has fre-quently been the case.

In 2012, Walker missed 27 of thelast 35 games with a back injury. His2013 season included two separatetrips to the DL, one for an injured fin-ger and another for a strained oblique.

Injuries may prevent the Piratesfrom investing heavily in Walker, whowill be 31 when his contract expires in2017. Especially since the Pirates paidWalker $5.75 million this past offsea-son to avoid arbitration.

“[Walker] is in that weird spot rightnow where it’s very hard to sign aplayer,” Joe Sheehan said. “If I’m NealHuntington, I’m not sure that I’mlooking to sign away Walker’s firstcouple years of free agency. I’d be morecomfortable going year to year.”

Why Not Walker?Pirates have yet to reach a deal with local second baseman

Neil Walker enters his fifth full-season in the majors this spring.The 28-year-old is a lifetime .273hitter who hit a career high 16homeruns last season, but batteda career-low .251. Walker also str-ruggled in his first postseason ap-pearance, going 0-19 in thePirates NLDS loss to the St. LouisCardinals.

The 28-year-old Walker hita career high.296 in 2010when he fin-ished fifth inNational LeagueRookie of the Yearvoting. The switch-hit-ter from Pine-Richland HighSchool posted career highs indoubles (36), runs scored (76),RBI (83), hits (163), total bases(243) and fielding percentage(.992) in the 2011 season - alsothe only time in his career Walkerplayed a full slate of games, ap-pearing in 159 games with 596 atbats.

Walker ended last seasonranked 13th among Major LeagueBaseball second basemen by theElias Sports Bureau. He wasranked 14th by CBSSports.com,18th by Inside Edge and 19th byESPN.

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Shopping ListBY RYAN BERTONASCHI

The Steelers had a relatively quietoffseason, but the Rooneys and gen-eral manager Kevin Colbert havemaintained a worry-free mentality.

The team will likely approach thedraft focused on two severe areas ofneed: cornerback and defensive line,according to Rob Rang, NFL Draftanalysis at CBSSports.com.

“Adding youth to an aging defensewould be priority No. 1, in my opin-ion,” said Rang. “This is especiallytrue in the secondary and along thedefensive line.”

Sideline reporter and former Pitts-burgh guard Craig Wolfley said it’slikely to be cornerback in round one.

“They’ve got to look at a corner-back to take over for Ike [Taylor] inthe coming years, and a lot of peopleare talking about [Michigan State’s]Darqueze Dennard,” Wolfley said.

Taylor turns 34 in May, and theSteelers may select Taylor’s future re-placement in the first round.

Dennard, the 2013 Jim ThorpeAward-winner and two-time All-American, collected 10 interceptionsand broke up 20 passes in his four-year career as a Spartan, and the 6-0,202-pounder ran a 4.42 40-yard dashin last month’s combine.

Health appears to be the main con-cern with Dennard, who underwenttwo sports hernia surgeries and ashoulder surgery at Michigan State.

Defensive line is also a priority.“[Free-agency] losses of Ziggy

[Hood] and Al Woods are huge, and

you want to secure your nose tackle,”Wolfley said. “Steve McLendonwasn’t disappointing last year, but hedidn’t rise to the level I anticipated.”

Notre Dame’s Louis Nix III wasprojected as a 2014 first-round sure-shot heading into his final season withthe Irish, but he underwent surgery torepair a torn meniscus in November.Despite the injury, he is down to 331pounds, 20 pounds lighter than heweighed at Notre Dame.

If Colbert sees too much risk in Nix,he may hold off until the secondround, where Penn State’s DaQuanJones or Tennessee’s Daniel Mc-Cullers could be waiting.

Wide receiver is another area of in-terest after Emmanual Sanders left forthe Broncos and Jericho Cotchery forthe Panthers in free agency.

While a big-body like Texas A&M’sMike Evans would be an ideal addi-

tion to Ben Roethlisberger’s arsenal,the Steelers did add former Saints re-ceiver Lance Moore in free agency.

Wolfley likes an in-house option tofill the final receiver spot – formerRochester High School and PennState star Derek Moye.

“There are two ways a receiver cancreate mismatches,” Wolfley said.“One is with speed, and other is withsize. Derek Moye is a big guy, and he’sgot some player capabilities.”

The potential emergence of the 6-5, 210-pound Moye could allow theSteelers to spend third and fourth-round picks on running back, line-backer or offensive line depth.

“The nice thing, from the Steelersperspective, is that the receiver groupis the strength of this year’s draftclass,” said Rang, adding that “futurestarters are likely to be available in themiddle rounds.”

Steelers’ focus on d-line, corner, receiver

Playoff StatsDRAFT THOUGHTS

Rob Rang, NFL Draft Analysisfor CBSSports.com among others,commented on the Steelers approachto the upcoming NFL Draft.

DEFENSE“Ideal schematic matches in-

clude Michigan State cornerbackDarqueze Dennard, Louisvillesafety Calvin Pryor and NotreDame nose guard Louis Nix III.

“Other options available in themiddle rounds in the secondarywith the blend of size, athleticismand physicality the Steelers havegenerally preferred include cor-nerbacks Stanley Jean-Baptiste(Nebraska), Chris Davis(Auburn) and Walt Aikens (Lib-erty). Among safeties, Washing-ton State’s Deone Bucannon,Stanford’s Ed Nelson and LSU’sCraig Loston are potential fits.

“Finally, nose guards includePenn State’s DaQuan Jones, Ten-nessee’s Daniel McCullers, Cal’sDeAndre Coleman andDelaware’s Zack Kerr.”

WIDE RECEIVER“The Steelers could be looking

at reinforcements at receiver asearly as the first round. I antici-pate that Texas A&M’s MikeEvans will be long off the board bythe time the Steelers pick – and Idon’t believe he is necessarily wor-thy of the bounty of picks it likelywould take to move up to get him.However, I anticipate that theSteelers will add at least one re-ceiver in the draft and possiblymore. Receivers with size may beviewed as especially important.”

www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 15www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 15www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 15www.pittsburghsportsreport.com PITTSBURGH SPORTS REPORT • APRIL 2014 15

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NFL Draft Big Board

BY DAN SOSTEK

1. Jadeveon Clowney, DE, South Carolina:Clowney is one of the best draftprospects in recent memory. Whilehe has his detractors, if Bill O’Brienand the Houston Texans determinenone of the quarterback prospectsare worthy of the first selection,Clowney is the best option.

2. Khalil Mack, LB, Buffalo: The linebackerfrom Buffalo didn’t get a ton ofrecognition during his brilliant ca-reer in the MAC, in which he set anNCAA record for career forcedfumbles, but is finally getting his fairshare in the scouting process.

3. Greg Robinson, OT, Auburn: The bestplayer on the national championrunners-up Auburn Tigers, Robin-son has shined in the pre-draftprocess and appears to be the bestoffensive lineman available.

4. Blake Bortles, QB, Central Florida: In thesee-sawing debate of “best QB in

the draft,” Bortles gets the edge overothers because of his play’s uncannyresemblance to that of Ben Roeth-lisberger. His skills appear to be verytranslatable.

5. Sammy Watkins, WR, Clemson: Whilecomparisons to the taller CalvinJohnson or AJ Green may not beentirely accurate, Watkins is atremendous WR prospect whowould likely immediately step into aWR1 or WR2 role.

6. Jake Matthews, OT, Texas A&M: WhileMike Evans and Johnny Manzielwere the ones scoring the touch-downs for the Aggies, Matthews wasthe one providing time to makethose plays happen. He could besecond straight A&M tackle (LukeJoeckel) to go top 5.

7. Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville: For awhile, Bridgewater was considered alock for the first overall selection.However, after a push by Bortles anda disappointing pro-day, some don’t

even view him as the best quarter-back in the class.

8. Anthony Barr, LB, UCLA: Barr is atremendous linebacker, whosehyper-athleticism helped him reachAll-American status in college. He’llneed to hone his instincts in theNFL, but if he does so can be great.

9. Justin Gilbert, CB, Oklahoma State:Gilbert gets the nod over MichiganState corner Dennard because of hisrare combination of size (6-0, 232)and speed (4.37 40-yard dash). Heled the Big 12 with 7 interceptionsin 2013.

10. Mike Evans, WR, Texas A&M: JohnnyManziel’s top target for the Aggies,Evans was a man among boys in col-lege. With his large frame and greatathleticism, he reminds many of theBucs’ Vincent Jackson.

11. Darqueze Dennard, CB, Michigan State:The cousin of New England Patri-ots’ CB Alfonzo Dennard, Darquezeis considered more talented than hisrelative. He’s not as fast as Gilbertbut the Thorpe Award winner maybe just as good.

12. Eric Ebron, TE, North Carolina: Everyonewho has seen Ebron play know thecomparison: the next Jimmy Gra-ham. Some think that the fast, ath-letic tight end could be even better.

13. Aaron Donald, DT, Pitt: After an acco-lades-filled offseason in which hewon four national awards, Donaldraised eyebrows with his athleticismat the combine, and is now consid-ered the top DT in the class.

14. C.J. Mosley, LB, Alabama: Captaininga Nick Saban defense says a lot. He’s

not the biggest linebacker but hasenough speed to defend the pass,while instincts that will make himserviceable versus the run.

15. Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M:Manziel is one of the most intriguingdraft prospects in recent memory.Unlike a prospect like Tim Tebow,Manziel’s mechanics aren’t an issue,but size and durability concerns arefor the 5-11 former Heisman winner.

16. Timmy Jernigan, DT, Florida State:While he might not have the explo-siveness that Aaron Donald does,Jernigan’s size could allow him to bea better fit in a wider array of defen-sive schemes, and could potentiallybe the first defensive tackle taken.

17. Zack Martin, OT, Notre Dame: Martinshined in the Senior Bowl, and sawhis draft stock soar. He made 52 ca-reer starts at Notre Dame andshould be ready to step in and startimmediately.

18. Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville: Pryor is oneof the big risers of the draft process,as the athletic safety has jumpedHasean Clinton-Dix as the topsafety in the draft in many scouts’eyes.

19. Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Florida State:The 6-5 receiver is the epitome of aboom-or-bust pick. The formerSeminole has all of the measurables,but lacks top-flight speed, and strug-gled with drops at times in college.

20. Marqise Lee, WR, Southern Cal: Lee,who would be the number one WRalmost any other year

SEE 21-40 on PAGE 20

Jadeveon ClowneyJadeveon Clowney


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The 2014 NFL Draft is shaping up tobe one of the deepest in recent memory.Here are four prospects whose futurepaths may eventually lead to Canton.

South Carolina DE Jadeveon ClowneyClowney is no stranger to the bright

lights. He was the consensus numberone high school recruit in 2011 whenhe opted to stay in his home state ofSouth Carolina. He was the SEC Fresh-man of the Year in 2011 and the con-ference’s Defensive Player of the Yearin 2012. Clowney gained additional at-tention when, in a postseason matchupwith Michigan, he destroyed Wolverinerunning back Vincent Smith eightyards behind the line of scrimmage—knocking Smith’s helmet into orbit inthe process—and forced and recovereda fumble that led to an eventual SouthCarolina win.

That’s what Clowney is: a game-changing defensive presence. His mix-ture of size, speed and pure athleticismmakes him a rare, once-in-a-generationtalent. If he seems like an obvious nameto make this list, it’s because he is.

His detractors—and there aremany—claim that he has a poor workethic which will derail his career. Orhe’ll fold under the immense pressurethat will follow him wherever he’sdrafted. And like any defensive line-man with a long frame (6-5, 266), he’llbe vulnerable to cut blocks – although

no team in NFL history has ever passedon a healthy player for fear that hemight get hurt someday L.C. Green-wood and Julius Peppers are just two ofmany long ends who somehow sur-vived.

Don’t listen to the critics. Clowney isthe real deal.

Auburn OT Greg RobinsonSix-feet, five-inches tall. 332 pounds.

32 reps on the bench. Vertical of 28.5inches. Now imagine all of that travers-ing 40 yards in under five seconds. Im-pressed? You should be.

Robinson displayed off-the-chartsathleticism at the NFL combine, a bigreason why he is now considered thetop offensive line prospect in the draft,jumping ahead of his majorly talentedpeers Jake Matthews and Taylor Lewan.

That isn’t to say, however, thatRobinson’s game doesn’t speak for itself.He was an instrumental component inAuburn’s top-ranked rushing attack,which averaged an absurd 328.3 yardsper game. His lack of experience is theonly real knock against him – Robinsononly played two years at Auburn andhas only been playing football since hisjunior year of high school. Additionally,the Tigers offense was so run-heavythat he was rarely tasked with keepinghis quarterback upright, which has rea-sonably called into question his abilityto effectively pass block in the NFL.

