NFL Draft 2012: Oklahoma State Defensive End Jamie Blatnick Can Get After the QB

Jamie Blatnick is a disruptive, physical defensive end from Oklahoma State University.  At the combine in February he measured in at 6’3” and 263 pounds.  Blatnick is a confident player and a player who has certainly been productive throughout his college career.  He likes to create problems off the end for the opposition.

I got the opportunity to talk to him about his time in college and his future going forward into the NFL.  Blatnick was All-Big 12 first team as a senior and his team’s defensive MVP, and I asked him what those honors meant to him.  He said “it made me feel great” and “you feel honored, I mean that's really the hard work paying off.”

When I pressed him about the honors and asked him if they would help in the evaluation process from an NFL perspective he said “I'm sure they definitely help” and then he went on to explain that it was a goal of his to be productive as a senior and the fact that he attained those goals as evidenced by the honors was something he thought was important.

Blatnick was born in Texas and had a huge game against Texas as a senior.  He was named Big 12 defensive player of the week.  His stat line reads nine tackles, two quarterback sacks and four tackles for loss.  Those are really remarkable numbers for a defensive end to have in one game.  I asked him what it was like to be that productive.

He said that they were playing against Texas and being from there, that was always a game that he got excited to play in.  He said “I was really prepared and I guess they felt they could run the ball at me a little bit and it didn't work out so well for them.”  He told me that he went out and had a lot of fun in that game and ended up making some plays.

It was obvious that he has passion for football; it was something I noticed immediately.  When I asked him what his favorite moment was from college, he told me winning the Oklahoma game.  He said “the crowd and the fans rushed the field and tore down the goal posts and we all went crazy.  It was a lot of fun.”

Oklahoma State, who had a powerful offense this year, is to be well represented at the top of the draft.  I asked him what it was like in practice to play against Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon on a daily basis.  He said “at times it was very frustrating obviously.”  He said that playing against them made the defense better and playing against the defense made the offense better.

He talked about how it helped practice go smoother because of who was on the field.  He told me that he liked to give Weeden looks that he may not have seen and he thought that that ended up helping the offense.  He laughed as he told me that you couldn't hit the quarterback during practice so every time he got a sack call during practice he would run by and smack Weeden on the butt.  He is clearly a player like to have fun on the field.

Blatnick was at the combine in February and I asked him what his experience was like there.  He said that it was a lot of fun but that it was also very tough.  “The process except for working out was pretty long and grueling.”  He said the days were very, very long but “the overall experience of being up there in Indianapolis with a bunch of guys I had never met before, including the city, was a lot of fun.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of work.”

We talked about the NFL and his future.  It was fun talking to him as I got the sense that he was a day by day kind of guy.  I asked him what his strengths were and what he could offer to an NFL team.  He said “I can bring a great work ethic and great leadership abilities and then I can make plays.”  He talked about how competitive he was and how he took everything as a challenge.

When I asked if he had been compared to anybody or if he thought his game resembled anyone's he said “I don't really see guys that may look like me or if I look like them.”  He said there were certain players a really enjoyed watching and “kind of analyzing.”

He said “I like watching Ndamukong Suh and James Harrison” because he felt that while watching what they did on the field he could take certain things that they do and incorporate those things into his game.

When I asked him what he would tell the fans of the team that drafts him he said that he was going to bring a great work ethic and that he would bring leadership abilities.  He said that he would give everything he had and that he would do whatever he needed to do to help his team win.

Jamie Blatnick is a productive football player and has shown as much during his time at Oklahoma State.  He has played with some great football players and in a great football conference and has proven that he belongs.  He was a pleasure to talk to and has an attitude that is perfect for the great unknowns there coming his way.

Scott Bischoff is a Contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials.