Mike McGlynn is somewhat the forgotten man with Jeff Otah being projected to go somewhere in the 12-20 range of the NFL Draft. McGlynn is a mid-round pick. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve some puff pieces. Especially from the hometown papers in the Mahoning Valley. One focuses on his time in High School where he essentially lost two seasons — academics and injury.

Scouts weren’t scared off by the missed season, figuring (correctively) that an athletic lineman who stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 310 pounds could recover from a missed season. McGlynn verbally committed to Pitt the next July — Inglis was irritated he didn’t wait until after he had attended Ohio State’s summer camp in case Jim Tressel wanted to offer him a scholarship —and the big left tackle seemed poised for a terrific senior season.

For 3 1/2 weeks, he had one. Then, against GlenOak in the fourth week, McGlynn fractured his right fibula, ending his season. Making matters worse, his mom had just lost her health insurance, meaning he wouldn’t be able to rehab the injury.

Then an athletic trainer named Don Sherwood stepped in.

“Without him, I don’t know where I’d be,” said McGlynn. “He helped rehab me and got me back where I needed to be. I was 335 pounds and I didn’t have any way of rehabbing it myself.

“He got me ready for my career at Pitt. We’re best friends now. He’s like a brother.”

The other story focused on his versatility along an offensive line.

‘‘One of my strong points is my versatility,’’ McGlynn said. ‘‘We‘ll see what position I‘ll play. Some teams have me as a guard and some as a tackle, and I‘ve played center. I think where I‘m going to make it is at guard or center. Some teams think I‘m undersized (for tackle) and would prefer me at guard or center.’’

According to nfldraftscout.com, McGlynn is rated fourth among all guards. He‘s being projected as a third- or fourth-round pick.

In a more statewide look at  Ohio kids waiting for the NFL Draft, comes this tidbit about life in the McGlynn household.

Mike McGlynn, Pitt offensive lineman: An Austintown Fitch product, now 6-4 and 311 pounds, he had to weigh in every Saturday morning for youth football. ”It was cold, I’d be down to my underwear and my dad used to hang me upside-down so I’d lose a couple pounds to make the weight,” McGlynn said. ”When I was 9, I was playing with 12- and 13-year-olds.”

Coming soon in paperback: The upside-down diet.

Speculation has had McGlynn being selected by the Dolphins, Lions and Rams. Go figure. All teams with big issues on their O-lines.

The NFL Draft is a couple weeks away. Jeff Otah had his re-do of pro-day at Pitt. He had been battling an ankle injury, that has hobbled him for the last couple months.

Although the workout was closed and those in attendance declined comment, Otah was pleased with his performance in one-on-one drills against another former Pitt offensive tackle, Mike McGlynn, who likely will be drafted.

“I feel like I moved well today,” Otah said. “My ankle felt way better than it did. My change of direction was better. I was good with my hands and I finished (blocks).

“Hopefully, the coaches were impressed.”

One team that made a strong impression by its interest was the Carolina Panthers, which sent general manager Marty Hurney and head coach John Fox to see Otah. The Panthers own the 13th overall pick, and NFL.com analyst Vic Carucci projects them to take Otah in his latest mock draft.

Carolina was the only team to send top management — rather than scouts — to his workout. Well, the Steelers showed up as well, but “sent” isn’t quite the right word when they already work in the same South Side facilities.

According to a Carolina beat writer for the Charlotte Observer, Otah is one of a few Offensive Linemen those Panthers are considering.

The other candidates are Boise State’s Ryan Clady, Boston College’s Gosder Cherilus and Vanderbilt’s Chris Williams. Of the tackles, Williams is probably least likely to be picked by Carolina.

It looks more and more likely that Otah will be picked in the 12-20 range of the 1st round.

Jeff Otah will likely be drafted somewhere in the middle of the first round. A second straight year for Pitt to put a player in the 1st round of the NFL draft. It’s progress. Otah got a puff piece in USA Today as they were looking at O-linemen.

“It’s the best group I’ve seen in 24 years,” says Kevin Colbert, director of football operations for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “The majority of them can play the left side or play both sides. It’s unusual to have that many guys that big and that athletic and that productive.”

