The NFL Draft starts three weeks from Thursday, which means that at least four former UConn players could hear their names called. On Wednesday, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper held a two-hour conference call with the media and he touched on the biggest names representing UConn in this year's draft: cornerbacks Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Dwayne Gratz, and linebackers Sio Moore and Trevardo Williams. Here are Kiper's assessments of each player (via the Hartford Courant):
* "Blidi Wreh-Wilson is a late first-, early second-round possibility, early to mid-second round if he doesn't go in the first."
* "Sio Moore fits solidly in that second-round discussion."
* "Trevardo Williams is in the third- or fourth-round discussion. As a pass rusher Trevardo Williams will fit those 3-4 teams very ideally for as strong as he is and as quick as he is off the edge."
* "Dwayne Gratz [is] in that third-, fourth-round discussion. You're talking about four guys who could all be off the board by the time we finish Day 3, which is pretty amazing when you consider where this program is and where this program was when it got started from point A to point whatever pretty quickly."
We've talked at several points this spring about how well all four players have showed at the various offseason events, from the Shrine Bowl, Senior Bowl, NFL Combine and UConn's Pro Day.
In our opinion (and we say this as someone who doesn't have "draft analyst" on their business card), Wreh-Wilson is more likely a second-rounder, Williams is probably best suited as a weakside linebacker in a 4-3 scheme because of his relatively small size, Gratz could end up being a better pro cornerback than Wreh-Wilson, and Moore might end up being the best player of the group.
We'll learn their fates sometime between April 25-28 but we'll have to wait a few years to just how good they can be.
