NFL Analysts Impressed With USF Trio AGAIN

[Papa_Bull]

Analysts Impressed With Trio

GREGG BECNEL

Published: Apr 22, 2004

TAMPA - Good things come in threes as far as South Florida and the NFL draft are concerned.

There was the incredible run to open Day 2 of the 2001 draft, when three Bulls - OL Kenyatta Jones (New England), DB Anthony Henry (Cleveland) and K Bill Gramatica (Arizona) - were picked in succession to start the fourth round.

In 2003, three more USF players - LB Kawika Mitchell (second round, Kansas City), DL Shurron Pierson (fourth round, Oakland) and WR DeAndrew Rubin (seventh round, Green Bay) - were drafted.

The Bulls could hit another trifecta as LB Maurice Jones, DB J.R. Reed and WR Huey Whittaker are projected to be selected in the middle to late rounds of this weekend's draft.

Draft analyst Mike Detillier - who has owned and operated a private scouting service and has published his ``M&D Draft Report'' since 1986 - is impressed with USF's trio.

``Of the three, Maurice Jones has the highest ranking. He has tremendous athletic skills, he is very fast and extremely strong,'' said Detillier, who is based in Louisiana. ``I feel he will go early in the fourth round. He is rated as my No. 5 inside linebacker, but he could also project to an outside linebacker slot.''

Jones' agent, Chad Wiestling, said there are 10 to 12 teams ``showing great interest in Maurice.''

``Teams love his production, versatility and athleticism,'' Wiestling said. ``And because he's played all three linebacker positions, he's a multidimensional player.''

Detillier said Reed, USF's career interceptions leader, will have no problem making the transition from college to pro ball.

``I am a big fan of J.R. Reed. He's my eighth-rated safety in the draft, and I think he will end up being a very good NFL starter, in time,'' Detillier said. ``He's not the biggest, strongest or fastest safety in this draft, but he is like a magnet to the ball.

``His first-rate football instincts and his ability to put himself in the right place at the right time will have him going late in the fourth round or early in the fifth round.''

Reed's agent, Jonathan Kline, rattled off 13 teams high on Reed, with the most interest coming from Chicago, Atlanta and Jacksonville, he said.

``J.R.'s excited about it all. He's getting a lot of attention,'' Kline said. ``Obviously, if a team spends money to fly him up and interview him and give him a physical, it's a given that team has some interest in him.''

In a draft filled with quality receivers, Detillier said Whittaker might have to wait longer to hear his name called, but he should hear it, nonetheless.

``This is a very thick year for receivers, and I have Whittaker ranked 28th in that group. This would mean a sixth-round grade,'' Detillier said. ``He has the size and physicality the scouts like, but he is not a super fast or quick player. He knows how to use his big body [6-foot-5, 225 pounds] to the fullest, and he has developed good ball-adjustment skills.

``Nicholls State All-American cornerback Chris Thompson told me Whittaker was the toughest receiver he ever had to go against because of his great size and his ability to shield DBs away from the ball.''

ODDS & ENDS: USF women's basketball standout Jessica Dickson has been named to the inaugural Gballmag.com Young All-America Team as one of the nation's top 10 freshmen. ... Sophomore baseball player Brian Baisley's career-high 11-game hitting streak ended in USF's 6-3 victory at No. 23 UCF on Tuesday. ... Senior Myron Leslie became the Bulls' all- time leader in doubles with his 65th in last week's win against UCF.

http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGAQY9D8CTD.html

[Papa_Bull]

It's a nice article. One thing that confuses me is that the agent for Maurice Jones is different from the one mentioned in this article.

Buccaneers | M. Jones to Visit - from www.KFFL.com

Tue, 6 Apr 2004 23:33:15 -0700

LB Maurice Jones' (South Florida) agent, Richard DeLuca, has confirmed to KFFL that Jones will have a pre-draft visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Monday, April 12.

http://www.kffl.com/popuphotw.php?id=163266

[Papa_Bull]

Another nice article on MoJo:

Opener vs. Alabama set tone for South Florida's Jones

By Marcus Nelson, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, April 22, 2004

South Florida linebacker Maurice Jones had one of his best games in the 2003 opener and this week he still was thinking about that game vs. Alabama.

His 18-tackle performance against the Crimson Tide, including a sack of quarterback Brodie Croyle and a vicious hit on running back Shaud Williams that caused a fumble, started the season right for Jones.

"I did well at Alabama," Jones said. "It was against great competition and that kind of set the tone for me the rest of the year. After that game I seemed to do real well. "

That was a harbinger for a fine senior season when Jones caught the eye of NFL scouts and raised the possibility of him being selected in the NFL Draft, which begins Saturday.

The Alabama game was Jones' first as an inside linebacker after playing most of his career as an outside linebacker.

He responded well.

"I excelled at being in the middle and was named the team captain so it was a good year for me," Jones said. "It was good to move around a bit during my career and that might help me in the draft. I don't have preference, it depends on the scheme of the defense."

Playing in front of the 76,000 fans at that game also helped him to perform for the NFL scouts at the February's scouting combine.

"After playing in front of all that many people, catching a few balls in front of a couple of people isn't much," Jones said. "There really wasn't much pressure. There were a lot of the guys and they move you pretty good. We just kind of moved around like a herd of cattle for the scouts. I enjoyed the combine."

Jones, who is 6-feet, 249 pounds, had a career-high 116 tackles last season, just one short of the school record set by Kawika Mitchell. Mitchell was drafted in the second round last season by the Chiefs. While Jones likely won't be picked high, he knows the Bulls are building a reputation of talented linebackers.

"We've been coming on pretty good when it comes to linebackers," Jones said.

marcus_nelson@pbpost.com

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/content/auto/epaper/editions/thursday/sports_0478537b96bdd1c300f5.html

[BullDoug]

While Jones likely won't be picked high, he knows the Bulls are building a reputation of talented linebackers.

Considering USF will have two starting ILBs (Mitchell & Jones), one starting OLB (Pierson), safeties (Henry & Reed) in the NFL by 2005, think about this.  How scary will the USF defense be when the Bulls can out recruit the ACC, SEC and Big 12 for quality DLs and DEs?  Second thought, how important is Kravitz to the USF D?  IMO he's D1A HC faudder in 5 yrs minimum.

[Velcro]

Pierson is a starting OLB?

[BullDoug]

Pierson is a starting OLB?

Okay...playing OLB.  I was being optimistic that he'd be starting by 2005.

[RHBullsFan]

I thought Pierson was still on the practice squad...

[Papa_Bull]

Pierson shows up as MLB and 2nd at that position on their depth chart

http://www.raiders.com/team/depth.jsp

NFL.com lists him as DE and says he played in 6 games in 2003 and credited him with 6 tackles and 2 assists:

http://www.nfl.com/players/playerpage/396060

Here is his game log from yahoo. They credit him with 7 solo tackles and 1 assist:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/6465/gamelog

[Papa_Bull]

Also, Maurice Tucker signed a contract with New Orleans for this year:

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/transactions.cfm

He's listed on their roster, but not shown on their depth chart:

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/playerbio.cfm?playerid=180

[Bishop of Bulltown]

Kiper has only J.R. Reed going in the sixth round to Atlanta in his latest 7 round mock draft, where's the love for Mojo and Huey???  ???