Colbert has had a bird’s-eye seat to watch Otah’s development. “Jeff’s an interesting kid that probably hasn’t played his best football yet because he’s not a real experienced guy as far as football is concerned and having playing experience. So there’s probably a lot of upside left in him,” Colbert says.

Meanwhile, Kris Wilson may finally get a chance to play now that he is out of Kansas City and the back-up to Tony Gonzalez. He joins the Philadelphia Eagles with a 3-year deal.

“I’m coming in here to play tight end,” Wilson said. “The coaches told me I’ll be working primarily at tight end. I think my skill set definitely allows for more success at tight end.

“My strengths are stretching the field, catching the ball, beating defenders one-on-one, mixing it up and blocking guys – a lot of the all-around things that tight ends do. I think at the tight-end position, you have to be a jack of all trades.”

Some of Wilson’s tight-end numbers at Pitt were impressive. He averaged 16.3 yards per catch and scored nine touchdowns his senior season.

Wilson was one of my favorites from that period. I complained at a lot of games that he didn’t get enough balls thrown to him.

Meanwhile, if you live in the Wilkes-Barre area, you can check out Rod Rutherford QBing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers of the af2.

“Rich called me all the time around this time to see if I wanted to play but I would always blow him off,” Rutherford said. “Everyone has a dream of playing in the NFL but I realize that my window of opportunity is smaller than it was when I first came out.

“If that opportunity comes I am not going to run away from it. I gave (Ingold) a call and he was happy to welcome me aboard. I am going to take advantage of this chance and do what I have been able to do my whole career.”

Rutherford signed a free- agent contract with the Carolina Panthers when he came out of the University of Pittsburgh. The Panthers released him in 2005 and he was picked up by the Steelers where he received a Super Bowl ring.

He spent a summer in Germany, serving as a backup before trying out with the Tennessee Titans. When nothing worked out with the Titans, he volunteered as an assistant with Pitt this past season.

…

“Honestly I would love just to continue to play at whatever level I can,” said Rutherford who has no experience with the indoor game. “Whether it is AFL or even coming back here, ultimately whatever I am doing it is going to be in football. You have guys who love to play with computers, I love the game of football.”

I just hope he has been wise with the money he has received in his time in the NFL.

I seem to be having some trouble with embedding it on the site, but here is a link to the video of the player introductions for Pitt from the 2008 Big East Tournament Championship. Good times.

Now the biggest issue for Pitt basketball for the 3d time in 4 years, is whether a vital junior player will go into the NBA Draft. I’ve already said I think he should at least go through the draft process. Several sites have him going late in the 1st round. Plenty don’t include him. If you want to go crazy, here’s a link to a collection of mocks (quality of evaluations vary). One of the great variables that is always unclear until late April into May is the Euro players. Until the overseas scouting reports start coming in, the 1st round remains quite fluid.

As noted, there hasn’t really been a clear indication by Young as to what he is thinking.

Young won’t have to make a decision to even enter the NBA draft until April 27. The date to withdraw is June 16.

So take a deep breath. Relax and until Young actually says something, don’t drive yourself insane.

Of course, if he comes back…

Young would join Fields and DeJuan Blair, the Panthers’ top three scorers, as returning starters. Gilbert Brown, who was forced into a bigger role with the injury to Cook and was a major part of coach Jamie Dixon’s rotation, also returns and could move into the starting lineup at the three spot to replace Keith Benjamin.

A Young return could equal a top 15 or better preseason ranking for the Panthers, who garnered top-10 predictions the year Aaron Gray returned after testing the NBA.

The top incoming freshmen are expected to be Nasir Robinson, a four-star recruit who also could compete for the starting wing position, and shooting guard Ashton Gibbs, who may fill Ronald Ramon’s role. Other newcomers will likely be guard Travon Woodall and forward Dwight Miller. Point guard Jermaine Dixon has committed to Pitt and is expected to sign in the next month, but it’s unclear if there will be a scholarship available.

In Ray Fittipaldo’s final Q&A he speculates at the possibility of moving McGhee into a more prominent role. One that would have Blair at PF and Young at SF. That does, however, squeeze Gilbert Brown unless his shooting gets a lot better over the summer. Still, it is reasonable to assume that’s a goal at some point. McGhee’s development will be vital. Obviously it would allow Pitt to go bigger with him at center. The other advantage is that the rest of the players would be able to shift back when the team needs to go smaller.

Worth noting that Nasir Robinson was named to the all-PA AAAA 1st team for the second straight year. Also making the AAAA 1st team was Deandre Kane from Schenley.

Well Pitt’s pro-day for the NFL scouts was Monday. The main attraction, Jeff Otah, was unable to go because of a lingering high ankle sprain.

There were other seniors who worked out — Mike McGlynn, Joe Clermond, Darrell Strong and Kennard Cox.

McGlynn (6-4, 310), a four-year starter, started two games at right guard and nine at right tackle last season for the Panthers. But he is being projected as a guard by NFL scouts and coaches because of his height and arm length. However, what makes him an attractive mid-round prospect is that he has what Tomlin called “position flexibility.”

“That’s the good thing about him — he can play three positions,” said Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach/assistant head coach Russ Grimm, a former Steelers assistant who attended the workout. “He was a center before he played guard and tackle.”

Strong is an intriguing prospect because of his size (6-4, 268), athleticism and big hands, yet he is not ranked among the top tight end prospects in the draft. Part of the reason is that Strong began his college career as a quarterback, was switched to wide receiver and has only been a tight end for three years.

“It went good,” Strong said of his workout. “I think I did good in all the drills. I improved on all the things I did at the combine.”

Size likely will be a deterrent for defensive tackle Joe Clermond (6-3, 250), who was a productive player at Pitt and led the team last season with 10.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and was second team All-Big East. Colbert said Clermond would be an outside linebacker in the 3-4 style of defense the Steelers employ, but he could play end for a 4-3 team.

The more Pitt players drafted, the better.
Today is the start of spring practice. As is usual, there is a sense of optimism and excitement. This despite a slew of questions and upheaval.

Pitt opens spring football drills Tuesday with a four-way competition at quarterback, an overhaul on the offensive line and a coaching staff that features five new assistants.

That would be cause for alarm at some schools, but the Panthers’ 13-9 victory at No. 2 West Virginia in the season finale and 100th Backyard Brawl has provided optimism.

The challenge for Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is to build on the momentum of that monumental victory, when the Panthers finally played the way he had long envisioned.

“We’ve got to get coaches and players feeling that confidence that we finished the year with,” said Wannstedt, whose Panthers are a preseason top-25 team in some polls.

The biggest issue will be the position battles. QB, Center, all along the O-line, Linebacker spots outside of McKillop still look open, CB, depth chart issues at WR.

There’s nothing like the spring practices to challenge the cynicism. There’s the anticipated — almost standardized — stories of off-season workouts; new coaches and new perspectives; position changes; players ready to step up; blind optimism; players coming back from injury and so on.

God help me, every year I get sucked into it and believe this year will be different. Can’t wait.

Why wait? Scott McKillop gets the first national puff-piece in the week before spring practice.

It’s a defender’s version of nature vs. nurture. Are good tacklers born or are they made? Good tackling may be all about technique. Ask any safety who has to listen to a coach berate him for lunging at a tailback. But if the player doesn’t have “a nose for the ball,” as coaches are wont to say, it doesn’t matter how good his technique is.

Take the case of Scott McKillop, the Pittsburgh senior linebacker who, in his first season as a starter, led his team in tackling. He led every other team in tackling, too. McKillop made more tackles per game than any player in the nation last season. His 12.58 stops per game is more than 1½ tackles higher than any other returning player averaged in 2007. That adds up to 151 tackles, or 91 more — that’s right, 91 — than Pitt’s runner-up, linebacker Shane Murray.

Let the unbridled optimism flow.

From a selfish standpoint, I definitely want Sam Young to come back for his senior season. I can argue all the good reasons for his development and game that say he should come back. Mostly consistency issues. More consistent mid-range jumper needed, attacking the rim when there’s a defender in the vicinity more frequently, defensive effort, etc.

At the very least, Young has to put himself through the NBA draft process before making a final decision. It’s the most responsible thing for him and his family. Find out what the NBA scouts actually say. See who else is coming out and get a better idea of the competition at his spot for next year’s draft.

