Posted on Sun, Mar. 02, 2008

UK FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Cats flash speed at NFL Combine

WOODYARD, TAMME AMONG FASTEST AT THEIR POSITIONS

By Chip Cosby

HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

Chip Cosby

The University of Kentucky had a solid overall showing at last week's NFL Combine, and now the Wildcats seniors are preparing for the next step on the NFL Draft ladder when scouts arrive in Lexington for Pro Day this week.

Linebacker Wesley Woodyard followed up a standout Senior Bowl performance with a strong combine. Woodyard ran the second-fastest 40-yard dash among linebackers at 4.51 seconds and also had the fastest time in the 60-yard shuttle.

The biggest knock on Woodyard has been his lack of size, but Woodyard said he went from 215 to 227 in the two weeks leading up to the combine.

"I just went up there with the mind frame of turning some heads," said Woodyard, who is now projected to go as high as the third round. "A lot of people have doubted me because of my size, and I wanted to prove them wrong."

Jacob Tamme ran the second-fastest 40 among tight ends at 4.58, which was just a shade behind one of the biggest stars of the combine, Purdue's Dustin Keller, who ran a 4.55.

But the Wildcat who had the most to prove was receiver Keenan Burton. Burton struggled with injuries for most of his senior year and underwent arthroscopic knee surgery shortly after the Music City Bowl.

Burton's 38.5-inch vertical leap was the second-highest at the combine behind Auburn running back Carl Stewart, who jumped 39 inches. Burton also finished in the top 10 among receivers in the broad jump, three-cone drill and 20- and 60-yard shuttle runs.

"The main thing I wanted to do was show that I was healthy, and I feel like I was able to do that," Burton said.

Burton and Woodyard will only do light drill work and interviews at Pro Day.

Quarterback Andre Woodson didn't work out at the combine, instead going through the interview process while also taking a physical and weighing in. Woodson will throw for scouts at Pro Day.

Pro Day looms large for several Wildcats who are hoping to get drafted in the later rounds or sign free-agent contracts. Eric Scott participated in the Texas vs. the Nation All-Star Game last month and is hoping a good Pro Day will put him in position to get drafted.

Scott has been working out at Lexington's HIT Center and said his weight is up to 299 pounds, 11 pounds more than when he ran a 4.84 for scouts at last year's Pro Day.

"I feel that I should be able to do the same thing this year," Scott said. " I want to prove to the scouts that I can compete and size isn't a factor."

Scott only played center full-time for one season after spending the early part of his UK career at tight end and defensive end.

"A lot of centers have already peaked because they've been playing the position for four or five years," Scott said. "I feel like I'm only going to get better and better. I'm hoping there's a couple of teams that will look at me as a project who can turn into a great center down the road."

Defensive end Dominic Lewis and safety Roger Williams will also be trying to get in an NFL camp, and the Wildcat underclassmen will also be timed in the 40-yard dash. Pro Day is not open to the public.

Cards/Cats TV war

What would a college football off-season be without the annual hissing match between the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville over when their game will be played?

U of L wants to honor ESPN's request to move the season-opening game to Labor Day, but UK has refused, saying it doesn't want to lose a day of preparation for its game with Norfolk State five days later.

When the game will actually be played is anybody's guess, as ESPN and CBS won't complete their 2008 television schedules until the summer.

Thursday night, Aug. 28 seems out of the question, though, as ESPN is already booked for North Carolina State at South Carolina at 8, while ESPN2 will show Oregon State at Stanford at 9.

ESPN or ESPN2 will show SMU at Rice at 8 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.

The Saturday slate has some openings. Virginia Tech at East Carolina will air on either ESPN or ESPN2 at a time to be determined, and ABC/ESPN also has committed to broadcast both Washington at Oregon and Alabama vs. Clemson.

The U of L-UK game has been played on the Sunday before Labor Day on several occasions, and currently the only game scheduled forESPN that day is the MWAC/SWAC Challenge on ESPN2 at 1 p.m.

But there could be a potential hangup on Sunday. The Ford Ironman Triathlon will be held in Louisville that day, and the running part of the course cuts through the U of L campus and Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, which could pose a traffic logjam and security issues.

So here begs the question: Do the Wildcats really need an extra day to prepare for Division I-AA Norfolk State?

The Spartans, coached by Pete Adrien, finished 8-3 last year, their best season since 1984. They did get wiped out 59-0 at Rutgers last season but return most of their lettermen and welcome in UConn transfer Dennis Brown, a Miami product who started two games at quarterback for the Huskies as a freshman before backing up Tyler Lorenzen last season.

Paris a big loss

The loss of sophomore defensive end Jamil Paris to a career-ending medical condition severely hampers UK's already thin defensive line rotation. The Cats welcome back sack leader Jeremy Jarmon, but Paris was the only other scholarship defensive end who played in 2007 that was set to return this fall.

UK does welcome back two players who missed last year because of injury: Nii Adjei Oninku, who started five games in 2006, and Josh Minton, who redshirted in 2006 before blowing out his knee in the Blue-White Spring Game.

A trio of redshirt freshmen, Antwane Glenn, Charles Mustaafa and Greg Meisner, will also get looks.

Among the incoming freshmen, Collins Ukwu was the only true defensive end signee.

Lorenzen a free agent

Former UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen, a restricted free agent, received a one-year tender of $927,000 last week from the New York Giants. Lorenzen is free to negotiate with any NFL team during the signing period for restricted free agents, which ends April 18.

The Giants will not receive compensation if Lorenzen signs with another team since he was undrafted. Lorenzen told the Herald-Leader last week he would likely return to the Giants unless an opportunity for more playing time arose.