Part Two of the installment on rising sophomores takes a look at the Pass-Happy Pac-10...
Rob Gronkowksi—Arizona
Arizona State is normally the school that is blessed with good tight ends. From Todd Heap to Zach Miller, the Sun Devils have always been one-up in the tight end department on their in-state rivals.
But Arizona gets the latest laugh with their rising sophomore stud Gronkowski.
Gronkowski hails from Woodland Hills, PA, which is normally Panther and Nittany Lion territory, but Mike Stoops got lucky when Gronkowski traded steel mills for sunshine and will be reaping the rewards for at least another year.
Gronkowski is on the large side for a tight end at 6'6", 250 pounds, but it helps because he is a devastating blocker and strong enough to hold defensive ends at bay.
But his real skills lie in his pass-catching skills.
In 2007 he caught 28 balls for 525 yards and six touchdowns, numbers that will all rise significantly if Gronkowski develops his route-running skills.
He has good speed for a player his size, and his sure hands make him a favorite of Wildcat quarterback Willie Tuitama.
In year two of the new and improved passing attack set up by former Texas Tech coordinator Sonny Dykes, Gronkowski's skill-set should be on display.
Excluding the Arizona State game, he really came on toward the end of the season. Expect him to pick up where he left off.
Today's Must Reads
Everson Griffin—USC
This pick is almost a foregone conclusion. There has not been one negative word out of any expert regarding Griffin, and the USC coaching staff is salivating over what he might be able to do next year.
Buried on the depth chart for most of the first half of the season, Griffin really turned it on in the second half.
He finished the season with 5.5 sacks, but all but one of those sacks came in one game against Oregon State. This season there is no one in front of Griffin, who is expected to terrorize opposing quarterbacks and make tackles lose a lot of sleep.
He is what some people like to call "a freak of nature": At 6'3" and 265 pounds, Griffin is large enough to run over offensive linemen foolish enough to think they can hand-check him.
At the same time, his extraordinary speed and agility make him almost impossible to block.
So far he has said all the right things and appears to be a grounded, hard-working kid.
While this might make Pete Carroll happy, I guarantee opposing coaches would prefer to face someone else every Saturday.
Jake Locker—Washington
The man Tyrone Willingham is staking his job on is Locker, a dual-threat quarterback who was erratic last season and really doesn't know when to slide...good luck Ty!
Willingham will probably ignore that dig because he knows what the rest of the country is starting to find out—Jake Locker is freakin' athletic.
He is built like Heisman-winner Tim Tebow, only Locker is faster despite Tebow's greater strength.
Last season Locker took the helm of one of the worst teams in the Pac-10, and although they still had a disappointing season, Locker has given the fans hope in Seattle.
As a passer, Locker had his ups and downs. He threw for over 2,000 yards and 14 touchdowns. But he was also inaccurate and occasionally too hasty in his decision-making, which led to 15 interceptions and a completion rate below 50 percent.
Most think he will improve on those numbers, and judging from his work ethic he will. But if he hopes to lead the Huskies to a bowl, he needs to take care of the ball.
One area where he is nearly flawless is when he keeps the football in his own hands.
Almost 1,000 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on just 172 carries, and you can tell why defensive coordinators do not enjoy scheming for Washington.
He is elusive and really, really fast, but he tends to let his fearlessness get in the way.
He runs too tall and very rarely enjoys diving to save himself ,which opens him up to opportunistic safeties looking to level him.
Like all other young, fast quarterbacks, he tends to leave the pocket early and not wait for things to develop.
Once he trusts his arm more that will change. Expect Locker to be a terror on the ground AND through the air next season.
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about 1 month ago
gronkowski is a beast
about 1 month ago
Until Locker can throw the deep ball on a consistent basis, I'm still not sold he can lead the team back to a bowl game.
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