He will be raw as a rookie, but he willsoon become an elite NFL left tackle.

North Carolina TE Eric EbronEbron is the next iteration of the

freak athlete tight end. At 6-4 and 245pounds, Ebron creates major mis-matches with DBs and LBs alike. Herewrote the record books for the tightend position at UNC, taking the leadin career receptions (112) and receivingyards (1,805), as well as claiming the2013 single season records in the samecategories (62 and 973, respectively).Did I mention that he ran a 4.6 40-yarddash and may have the best hands inthe draft? He’s not the greatest blocker,but he’s no slouch either, and he shouldcontinue to improve in that area as hisbody responds to the weight trainingregiments of the NFL.

Ole Miss WR Donte MoncriefMoncrief is the only player on this list

projected to be drafted outside of thefirst round. This is mostly due to the in-sane amount of wide receiver talentrepresented in this draft, and also par-tially due to a perceived lack of produc-tion by Moncrief Ole Miss.

Clemson’s Sammy Watkins is theconsensus top wideout in this year’sdraft. Moncrief edges Watkins physi-cally and in most combine drills.

This is no knock on Watkins, who isobviously a great talent – but the gapbetween the two is a thin one, and ifMoncrief really does fall late into thesecond round, or even the third, somelucky team is going to have an absolutesteal on their hands.

Three Potential Superstars in the 2014 Draft ClassHall of Famers On the Way

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The Steelers’ offseason additions andsubtractions have given a peek intowhat may be going on in the team’sSouth Side War Room as the team pre-pares for one of the deepest drafts inyears. With the 15th overall pick, theSteelers still have a huge opportunity tobolster the roster. And as the team’sneeds become clearer, a group of severalplayers has emerged as potential targetsfor the Black and Gold in 2014.

KELVIN BENJAMIN, WR, FLORIDA STATEjamin was last seen catching the

game-winning touchdown pass in thisyear’s BCS Championship game forFlorida State, before deciding to leaveschool early to enter the draft. Withone of the best size-talent combos inthe draft, the 6-5, 240-pound Benjamincertainly looks the part of an elite-levelreceiver. He might not have the speedthat some teams want from a number-one receiver (4.61 40-yard dash), buthe would provide a much-needed ver-tical threat in the passing game.

LOUIS NIX, DT, NOTRE DAMENix is a large human being, to put it

mildly, and he utilized his size to put to-gether a terrific college career that wasa large part of Brian Kelly’s revitaliza-tion of the Fighting Irish. The 6-2, 340-pound defensive tackle isn’t much of athreat in the area of pass rush, but morethan holds his own against the run.

Some believe that Nix was the benefi-ciary of playing alongside another po-tential All-Pro in Stefon Tuitt in SouthBend, and while his NFL Combine per-formance didn’t help, his mammoth sizeand collegiate film still have scouts en-amored. Any rushed comparisons toVince Wilfork—or even Casey Hamp-ton, for the matter—are not fair to Nix,but he would be a welcome addition inthe middle of a defensive line thatstruggled for good parts of 2013.

C.J. MOSLEY, LB, ALABAMAThe Steelers need to find a replace-

ment for Larry Foote at the buck line-backer spot, after cutting the veteranloose cut this offseason. While VinceWilliams was solid as a rookie, and SeanSpence continues his comeback from adevastating knee injury, Mosley wouldbe able to step in immediately and hasa higher ceiling than either. The two-time first team All-American, despitebeing somewhat undersized at 6-2, 234,has one of the highest football IQs inthe draft, and would have no issueslearning Dick LeBeau’s defense.

MIKE EVANS, WR, TEXAS A&MLike Benjamin, Evans would fill a

much needed hole for the Steelers as avertical deep threat. At 6-5, 231, Evansoften out-muscled and out-jumped de-fenders in college. While, like Ben-jamin, he lacks elite-level speed, he hasbetter hands than Benjamin and is abetter blocker. Also, his experience

playing with Johnny Manziel wouldtranslate to the improvisational style ofBen Roethlisberger, as Evans showed aknack for helping out in broken plays.Evans probably won’t last until the 15thpick, however.

