Okoye, 19, hoping to prove young draftees can make it in NFL

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 26, 2007 at midnight

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There are times when an NFL draft is just a waterfall of numbers, cascading down, covering everything in its path. Heights, weights, speed, bench press, runs and jumps.

Tests to be scored, players to be ranked, all afloat in those numbers.

But in all the numbers in this draft, none will have as profound an effect as these:

6/10/87

That is Amobi Okoye's birthday. Welcome to the new frontier.

"I've spent a lot of time saying a teenager could not make it in the NFL," said former Tennessee Titans/Oilers general manager Floyd Reese, now an ESPN analyst. "I think your initial response is always, 'No way.' And then somebody like this comes that is a freak in just about every way. You start thinking of what might come 10, 20, 30 years from now."

The new math says Okoye is 19 years old, and Saturday, the Louisville defensive tackle will become the youngest player selected in the NFL draft. His teammates at the Senior Bowl in January called him "Phe" or "short for phenom," Okoye said.

The 6-foot-2, 302-pound Okoye is projected to go in the upper half of the first round.

Players routinely have jumped from high school into Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NBA - at least before the one-year wait was instituted for players such as Greg Oden and Kevin Durant - but that jump has been hallowed ground in the NFL.

The league has spent millions of its dollars and used an army of attorneys to repeatedly beat back challenges, to force players to wait until they were at least three years removed from the graduation of their high school class to play in the league.

"But I know in my case, I've never felt younger than everyone else," Okoye said. "I've felt like I was right where I should be, physically and emotionally."

College football at 16

The NFL requires maturity, strength and the ability to survive mentally and physically in what Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse once referred to as a "league of men, men who know how to beat you up and send you home" when he arrived at his first training camp as a 22-year-old rookie in 1999.

But Okoye's remarkable journey and his history-making youth begs the question: Someday, several calendars down the road, could a player graduate from high school into an NFL minicamp?

"It's still tough to say," Reese said. "But it's important to see what happens to players when they come into the league because the number of people who fail in the NFL because of something physical - being too slow, too short, too skinny - is not very large; there just aren't a lot of those guys who get through the door initially.

"Players usually fail because of what we call the 'inside' things, their smarts, character, work ethic or they just haven't matured enough to get up and go to work every day. But then you look at Okoye and you have to remember he did go to college."

Yes, he did. Okoye started school at 2 1/2 years old in Nigeria, skipped two grades and was so gifted in the classroom that when his family moved to Huntsville, Ala., he tested into high school when he was 12.

He started 13 games for the school's varsity at 13, signed a letter of intent with Louisville at 15, started an NCAA game for the Cardinals at 16 and earned his degree in 3 1/2 years.

"He's more an exception than the rule," Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Harris said. "There are some guys who can play early. But I think that number is very limited. . . . I think it's just going to be a challenge for a young high school player to come in and compete with NFL players. You would waste a lot of careers if you started doing that. A lot of high school seniors who would be good pros would ruin their careers if you just started allowing that to happen."

Peterson raised questions

When Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, also in the draft, was romping across high school fields in Texas in fall 2003, some grizzled scouts wondered aloud if he couldn't have made the jump to pro football then and there.

After all, at Palestine High School, Peterson was the national high school player of the year as a senior with 2,960 rushing yards - 11.7 yards a carry - and 32 touchdowns. As a high school junior, he had 2,051 rushing yards.

As a 19-year-old true freshman for the Sooners, Peterson rushed for 1,925 yards, scored 15 touchdowns and averaged 5.7 yards a carry.

That season, he had runs of 80 and 56 yards on consecutive carries against Oklahoma State, and former teammate Davin Joseph said it looked like "little kids trying to hang on to a train."

"To me, it's amazing how these youngsters are growing up nowadays," Arizona Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said. "I don't remember players being that big and that talented when I was in high school."

Okoye a believer in college

But Peterson missed seven games in 2006 because of a fractured collarbone, missed all or parts of four games in 2005 with an ankle injury and dislocated his shoulder twice in the 2004 season.

