Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The East vs. West Shrine game — an annual showcase for college seniors with NFL aspirations — provided an opportunity for three former Jayhawks to impress scouts before the NFL Scouting Combine.
But one player, senior safety Darrell Stuckey, stood out from the group with a dominant defensive performance.
“They only put the best out there on the field,” Stuckey said. “If you can still rise to the occasion and outperform some of them, the scouts notice.”
Stuckey’s team-leading seven tackles, five of which were solo tackles, certainly made the scouts notice. He looked fast, he hit hard and, most importantly, he knew the importance of every aspect of the game.
Two of Stuckey’s tackles came on special teams. Stuckey said these stats were some of the most important because when players make it to the NFL, their first opportunities on the field are usually in special teams.
Scouts from Scouts Inc., an ESPN panel that reports to NFL teams, reported positively on almost every aspect of Stuckey’s game. They complimented Stuckey on his hard work, on and off the field, and also said Stuckey had excellent top-end speed.
“My numbers weren’t that great my senior year,” Stuckey said. “I was hurt for most of it with my shoulder, but now I’m healthy and my performance this week showed it.”
It’s incredible to think that he was hurt for most of the 2009 season yet still remained, in many people’s opinions, Kansas’ best defender. He was the only glue that held together the tattered screen door that was Kansas’ secondary. If someone ran into that door, most of the time it toppled over.
Stuckey talked to representatives from 16 NFL teams and said the atmosphere was informal even though he sometimes had back-to-back interviews.
“Everything I went through let me know that my football IQ is even higher than I thought it was,” said Stuckey, who represents Kansas’ best chance of sending a player to the NFL, even considering junior wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe.
Quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receiver Kerry Meier were the other two Jayhawks who played in the game. Reesing completed 2-of-5 passes and threw one interception. Meier finished with zero catches, dropping the one pass thrown to him on a scramble play.
Scouts Inc. reported that Reesing lacked arm strength and accuracy throughout the week of practice. They looked at Meier with a little more optimism, commenting that he had good size and speed, but “lacked the burst needed to get separation in the NFL,” according to ESPN.com.
That left Kansas’ spotlight on Stuckey, who is now in Tampa, Fla., training for the combine. Scouts Inc. said Stuckey could be drafted on day one, ranking him seventh in its list of defensive backs.
Throughout his career at Kansas, Stuckey was an exemplary story of hard work and perseverance. His showing at the East vs. West Shrine game only proved his NFL potential once more. He’s at a level that I don’t think any of Kansas’ other NFL hopefuls can match.
— — Edited by Kirsten Hudson
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