DARQUEZE DENNARD, CB, MICHIGAN STDennard, the cousin of New England

Patriots’ CB Alfonzo Dennard, wouldserve as the heir apparent to the agingIke Taylor if the Steelers were to selecthim at 15. While he had some injury is-sues in college–including a double her-nia surgery– he has solid size (5’ 11”,199 lbs) and speed (4.51 40-yard dash).Dennard was the Jim Thorpe Awardwinner for best defensive back in thenation, and with his excelling in press

coverage would definitely be able tosniff playing time right away.

Others to keep an eye on: CB JustinGilbert (Oklahoma State) and JasonVerrett (TCU), DE Ra’Shede Hage-man (Minnesota) and Stephon Tuitt(Notre Dame).

Not This Year: Notre Dame’s ZackMartin and Alabama’s Cyrus Kouand-jio are two first-round offensive tacklesand both will likely be available whenPittsburgh picks at 15. But the emer-gence of Kelvin Beacham and the Mar-cus Gilbert’s solid second half last yearno longer make the position a priority,and the addition of Mike Munchak asoffnsive line coach could be all the up-grade the unit needs.

Sorting Out The Steelers First-Round OptionsPotential Targets

Kelvin BenjaminKelvin Benjamin

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The 2014 draft won’t take placeuntil May, but that doesn’t mean it’stoo early to start talking about nextyear’s class.

Half a dozen prospects stand outabove the rest as top 10 draft picksnext spring, and half are quarter-backs.

UCLA’s Brett Hundley and Ore-gon’s Marcus Mariota were both eli-gible for this year’s draft, and bothwere projected to be first round picks.Hundley has the protoypical size at 6-3, 225, while the 6-2, 215-poundMariota offers a more intriguingblend of skills. Florida State’s JameisWinston, however, might be the bestprospect of the three should he de-cide to come out. Winston blendsideal size (6-3, 230) with great ath-leticism and uncanny pocket pres-ence.

Cedric Ogbuehi, an offensivetackle from Texas A&M, returned toCollege Station for his senior yearand could be a top-five pick nextyear. Ogbuehi, however, might noteven be the first offensive tackle togo next season as Stanford’s AndrusPeat will begin the year as a topprospect.

The other consensus elite prospectis Southern Cal defensive linemanLeonard Williams. At 6-4, 290,Williams is athletic enough andstrong enough to play end in a 3-4 ortackle in a 4-3. Scouts are alreadysalivating at the prospect of usinghim the way the Minnesota Vikingsused John Randle in his prime.

There are a couple of first-roundtalents at receiver, starting with Ala-bama standout Amari Cooper andMissouri’s 6-6 Dorial Green-Beck-ham. Maryland’s Stefon Diggs is a

first-round prospect as well.Drafting a running back in the first

round is becoming less commen, butthere are three bruisers who couldprove to be exceptions next year inTodd Gurley of Georgia, Melvin Gor-don of Wisconsin and T.J. Yeldon ofAlabama.

Pass rushers like Clemson’s VicBeasley, Nebraska’s Randy Gregory,Florida State’s Mario Edwards andFlorida’s Dante Fowler are definitefirst-round prospects, and MichiganState’s Shilique Calhoun, Georgia’sJordan Jenkins and Utah State’s

Kyler Fackrell aren’t far behind.There is a second-grouping of of-

fensive tackles—Cameron Erving ofFlordia State, Iowa’s Brandon Scherffand La’el Collins of LSU—who willproject as first-rounders with strong2014 seasons, while Florida State’sTre Jackson is probably the top guardat this early stage,

Tight ends Devin Funchess(Michigan) and Luke Kaumatule ofStanford are elite talents and poten-tial first-rounders.

The cornerbacks are led by IfoEkpre-Olomu (Oregon), Trae

Waynes (Michigan State) and JalenCollins (LSU), while Alabama strongsafety Landon Collins could also seethe first round.