"And that's what you wonder when you take that thought to the league, just the day-in, day-out drudgery of practice, all the things you have to go through," Reese said. "That will be the real test. If you have enough skill to be a pro baseball player or a pro basketball player at 18, maybe from a skill standpoint there will be some receivers, corners, skill specialists who might be able to compete.

"But in our sport, it's all the other stuff, too. A guy will go through a practice a week that will feel like a game. After 20 weeks, that adds up."

For his part, Okoye said he doesn't believe anyone should skip college, that the NFL ordinarily should not be the proving ground for teenagers.

Unless, perhaps, one is so extraordinary, he makes it there anyway.

"I think those rules are good," Okoye said. "Every kid who has a chance and ability to go to college should go to college. I think college is a life-changing experience. It's time . . . you get to find yourself. I'm still finding myself out."

Overview

Most teams staring at this group of defensive linemen and linebackers are thinking the same thing: If they want immediate impact, they most likely are going to have to move fast. That's especially true at inside linebacker, where the crop is thin, and at defensive end, where, among the speed rushers invited to the scouting combine, only Gaines Adams of Clemson and Jacob Ford of Central Arkansas cracked 4.70 seconds in the 40 on the event's unforgiving electronic clock.

Awards

• Butkus: Patrick Willis, Mississippi.

• Bednarik: Paul Posluszny, Penn State.

• Lombardi: LaMarr Woodley, Michigan.

• Hendricks: Woodley.

Doctor, doctor

Tennessee defensive tackle Justin Harrell can play, but he also knows his way around the hospital.

• 2002: Surgery for stress fracture in right shin.

• 2003: Second surgery to repair right shin.

• 2003: Fractured ankle.

• 2006: Ruptured biceps tendon.

Sack master

There are a lot of players who have sacked quarterbacks a lot of times in this draft, but none more than Jason Trusnik of Ohio Northern. No one on the board is close to the 43 career sacks of Trusnik, who got a few extra games to add to the total. Trusnik received a medical redshirt in 2005 after he fractured a foot in the third game but still had five sacks in nine quarters that season. The two-time Division III All-American also finished his career with 85 tackles for losses.

He said it

"No, I don't. Jack Ham, Shane Conlan, LaVar Arrington, there's a long list of great guys that came from Penn State."

Posluszny, on whether he agrees with Hall of Famer Jack Ham saying he's the best linebacker in Nittany Lions history.

Early look

Brown University linebacker Zak DeOssie might have a better idea than most rookies of what an NFL training camp will look like.

• His father, Steve, played for four NFL teams, including New England, and Zak has been a Patriots ball boy in training camp.

• Zak DeOssie is a close friend - they went to the same high school - with Patriots coach Bill Belichick's daughter Amanda. DeOssie was a quarterback at Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass.

• In one Patriots training camp practice, with Rohan Davey out of town for a family funeral, Belichick put DeOssie in and let him throw during a seven-on-seven drill.

• "I think he was joking; I went in there for seven reps," DeOssie said. "Threw a couple of seeds. No completions. The defense was licking its chops. It certainly was funny and amusing."

Rating the defensive linemen

After discussions with scouts, general managers and other personnel executives around the league, as well as video review, staff writer Jeff Legwold ranks the top prospects at defensive line and linebacker for this year's draft. (* indicates best verified 40 time in predraft workouts).

OVERALL CLASS: Average

Player School Ht. Wt. 40*

1. Gaines Adams (DE) Clemson 6-4 3/4 258 4.64 Lowdown: In a draft where the "speed" rushers aren't so speedy overall, Adams clearly is at the top of the list.

2. Jamaal Anderson (DE) Arkansas 6-5 3/8 288 4.75 Lowdown: Some are down on him because he didn't run that well, but many teams still have him in the top 10.

3. Alan Branch (DT) Michigan 6-5 3/4 324 5.07 Lowdown: Scouts love his athleticism and game-day smarts but wonder why he had only 25 tackles last season.

