Dion Lewis may have been the most productive Pitt player last year, but he is a small back with a draft status that at times has been questioned as to when* and if he will be more than a second or third round pick.
DE Greg Romeus and WR Jonathan Baldwin, however, have already been projected in various insanely early mock drafts as possible 1st rounders. That’s nice
I have to be honest. I could care less about mock drafts a week after the actual draft. It has even less value than a way too soon preseason top-25 in football or basketball. At least the early preseason top-25s come somewhat close to matching the bias-inducing, essentially useless preseason top-25s.
Heck, mock drafts that happen right after college football ends are rarely close aside from some order for the top 3-5 picks. Remember the projections for LeSean McCoy?
Really, for Pitt fans, mock drafts in football (and especially basketball) have been far more rosy than reality — aside from Revis and Fitzgerald.
That’s not to say that both Romeus and Baldwin aren’t worthy of hype and the possibility of being 1st rounders come next April. They are.
Both keep working harder at improving their game.
When Greg Romeus watches film of himself from last season, he says he sees all kinds of mistakes. Poor technique, bad footwork, not finishing off plays — those things all jump out at him.
And remember, he is the reigning Big East co-defensive player of year.
Still, Romeus believes he has plenty of room for improvement that will make him a better player and a richer man soon. That’s why the defensive end decided to return to the Pittsburgh Panthers for his senior year instead of entering the NFL Draft this winter.
“Next year, I’ll be more prepared,” he said. “The more experience I have, the better chance I have [of being a high draft pick].”
At being better at their position.
But he vowed to become a more complete receiver as a sophomore and worked at getting better on all the routes.
The result was a 1,111-yard season with eight touchdowns. Only two receivers in the country last year topped 1,000 yards while averaging more than Baldwin’s 19.5 yards per catch. So what’s next for Baldwin?
“My goal this year is to get better at my yards after catch,” he said. “I want to run my routes crisper. And destroy defenders when I block them.”
Other teams will certainly game plan around him, but if they roll coverage to him, that opens up things for other receivers like Shanahan. That’s what happened in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, when Baldwin was held to just three catches for 31 yards, but Shanahan grabbed five passes for 83 yards.
“Pick your poison,” Baldwin said. “Do you want to get beat my Mike or do you want to get beat by me?”
Trying to cover Baldwin with just a cornerback is asking for trouble, especially in the Big East where most corners are going to surrender at least five or six inches to him. And he’s so big that it’s hard to jam him at the line.
“On film, it doesn’t look like I’m as fast as I am because my legs are so long,” he says. “If you try to do that stuff, I’ll beat the press and run right by you.”
In 2010, the Pitt SID will be working hard with plenty of individual players to promote for the various positional awards up through the tough call of promoting Lewis or Baldwin for Heisman.
You know what will help their candidacies, probably as much as their own hard work, effort and production? Winning the games.
* Yes, I know that it is now clear that he could come out after this year, but think about how long and confused most were before that was understood clearly.