OTHERS: QB Bryce Petty (Baylor),WR Nelson Agholor (USC), DTEllis McCarthy (UCLA), CB RonaldDarby (Florida State), OT D.J.Humphries (Florida), CB Marcus Pe-ters (Washington), DT MalcomBrown (Texas), RB Duke Johnson(Miami)

2015 NFL Draft Prospects

Jameis winstonJameis Winston


21. Ha-Ha Clinton Dix, SAlabama 6-1, 20822. Kony Ealy, DEMissouri 6-4, 273 23. Stephon Tuitt, DLNotre Dame 6-5, 30424. Ryan Shazier, LBOhio State 6-1, 23725. Louis Nix, DTNotre Dame 6-2, 33126. Dee Ford, LBAuburn 6-2, 24427. Taylor Lewan, OTMichigan 6-7, 30928. Ra’Shede Hageman, DTMinnesota 6-6, 31029. Odell Beckham, WR,LSU 5-11, 19830. Jason Verrett, CBTCU 5-9, 189

31. Brandin Cooks, WROregon State 5-10, 18932. Derek Carr, QBFresno State 6-2, 21433. Carlos Hyde, RBOhio State 6-0, 23034. Kyle Fuller, CBVirginia Tech 6-0, 19035. Jeremiah Attaochu, LBGeorgia Tech 6-3, 252 36. Bradley Roby, CBOhio State 5-11, 19437. Cyrus Kouandjio, OTAlabama 6-7, 32238. Kyle Van Noy, LBBYU 6-3, 24339. Jordan Matthews, WRVanderbilt 6-3, 21240. Allen Robinson, WRPenn State 6-2, 220

Players 21-40

Big Board

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BY RYAN BERTONACSHI

When a college football teamloses its All-American defensivelineman, starting quarterback andtop receiver to graduation and theNFL, fans generally won’t get ameaningful gauge for how the nextseason might pan out until the sea-son has already begun.

Despite a youth-inflated roster,Pitt may be an exception to thisnotion in 2014, according to defen-sive coordinator Matt House.

“There is a difference between afreshman that’s going to be a soph-omore that’s never played before,compared to a freshman that’s beenon the field,” House said, using soph-omore-to-be cornerback TitusHoward as an example.

“Titus Howard has lined up againstFlorida State—the national champi-ons—so he can take that one way oranother,” House said. “The first timehe walks on the grass in a game situ-ation this fall, it won’t be the firsttime he’s been on a field with thelights on. That means something.”

The biggest question for Houseand his defense is how it will respondto the loss of defensive linemanAaron Donald, who won four na-tional awards and led the nation intackles for loss (2.2 per game).

The Panthers don’t seem too be-fuddled by the challenge.

Rather than calling on a single re-placement for Donald’s production,they’ve adopted the idea that they’llget it done collectively.

“We’re not going to have that oneguy that can just make every play, soeverybody’s got to give a lendinghand,” Darryl Render, a junior defen-

sive lineman, said. “It’s just going tohave to be one big unit.”

Render and junior Khaynin MosleySmith hope to assume the roles ofDonald and Tyrone Ezell, while sen-ior David Durham, newly healthyjuniors Ejuan Price and Devin Cookand sophomore Shakir Soto willcompete for the defensive end jobs.

On the other side of the ball, Pittis down several offensive linemen.Cory King, Ryan Schlieper and Juan-tez Hollins all played significant snapsin 2013 and all have graduated.

“We’ve got five guys going throughtheir first spring so how they progress,how we progress, will tell that story,”Pitt coach Paul Chryst said. “Our lastgame we had no depth, so it’s hard tosay if we’ve arrived, but we certainlyhave more numbers right now.”

Dorian Johnson, a former five-starrecruit, will play an increased role in2014. Depending on injury, redshirtfreshman Jaryd Jones-Smith and truefreshmen Mike Grimm and AlexBookser could get time, too.

The linemen will work to protectquarterback Chad Voytik.

The redshirt sophomore hasslimmed down to 207 pounds. He’salso seized every opportunity possibleto study film, something he said thatChryst’s offense requires.

“This is a pro-style offense,” Voytiksaid. “It takes a while to get a handle.“

The loss of receiver Devin Streetwill hurt the Panthers, but they havea handful of players competing for afew spots alongside sure-shot starterTyler Boyd.

Kevin Weatherspoon, ChrisWuestner, Dontez Ford, RonaldJones and converted tight end Man-asseh Garner will battle for startingpositions. Jones, a senior who wassuspended for the 2013 season, is aperfect fit for the slot.

“They all have different character-istics that are good in their own sense,”said newly-appointed wide receiverscoach Greg Lewis. ”Ronald Jones hasstepped into a role with the opportu-nity to come in and do some goodthings. Manesseh has come in andpicked up exactly where he left off.”

Youth MovementPitt football turns the reins over to young talent

NEW FACES

The 2014 Panthers will haveseveral new starters in theline-up when they take thefield against Delaware Aug. 30to open the season. Here’s alook at who’s out and who’s in.