4. Amobi Okoye (DT) Louisville 6-2 302 5.07 Lowdown: Goal-oriented player who wants to be great. Is 19 and he started a college game at 16.

5. Adam Carriker (DE) Nebraska 6-6 296 4.72 Lowdown: A two-gap player for the Cornhuskers. Former high school quarterback is big, powerful and plays hard all the time.

• Other names to keep handy: Jarvis Moss (DE), Florida; Justin Harrell (DT), Tennessee; Anthony Spencer (DE), Purdue; DeMarcus Tyler (DT), North Carolina State; Tim Crowder (DE), Texas; Ray McDonald (DE), Florida; LaMarr Woodley (DE), Michigan; Quentin Moses (DE), Georgia.

• Small-school hero: Jason Trusnik, Ohio Northern.

• First local call: Colorado defensive end Abraham Wright, who secured a combine invitation after 11 1/2 sacks in 2006, turned in a quality pro day workout last month, running 4.66 seconds for 40 yards. Wright, at 242 pounds, might be looking at a position move to linebacker in the pros. Some scouts worry a little about his speed, but he plays with effort and produced last season when getting plenty of attention from opposing offenses.

• Broncos breakdown: If the Broncos have a need position in the draft, this is it. They have plenty of productive situational players across the defensive front, a group that includes their sacks leader of last season, defensive end Elvis Dumervil. But as far as an every-down rusher who commands a double team, opposing offensive coaches say they don't see it. They could find an impact player in the first round if they move up, but if they're looking for an end and can't get out of their No. 21 spot, players such as Spencer and Moss figure to be available.

Rating the linebackers

OVERALL CLASS: Average

Player School Ht. Wt. 40*

1. Patrick Willis Mississippi 6-1 1/8 242 4.39 Lowdown: His 40 was hand-timed on campus but still is heady stuff from a player who had at least 54 solo tackles in each of the past three seasons.

2. Lawrence Timmons Florida State 6-0 7/8 234 4.63 Lowdown: Won't be 21 years old until next month. Played the strong side for the Seminoles.

3. Jon Beason Miami 6-0 1/4 237 4.72 Lowdown: Was a long jumper for the Hurricanes track team. Studied video of former Miami players D.J. Williams and Jonathan Vilma to improve.

4. Paul Posluszny Penn State 6-1 5/8 238 4.58 Lowdown: Ran 4.70 at the combine and scouts believe that's closer to his real speed. Had three 100-tackle seasons.

5. David Harris Michigan 6-2 1/4 243 4.59 Lowdown: Might be unheralded but is a quality player who started 25 games for the Wolverines. Split team's MVP award with running back Mike Hart.

• Other names to keep handy: Justin Durant, Hampton; Antwan Barnes, Florida International; James "Buster" Davis, Florida State; Rufus Alexander, Oklahoma; Quincy Black, New Mexico; Brandon Siler, Florida.

• Small-school hero: Chad Nkang, Elon.

• First local call: Oklahoma linebacker Zach Latimer, a Gateway High School graduate, was a combine invitee and worked out fairly well. Some teams are concerned about left shoulder surgery he had after the 2005 season that kept him out of spring drills in 2006. Ran 4.78 at the combine at 237 pounds. The time wasn't near the top of his group, but he did lower that to 4.68 on pro day. Was a productive two-year starter for the Sooners with 84 tackles in 2005 and 2006. Thaddaeus Washington of Colorado has some teams interested, but January foot surgery kept him from working out for most of the weeks leading to the draft.

• Broncos breakdown: With D.J. Williams, at least initially, having moved into the middle to replace Al Wilson, the Broncos are on the hunt for a strong-side linebacker. But the draft is thin at the position, especially after the first two rounds or so, so if they are going to find a rookie good enough to play, they likely will have to commit a first-day pick to do it. They might have a shot at Timmons if they move up slightly.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359

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