Then there are these reasons.

Age. Young will be 23 by the time of the draft this season. The NBA likes the players younger because there’s the tantalizing prospect of “upside.” The older, more mature a player is, the less room they see for growth in his game.

Health. We sometimes forget it, because Young has been so healthy on the court this year, but he doesn’t have knees that are in great shape. He continually battles tendonitis in both of them. Often needs both to be encased in ice after games. Given how important his jumping ability is to his game, he has to consider both the risk of injury if he comes back for his final year and the question of how long he can play professionally and earn a living before his knees become too much of an issue.

Strong finish. The season may have ended with a clunk in the NCAA Tournament, but that hardly erases his tremendous performance in the Big East Tournament. Against teams with NBA talent in the front court, like Louisville and Georgetown, Young was the best player out there. He dominated on both ends. Swatting shots, hitting his own. He was a force. In the BET there were plenty of scouts there to see players like Palacios, Hibbert, and others.

Potential. Come back for a final season after getting national recognition/breakout year, all too often means that scouts and draft people spend the next season criticizing and picking apart the game.

Plenty of reasons to come back, but it isn’t nearly so clear-cut.

O-Line Coach Paul Dunn had to go. Arguably the O-line was not particularly strong when he started and between injuries and depth there were lots of excuses. The problem was that players didn’t seem to develop much. There was talent, but not much was done with it.

Consider that the O-line will almost certainly have two players drafted in the 2008 draft. Mike McGlynn will get picked up by somebody on day 2 (Insider subs.).

Pitt’s Mike McGlynn runs from drill to drill like his hair is on fire. It is hard to miss a 309-pound offensive lineman running at full speed down the field to get to a drill. While hustle and “want to” are great traits, he needs to settle down a little bit. McGlynn is an intriguing prospect because he could potentially fill in at every line spot in the NFL with the exception of left tackle. At this point, he is a master of none, but does have some upside, particularly as a guard. McGlynn is also able to deep snap, which adds to his versatility. If he gets the opportunity to snap for punts — it is a safe bet that McGlynn will hustle down the field.

Right now the speculation is 3d to 4th round, but more likely would be sometime in round 5 or after once the combines, scouting and measurements really happen.

Jeff Otah is the other, and everyone is putting him in the first round.

Mel Kiper, Jr. puts him at #13 to the Carolina Panthers (Insider subs.).

Don Banks at SI.com has him at #15 and the Detroit Lions (poor guy).

Todd McShay at ESPN.com/Scouts, Inc. puts him all the way at #23 and the Steelers (Insider subs.).

The Steelers could use two of their first three picks on offensive linemen. They have bigger holes to fill inside at center and guard, but with his combination of size and skills Otah is far and away the best lineman available in this scenario. G Roy Schuening (Oregon State) and C John Sullivan (Notre Dame) could also become Steelers in later rounds.

Now Dunn did help develop Otah and McGlynn. Of course, by the same token, despite having two seniors who will be on NFL rosters next season, the O-line was still a joke and never got better.

So in that respect, it’s hard not to believe that new O-line coach Tony Wise has to be an improvement. Teaching and coaching wise, he better be. He’s been at the NFL for the last 18 years, and it’s hard to imagine he’s going to bring much initially to the recruiting side of things.

Jeff Otah apparently is getting a lot of interest.

ESPN.com’s Todd McShay has left tackles Sam Baker (Southern Cal) and Jeff Otah (Pitt) going 20th and 23rd, respectively, in his mock draft, but Mayock said either might be available when the Dolphins pick first in Round 2.

Now I don’t know who actually watched the East-West game — aside from NFL scouts — but Joe Clermond apparently had a good showing.

Three front-office men independently mentioned Pittsburgh’s Joe Clermond as a player who helped himself. Clermond played as a down end for Dave Wannstedt, but several NFL teams wanted to see if he could play outside linebacker in a 3-4. The early results were encouraging.

Plenty of time for them to rise and fall on mock drafts.

Sundays are part of the weekend, but it never feels like it. The thought that Monday is around the corner sticks in the back of my mind all day. Ah.