• WR: RONALD JONES, KEVIN WEATHERSPOON orMANASSEH GARNER replaceDevin Street (graduation)

• OG: DORIAN JOHNSON replaces Matt Rotheram(graduation)

TB: JAMES CONNER replacesIsaac Bennett (depth chartchange)

QB: CHAD VOYTIK replacesTom Savage (graduation)

• DE: SHAKIR SOTO, EJUAN PRICE or DEVIN COOKreplace BRYAN MURPHY(grades)

• DT: DARRYL RENDER replacesAaron Donald (graduation)

•NT: KHAYNIN MOSLEY-SMITHreplaces Tyrone Ezell (graduation)

• MLB: MATT GALAMBOS re-places Shane Gordon (grad-uation)

• SS: TERRISH WEBB replacesJason Hendricks (gradua-tion)

• CB: TRENTON COLES, TITUS HOWARD or JAAHMAHLPARDNER replace K’WaunWilliams (graduation)

• P: RYAN WINSLOW replacesMatt Yoclic (graduation)


NFL DRAFT: Local Players

TOP LOCAL PROSPECTAaron Donald, DT, PittDonald was the most decorated de-

fensive player in the nation in 2013, col-lecting every major award for which hewas eligible. The 6-1, 285-pounderdominated the ACC as a senior, blewaway opposition at the Senior Bowl andwas a combine star. Considered one ofthe "safest" prospects of the first round,Donald is consisently ranked as a top15-20 pick.

TOP HALF OF THE DRAFT

Allen Robinson, WR, Penn State One of the most productive receivers

in the nation the last two seasons,Robinson probably leads the secondgroup of receivers in a deep draft at theposition. He lacks top-end speed andisn’t as polished as the top five or six re-ceivers in the top group, but his leapingability and big frame (6-2, 220) makehim a solid second-rounder.

DaQuan Jones, DT, Penn StateJones has perfect size at 6-4, 322, and

very good quickness. His workout num-bers at the combine were good, and hisfilm shows a solid NFL tackle prospectwith the ability to play early and im-prove with experience. His productivitydidn’t match his skill, but he still seemsa safe bet for the second day.

MIDDLE ROUNDERSCharles Sims, RB, West VirginiaThe Houston transfer excelled for the

Mountaineers in his only Big 12 season,and continued to impress at the SeniorBowl. At 6-0, 214, Sims has a greatframe and top-end speed. He’s drawncomparisons to Matt Forte and is per-haps the strongest of all the runningback prospects in the passing game.Considered a 3rd to 5th rounder.

Will Clarke, DE, West Virginia A Taylor Allderdice grad, the 6-8,

275-pound Clarke has great length, ex-cellent strength and above-average ath-leticism. His consistency was a problem,however, which has left him short ontechnique and lacking in polish. His sizeand flashes of dominance, however, willget him a job on Sundays. Late 3rd to5th round.

Devin Street, WR, Pitt Street was productive enough over

his four years at Pitt to become theschool’s all-time leading pass catcher.He brings good size at 6-3, 190, andsolid speed, but a deep receiver draft willlikely push him toward the middle tolate rounds.

LATE ROUNDERSGlenn Carson, LB, Penn StateThe 6-3 244-pound Carson projects

as a solid run-stuffing inside linebackerand stands a good chance to hear hisname called on the draft’s final day.

Matt Feiler, OT, BloomsburgFeiler, 6-6, 330, played both guard

and tackle at Bloom, and although hehas tackle size he’s likely best-suited forguard at the next level.

Kaleb Ramsey, DT, Boston CollegeA good run-stopper with great

strength and good quickness, the LaurelHighlands graduate battled injury issueshis entire career.

Tom Savage, QB, Pitt Savage is late-riser after strong Com-

bine and Pro Day showings. His arm-strength is ideal, as is his toughness, buthis lack of mobility makes him a late se-lection.

John Urschel, G, Penn StateExtremely intelligent with great

awareness and intangibles, Urschel isundersized but scrappy and may have toplay both guard and center in the NFL.

Larry Webster, TE/DE, BloomsburgA former basketball star, the 6-6, 252-

pounder was a pass rusher who also gotsome red zone time as a tight end. Hisathleticism may get him drafted.

