Dwayne Gratz: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Connecticut CB

Dwayne Gratz often got overshadowed at Connecticut by teammate Blidi Wreh-Wilson, but Gratz is a cornerback with plenty of pro potential.

He has great size and strength to go along with good hands for a cornerback. However, some teams may see Gratz more as a safety prospect instead of a cornerback, but he should succeed at either position due to his overall talents.

Let's look at five things you need to know about the former Connecticut cornerback. 

Background

Full Name: Dwayne Gratz

Birthday: March 8, 1990

Hometown: Piscataway, New Jersey

High School: Piscataway

Major: Exploratory 

Year: Senior

Per his UConn profile, Gratz won two state titles while in high school for Piscataway. He was also a talented track-and-field athlete who set a school record in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.5 seconds.

Statistics

After redshirting for the 2008 season, Dwayne Gratz broke onto the scene as a freshman during the 2009 season. He continued to contribute and show improvement in each of his four seasons.

Gratz started a total of 41 games during his collegiate career.

Year	Tackles	Passes Defended	Interceptions	Forced Fumbles	Defensive TDs
2009	20	4	0	0	1
2010	61	9	2	1	1
2011	53	7	3	1	0
2012	53	14	3	1	1

All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.

Draft Process

Measurables

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 201 lbs.

Arm length: 32.125"

Hand size: 10.5"

Combine Results

40-yard dash: 4.47 seconds

Bench press: 22 reps (top performer)

Vertical jump: 38" (top performer)

Broad jump: 125"

Three-cone drill: 6.70 seconds (top performer)

20-yard shuttle: 4.15 seconds

Dwayne Gratz put together quite the performance at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine. In fact, he was one of the more impressive players at his position.

Gratz displayed his great strength and athleticism for NFL teams by being a top performer in a number of categories.

All combine results courtesy of NFL.com.

Interesting Facts

One thing that Dwayne Gratz will bring to an NFL roster is plenty of experience and leadership. His 41 starts and 50 total games played are both impressive numbers.

What's even more impressive is that Gratz never missed a game due to an injury during his college career. Both his durability and experience should be highly regarded among NFL teams.

Observations

One of the NFL draft community's most popular minds, Mike Mayock had high praise to say about Dwayne Gratz (h/t Rich Campbell):

"

Mayock on UConn CB Dwayne Gratz: Good length, size, ran better than people expected. He tackles. 3rd round. #Redskins

"

"— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) April 18, 2013"

Dion Caputi of National Football Post summed up Gratz's combine performance in one simple tweet:

"

#UConn DB Dwayne Gratz is growing into a bit of a workout warrior himself this #NFLCombine. Unofficial 4.35 time, staggering 22 bench reps.

— Dion Caputi (@nfldraftupdate) February 26, 2013"

Bleacher Report's Scott Carasik found some interesting and somewhat ironic information concerning an award that Gratz won while in college:

"

Interesting note: Dwayne Gratz won the Brian Kozlowski Award from UCONN. If Gratz gets drafted by ATL, it'd be irony since Koz was a Falcon.

— Scott Carasik (@ScottCarasik) April 21, 2013"