A large number of football recruits visited this weekend for the hoops game against Seton Hall. The list includes verbals like Nix, Burns, and Sunseri plus some hopefuls (most notably AJ Alexander). They were able to pick up their 17th verbal from TE Justin Virbitsky.

Jim Snyder of Pantherlair.com is reporting that TE Justin Virbitsky gave the Panthers a verbal commitment today. Virbitsky is the Panthers 17th verbal commitment. Virbitsky is from Lakeland, Fla. and is being recruited as a “blocking” tight end. Virbitsky was a 3-year starter at Lakeland H.S. and was named to the 1st team Class AA as a defensive end. [PSI]

The “blocking” tight end style is more similar to John Pelusi’s game rather than Nate Byham. Byham is a great blocker but an even better pass-catcher.
Speaking of tight ends (there’s a dirty joke in there somewhere), Darrell Strong played in the Hula Bowl last night. The other Pitt player was Kennard Cox. Two other all-star games will feature former Panthers.

Two-time All-Big East defensive end Joe Clermond will play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in Houston, Texas. The game will be a 7 p.m. (ET) telecast on ESPN. Pitt’s defensive captain, Clermond (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) finished the season as the Panthers’ leader in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (13). His 53 total tackles tied for fourth. An outstanding pass rusher, Clermond’s .88 sacks per game ranked 11^th nationally (tied) and third in the Big East.

Pitt’s starting offensive tackles, Jeff Otah and Mike McGlynn, will play in the Jan. 26 Senior Bowl, held in Mobile, Ala. The game will kickoff at 3 p.m. (ET) and be televised by the NFL Network.

All-star games have never really excited me; now really planning to watch these unless I find myself really in need of something to do. NFL Draft Countdown has Otah going near the middle of the first round and says this about him:

Otah is still very raw and only has two years of division I experience but he has mind-boggling size (6-6, 340) and great athleticism with almost unlimited potential. In college he played left tackle and did a fantastic job but he might have to the right side at the next level and a good way to think of him would be as a poor man’s Jake Long with more longterm upside.

Teams and Detroit and Philly would be two teams drafting in the middle of the round that could use him on their o-line.

The All-Pitt team discussion with Paul Zeise continues with the topic of coaching staff.

In his Big East notes column (Insider subs.), Joe Starkey writes of Pitt’s need to work on improving the pass offense in the bye week to help open things up for LeSean McCoy. Then turns to the defense.

Redshirt freshman defensive end Greg Romeus has begun to make a large impact. The 6-foot-5, 250-pound Romeus killed Syracuse’s final drive with a sack Saturday, a week after making several big plays against Louisville. … Middle linebacker Scott McKillop leads the Big East and is fourth nationally averaging 12 tackles per game. … Pitt’s defense has improved from 87th in the country last season (363 yards per game) to 17th (313.1).

Cynical response. Don’t worry, there’s still time.

Don’t worry, though, Pitt apparently did another outstanding job of preserving redshirts.

Pittsburgh had an opportunity to redshirt 17 freshmen this fall, while Pat Bostick, LeSean McCoy, JaBbaal Sheard, Dom DeCicco and Maurice Williams all had playing time as first-year players. Wideout Aaron Smith, cornerback Buddy Jackson, fullback Henry Hynoski, cornerback Sherrod Murdock, linebacker Brandon Lindsey, running back Greg Williams, running back Shariff Harris, linebacker Max Gruder, offensive lineman Greg Gaskins, defensive lineman Wayne Jones, offensive lineman Jordan Gibbs, offensive lineman John Fieger, wideout Aundre Wright, defensive end Tony Tucker, defensive tackle Myles Caragein and defensive end Justin Hargrove.

…

Two other freshmen, offensive linemen Dan Matha and Chris (Lumpy) Jacobson, had season-ending injuries in training camp and were redshirted. Sophomore tailback Kevin Collier (broken wrist), sophomore offensive tackle Jason Pinkston (shoulder), senior wideout Derek Kinder (knee), junior defensive tackle Gus Mustakas (knee) and junior quarterback Bill Stull (thumb) needed surgery and were fortunate to have redshirts available. Elijah Fields played sparingly as a freshman in 2006 and was redshirted this season while under suspension for disciplinary reasons.

Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt believed there were a handful of freshmen that he wanted to get some playing experience this season, but in the end he decided to hold them out for a redshirt.

Anyhow. I think it is taken as almost a given that Pitt doesn’t just have to, but will recruit at least one JUCO offensive lineman. Jeff Otah has worked out well and gets a nice puff piece from his home state Delaware paper.

“Coming from a small state like Delaware, you’re never sure how you’re going to match up against guys from the biggest schools and bigger states,” he said. “And with my background and inexperience, I really didn’t know what to expect.”

Now, he does. Otah is a starting left tackle at the University of Pittsburgh, and the 6-foot-6, 340-pounder is a legitimate NFL prospect who’s certain to be drafted next April.

Not bad for a guy who didn’t even play football as a junior at William Penn and then, because of a broken hand, played in just three games as a senior on defense

This article actually ranks him as the #2 OT for the 2008 draft.

2. Jeff Otah, Pittsburgh: Big, athletic and explosive. Is a bit on the raw side because he played only one year in high school and then went to a junior college. Might have more long-term potential than Long, but isn’t as NFL ready.

Mel Kiper, Jr. has him as 14th among senior OTs.

On the recruiting front, there’s this.

But Norwin’s Mike Shanahan and Central Catholic’s Tino Sunseri also have college recruiting on their minds a lot these days.

The college situations for Shanahan and Sunseri have changed drastically in recent weeks. Shanahan, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound senior receiver/defensive back, decided this summer he wanted to play basketball in college, turning down football scholarship offers from West Virginia, Stanford, Georgia Tech and a few others.

But Shanahan has changed his mind and now thinks he might want to play football in college. Pitt offered him a scholarship a few weeks ago. West Virginia also is recruiting him again for football.

Meanwhile, Sunseri, a 6-1, 200-pound quarterback, made a verbal commitment in the spring to the University of Louisville. But he also had a change of heart in the past few weeks and reopened his recruiting. Pitt and Boston College recently offered scholarships to Sunseri, and he plans to make an official visit to Boston College.

We’ll see.

The comments on posts sometime take things to different places. So here’s some thoughts on a couple of them.

I’m going to wait for part two of the Paul Rhoads story before writing about it. Honestly, the first part didn’t surprise me. If you expected a hatchet job on Rhoads, well, then you just haven’t been paying attention to the treatment given him by the local media for the past 8 years.

A little bit of interest in what Pitt players are doing in the NFL is always interesting. More interesting, what is thought of Pitt players heading to the NFL. The 49ers have a scout who blogs, and was in Pennsylvania.

I drove over to Pitt and caught their afternoon practice. This was also my second visit at Pitt, and I was mostly interested in seeing more of their left tackle Jeff Otah. I watched additional film on Friday and also talked to some coaches, and Otah is developing into one of the top left tackles in college football this year and he’ll come off the board relatively early this April.

I hung around Pittsburgh for their game on Saturday against Syracuse. It was a competitive game that Pitt pulled out, and Otah played exactly as I thought he would and as he should.

Another player who stood out in the game for Pitt was defensive end Joe Clermond. He was very productive in the game, got a couple of quarterback sacks and pressures and he showed quickness, speed and was very instinctive in finding the football.

About what you would expect on Pitt’s team for NFL draftable players for the 2008 Draft.

Mainly because it amuses me at this point.

The day after the introductory press conference for the new Bulls players they headed out to that other Reinsdorf property — the Chicago White Sox.

Bulls 2007 draft picks Joakim Noah, JamesOn Curry and Aaron Gray were honored before Tuesday’s game, with Gray throwing the ceremonial first pitch. Noah wore a jersey that read “Booozynski,” in reference to Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski, a rabid University of Florida supporter.

I’m guessing that Noah wasn’t able to throw out the pitch because of his rotator cuff. Since there was no mention of it and nothing I noticed on SportsCenter, I assume Gray got it over the plate.
Gray was also thrown into the local gossip/sightings page.

The Bulls’ GM John Paxon entertained new draft picks Joakim Noah, Aaron Gray and JamesOn Curry at Morton’s the Steakhouse in Northbrook.