FREE AGENT HOPEFULSTerrill Barnes, WR, IUP (Gettysburg)Dorian Bell, OLB, Duquesne

(Monroeville)Greg Blair, ILB, Cincinnati

(Pittsburgh)Kyle Bryant OT, Youngstown State Brian Clarke, G, BloomsburgDarwin Cook, SS, West VirginiaBrock DeCicco, TE, Wisconsin

(Jefferson Hills)Chris Elkins, C, Youngstown State

(Beaver Falls)Carl Fleming, OLB, IUPAdam Gress, OT, Penn State

(West Mifflin)Jordan Hall, RB, Ohio State (Jeanette)Jason Hendricks, SS, PittMatt Lehman, TE, Penn StateDewey McDonald, SS, California-PAJake Metz, DE, Shippensburg

(Souderton)Dayonne Nunley, DB, Miami OH

(Monroeville)Shaq Rowell, DT, West VirginiaColby Way, Buffalo, DE (State College)Matt Yoklic, P, Pitt (Gibsonia)


BY NATE MARSH

The first spring drills in the JamesFranklin Era began March 17 for thePenn State Nittany Lions, and his ar-rival brought a new attitude and a re-vamped mentality to Happy Valley.

“We are a process oriented organi-zation, not a goals oriented organiza-tion,” Franklin said before the start ofspring practice. “What I’m worriedabout is them waking up every singlemorning and being the best they canpossibly can be, academically, athlet-ically, socially and spiritually.”

Steve Jones, Penn State’s play-by-play announcer, said the biggest dif-ference between Franklin and hispredecessor Bill O’Brien are theirmanagement styles.

“James Franklin oversees everyphase on the practice field,” Jonessaid, “while Bill was offensive coordi-nator so a good portion of his prac-tice field focus was there.”

His fresh outlook on Penn Statefootball what the team needs after atumultuous couple of years withNCAA sanctions, transfers and end-less speculation about former headcoach Bill O’Brien leaving for anNFL job.

“I just want to get the most we pos-sibly can out of every single day,”Franklin added.

Getting the most out of his newteam will start with the play of risingsophomore quarterback ChristianHackenberg, who will be throwing toa new pair of starting receivers.

With All-American Allen Robin-son and fellow starter Brandon Feldergone, sophomore Eugene Lewis is theleading returning wide receiver aftercatching 18 passes for 234 yards and3 touchdowns last year.

Sophomore Richy Anderson (13receptions for 111 yards) is expectedto take over in the slot, and thecoaching staff is expecting big thingsfrom DaeSean Hamilton, who wassidelined his freshman season due towrist injury sustained in high school.

“Where our issues come is depth,”Franklin admitted. “Our issues in thesecondary, if you’re going to playsome young guys, that is the positionto do it. Wideout, corner, things likethat, you can get away with it.”

The Nittany Lions plan to make upfor the lack of depth at receiver withthree excellent tight ends. AdamBreneman, Kyle Carter and JesseJames combined for 58 catches, 741yards and 7 touchdowns last year.

Those numbers could go up now thatall will play bigger roles.

Veterans Zach Zwinak and Bill Bel-ton will get competition from AkeelLynch at running back, but there isnot a lot of experience on the offen-sive line outside of guard Miles Dief-fenbach and tackle Donovan Smith.

Jones weighed in on the team’sdepth issues.

“I think some people think becausethey received extra scholarships thatall was well again,” he said. "Thesanctions did damage to the depth ofthis team in certain spots. Two yearsago Bill O’Brien could only bring in10 players... That affected the depthespecially at linebacker and offensiveline.”

Defensively, sophomore BrandonBell will replace Glenn Carson atmiddle linebacker, where he’ll beflanked by returning starters NyeemWartman and Mike Hull.

Deion Barnes and C.J. Olaniyanreturn on the edge, while AustinJohnson and Anthony Zettel will playbigger roles inside.

The secondary will be led by seniorsafety Adrian Amos and talentedjunior corner Jordan Lucas.

“You’ve heard me say before we’regoing to sell out every single gamenext year,” Franklin said. “I truly be-lieve once we get everybody pullingthe rope in the same direction thatwe can build something really specialhere.”

Penn State Ushers in Franklin Era With Spring Drills

Springing Ahead

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Documents

Pittsburgh Sports Report April 2014