Trib: NFL scouts doing backflips over USF's Pierre-Paul

[USFishin]

NFL scouts doing backflips over USF's Pierre-Paul

By ROY CUMMINGS | The Tampa Tribune

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Jason Pierre-Paul had four tackles -- three for a loss -- a sack and a forced fumble in a 17-7 victory over FSU.

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At the NFL Scouting Combine, no one asks players to do back flips. Too bad. If a back flip were one of the combine's many tests of athleticism, University of South Florida defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul would be this year's marquee prospect.

During a practice for USF's International Bowl appearance against Northern Illinois in Toronto, Pierre-Paul did 14 consecutive back flips, and that didn't even represent a personal best.

"I can do 23 if I have to,'' Pierre-Paul said during a break between combine workouts. "I only did 14 that day because that's all I needed to do to beat (challenger and teammate) Kion Wilson. If Kion had somehow done 15, I would have done 23. I can do 23 no matter what â without stopping.''

Don't think the NFL hasn't noticed. Though it's hardly a true measure of a football player's skill, the ability to string together nearly two dozen back flips is a pretty good barometer of a player's overall athleticism.

As you might suspect, Pierre-Paul has graded out rather high in that area. So high, in fact, NFL draft analysts have all but ignored that the 6-foot-5, 270-pound end has played just one year of major college football, placing him near the top of this year's draft class.

"He's there because he's incredibly athletic,'' draft analyst Mike Mayock said. "He's also got a great motor. This is a kid who never takes a play off and when I've got a kid like that, I'll take a chance on him.''

Funny, but no one seemed to feel that way about Pierre-Paul when he was coming out of high school. The Deerfield Beach product said the only team that expressed an interest in him was Central Florida, and that interest waned when he failed to meet the school's academic standards.

Things changed dramatically once Pierre-Paul got his grades in order. After he spent one year each at College of the Canyons in California and Fort Scott Community College in Kansas, Florida, Florida State, LSU and Georgia all wanted him, but by then there was only one team Pierre-Paul wanted: the South Florida Bulls.

"Coach Jim Leavitt came to one of my games and said he'd stick with me 100 percent of the way, and he really did,'' Pierre-Paul said. "Even when I left the College of the Canyons, he stuck with me.''

Leavitt's persistence quickly paid off. In only his second start at USF, Pierre-Paul put together a breakout game, recording four tackles, including three for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble in a 17-7 victory over FSU.

That breakout performance earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors and served as a wakeup call to NFL scouts. Those scouts haven't gone to sleep on him since, and it's unlikely anyone watching this year's draft will go to sleep before he's selected.

The first round is a prime-time television event on April 22, and Pierre-Paul is expected to go somewhere in the first 10 picks. He may even be one of the first five players chosen, perhaps by Tampa Bay, because most scouts rate him as the draft's top pass rusher.

With his long arms, rare athleticism and unique ability to get off the ball, Pierre-Paul has conjured scouts memories of Jevon Kearse, the University of Florida product who set an NFL record for most sacks in a season by a rookie with 14.5 in 1999. Now, Pierre-Paul wants to break that record.

"That's what I want to do,'' Pierre Paul said. "I want to break records. That's my goal.''

That may sound a little cocky, but this son of Haitian immigrants is far from cocky. He's confident and driven, and despite his meteoric rise up NFL draft boards, remains humble.

"Hey, I'm a guy who came out of nowhere,'' he said. "So when I play football, I go 100 percent all the time and I go after the quarterback. Anyway I can get there, I'll do it.''

Even with a back flip?

"If I have to, yeah.''

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[bulldozier1]

It's going to be exciting to here, "WITH THE FIRST PICK, THE _______ PICK FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA. JASON PIERRE PAUL. We all will be a proud Bulls nation. They will show the FSU highlights. That has to help with recruiting.

[JuicedBull]

This guy is a rare and gifted athlete. It is good to see USF is producing highly sought after talent for the NFL. I hope he goes to the Bucs.