Finally just to note that article on Aaron Gray and Darren Morningstar. The only thing that had “parallels” with them beyond being centers at Pitt was their place in the NBA draft. Hardly parallel careers to this point.

The Chicago Bulls introductory press conference won’t be until Monday — apparently Noah didn’t make it to Chicago on Friday.

By most accounts, Gray’s drafting by the Bulls means there will be no effort to retain 7′ Center Martynas Andriuskevicius and Michael Sweetney — he will be cheaper and at a minimum no different than the two but only occupying one roster spot. There also isn’t much in the free agent market to entice the Bulls for centers — Chris Mihm, Vitaly Potapenko (he’s still in the NBA?), Dale Davis or Melvin Ely. Hell, just looking at the names of big slow centers still playing in the NBA further suggests that Aaron Gray may not be a big name in the league, but he will be able to earn a paycheck for quite some time.

That’s why the Bulls continued to go big with the first of their two second-round picks by grabbing Aaron Gray of Pittsburgh, a solid defender and rebounder with excellent size (7-feet, 270 pounds).”Here’s the thing about Aaron Gray: He is a big, thick 7-footer,” Paxson said. ”He played at a great program at Pittsburgh. He’s not going to knock you out with athleticism or anything like that, but the kid knows how to play.”

This is why Hawes was smart to come out this year and Patrick O’Bryant (15th pick) last year. Hibbert may have made a mistake coming back to be picked apart, and Josh McRoberts of Duke definitely stayed too long. Big men, are either potential or maxed out.

What happens now, is that Aaron Gray will be hopping an early flight from Philly to Chicago. The day after the draft are the post-draft press conferences in the franchises respective cities with the draftees being present.

The Chicago media naturally was much more focused on the Bulls pick of Joakim Noah at #9. As for the second round picks, well JamesOn Curry has more of a story since he had issues back in high school. Gray is just there.

“Aaron Gray is another big body,” general manager John Paxson said. “Obviously not the athlete that other players are, but he can be very solid for us.”

Gray was steady, but rarely dominating, as an upperclassman for the Panthers. He averaged 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds last season, but concerns arose about his lack of speed and athleticism.

Those issues dropped him from a borderline first-round prospect early in the predraft process to a late second-round selection.

“He’s got a soft touch,” coach Scott Skiles said. “He moves around the floor pretty well. We look at him as a guy that, if he can make it, can body up some of the bigger players in the league for a few minutes.”

Gray, must have read some of the snippets after he was drafted about “making it,” judging by his comments.

”I still have a lot of work to do, but my foot is in the door,” Gray said. ”I just have to go out there and do my best.”

One of the major knocks on Gray was that he wasn’t athletic or quick enough, but he’s in better shape than he was in March when his college career ended, and he believes that he will be in even better condition after playing summer league with the Bulls.

Gray’s bags are already packed for his trip to Chicago.

”People right now, I’m sure are doubting me,” Gray said. ”It’s just the same thing at a different time of my life, people not thinking I’m going to make it. I just have to go out and prove them wrong.”

Well, at least he has something to help motivate him. The Bulls may look to find some more low-post help in free agency, but being so thin there and a couple restricted free agents (like Nocioni) will make Gray a low cost option to provide depth at the Center spot.
The lateness of where Gray was picked and the hour meant there wasn’t much in the newspapers yet. A little bit about other Centers taken before Gray. If Gray makes it with the Bulls, he stands to get a three-year deal worth nearly $2 million. The summer league will be vital.

With Aaron Gray being picked 49th by the Bulls, Chad Ford at ESPN (Insider subs.) was offering comments on all draft picks.

He’s big. He put up good stats in college. But how does he keep up with the speed of the NBA? I’ll give him this, though — he may be the most polished low-post scorer on the Bulls roster, if he makes the team.

It was the “if he makes the team.” that surprised me.  Yes, he’s a late second rounder and he could be released with a non-guaranteed contract. Here’s the thing. This is the Bulls Roster of centers:

Ben Wallace, Center, 4 years on his contract.

That’s it. The other centers and forward-centers on their roster: P.J. Brown, Michael Sweetney and Martynas Andriuskevicius. They are all free agents. Maybe they resign one of them.

That puts Gray in great shape to stay with the team.