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The next Joe Staley

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jim1

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Heath Benedict, 2008 NFL Draft

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Offensive Tackle
6' 5" 333 lbs.
Speed: 4.92
Newberry College (Division II)
Senior

The Jacksonville Jaguars actually gave him an "unofficial" workout after the 2006 season, thinking he was going to enter the 2007 NFL Draft. He weighed in at 6' 5.5" 332 pounds and ran a 4.92 forty yard dash. His arms were measured at 34" and he scored a 31 on the Wonderlic test. He also benched 225 pounds 28 times. Benedict also has a 435 pound bench, 625 pound squat, and power clean of 330 pounds.

“Heath has as much talent as anybody I’ve ever seen,†commented assistant coach and co-offensive coordinator Joe Blackwell. “He can run the 40 in 4.67, and is good enough and fast enough to play both sides of the ball.†Rivals.com had his speed listed coming out of high school as 4.82 seconds, which is still fast for a 6’ 6†300 pounder. Benedict is very athletic and multi-talented; he was also a star pitcher, with a fastball clocked at 94 mph. He led his team to a state baseball title and 21-2 record as a junior. He has tremendous upside because he never really focused on football until college, his primary sport in high school was baseball.

http://www.nfldraftdog.com/2008_NFL_Draft/heath_benedict.htm
 
Stitches said:
D-II is a long way behind even the MAC.
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Read the article and see who he was rated ahead of coming out of high school. UT signed him, he was a blue chip prospect. If Staley can do it out of the MAC, this guy can probably do it out of DII. Larry Allen is one of the greatest OL ever, where did he play college ball?
 
jim1 said:
Read the article and see who he was rated ahead of coming out of high school. UT signed him, he was a blue chip prospect. If Staley can do it out of the MAC, this guy can probably do it out of DII. Larry Allen is one of the greatest OL ever, where did he play college ball?
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I read the article, it's foolish to think you get the same type of development at a D-II school that you would at a D-1A school.

He may have been a highly rated prospect out of highschool, but that doesn't automatically mean he would have been good in college(and certainly not the pros). There is a reason he graded out as a 6th or 7th rounder, the transition from college is hard enough from a D-1 school.

And Allen played football at Sonoma State University and Butte College, the former of which no longer fields a team. :wink:
 
Stitches said:
I read the article, it's foolish to think you get the same type of development at a D-II school that you would at a D-1A school.

He may have been a highly rated prospect out of highschool, but that doesn't automatically mean he would have been good in college(and certainly not the pros). There is a reason he graded out as a 6th or 7th rounder, the transition from college is hard enough from a D-1 school.

And Allen played football at Sonoma State University and Butte College, the former of which no longer fields a team. :wink:
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Right, and the Larry Allen inquiry was rhetorical. What was Sonoma State, DII, DIII? The size of the school and the competition isn't the end all and be all. Allen was a 2nd round pick, right? Maybe third. If your logic applied he would have been drafted much later if at all. And he just destroyed people during his career with the Cowboys, he's probably a first year selection to the HOF.
 
Hes worth watching; lots of guys high DI prospects end up at DII school, for a multitude of reasons, normally it's behavioral/academics issues.

Doesn't cost anything to read the paper.
 
NorFlaFin said:
Hes worth watching; lots of guys high DI prospects end up at DII school, for a multitude of reasons, normally it's behavioral/academics issues.

Doesn't cost anything to read the paper.
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Absolutely correct.
 
NorFlaFin said:
Hes worth watching; lots of guys high DI prospects end up at DII school, for a multitude of reasons, normally it's behavioral/academics issues.

Doesn't cost anything to read the paper.
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:yeahthat:
 
jim1 said:
Right, and the Larry Allen inquiry was rhetorical. What was Sonoma State, DII, DIII? The size of the school and the competition isn't the end all and be all. Allen was a 2nd round pick, right? Maybe third. If your logic applied he would have been drafted much later if at all. And he just destroyed people during his career with the Cowboys, he's probably a first year selection to the HOF.
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Allen was a 2nd round pick, and SSU is a D-II school. I know competition isn't the end all, but it certainly helps, just like playing in a pro-type scheme helps.

My logic is not that you have to be drafted late if you come from a small school, I merely said there was a reason this specific player graded out as a 6/7th round pick.

I was a big fan of both Jacoby Jones and Laurent Robinson this past draft, and both come from smaller schools, and I liked both of them as 3rd rounders.
 
Stitches said:
Allen was a 2nd round pick, and SSU is a D-II school. I know competition isn't the end all, but it certainly helps, just like playing in a pro-type scheme helps.

My logic is not that you have to be drafted late if you come from a small school, I merely said there was a reason this specific player graded out as a 6/7th round pick.

I was a big fan of both Jacoby Jones and Laurent Robinson this past draft, and both come from smaller schools, and I liked both of them as 3rd rounders.
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It's a fair point, but getting to the heart of the matter, here is what was written:

"Benedict decided to return to Newberry for his final year, he was graded out by the NFL as a 6th or 7th rounder, probably due to his entering the draft early and his small school (Division II) pedigree, but not because of talent."

So from my perspective what is relevant is not that 6th or 7th round tag if he came out early, but what round selection he will command after performing for another year, the combine, bowl games, pro day, etc. I would guess that there's no way that he lasts that long, look at Alan Barbre this year, and Benedict is a way better prospect, at least on paper.

I would guess rounds 2-4 for this guy, we'll see what happens.

Also, the writer has him pegged as a 3rd round talent and goes on to say this:

"I am not the only one that likes Benedict’s Pro Potential; my friends over at Walter’s Football Site have him in the second round of their impressive 2008 NFL Mock Draft."
 
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