With the NFL draft less than 2 weeks away, thought it was time for a new thread. Here's a list of the Rockets on pro rosters today, to the best of my knowledge:

NFL:
Barry Church - Dallas
Jayrone Elliott - Green Bay
TJ Fatinikun - Tampa Bay
Bruce Gradkowski - Pittsburgh
John Greco - Cleveland
Andrew Hawkins - Cleveland
Zac Kerin - Minnesota
Brett Kern - Tennessee
Ross Madison - Denver
Bernard Reedy - Atlanta

CFL:
Dan Molls - Hamilton
Nick Moore - Winnipeg
Eric Page - Edmonton
Jermaine Robinson - Ottawa
Kenny Stafford - Edmonton

Arena Football League (AFL):
Mike Alston - Cleveland
PhillipKeith Manley - Cleveland
Derrick Summers - Spokane

Indoor Football League (IFL):
none

Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL):
none

With regard to the draft, Junior Sylvestre is getting a lot of love lately by several websites. At least a few are projecting him to be drafted, possibly ahead of Mancz. Here's a link to the ratings at nfl.com:
http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/tracker#dt...-input:106

Mancz did get an invite to the Bengals day for local players, but again didn't work out as he is still rehabbing his shoulder.

In addition to Mancz & Sylvestre (hopefully) getting drafted, Rockets that are expected to get free agent camp invites seem to include: Detmer, Hendershot and Haden.

with as much success as Pinkel had at Toledo, he really did not have that many players make it to the NFL. We used to have what - maybe 2-4 guys or NFL rosters from around 1995 (his recruits) until 2004? Guessing on that - but I just remember Marshall having guys all over the NFL - about as many as we have now - but Toledo only having a few. Lance Moore and Chester Taylor were the most prominent and guys like Carl Ford and others had a season or so in the NFL. I could very possibly be wrong on the numbers, but that is the impression I had while he was our coach.

According to my records, guys who were at UT during the Pinkel years (1991-2001) and also spent at least a brief time in the NFL are:
Darren Anderson (started pre-Pinkel)
Patrick Body
Tommie Boyd
Tyrone Brown
Carl Ford
Todd France
Kelly Herndon
Nick Kaczur
Jason Lamar
Clarence Love
Vince Marrow
Andy McCollum (started pre-Pinkel)
Lance Moore
Chester Taylor
Dan Williams (started pre-Pinkel)

Lance Moore should be on an NFL roster this year. Asked for his release from Pittsburgh.

so a lot of those guys were really not Pinkel guys and other than a few, were not in the league very long. Kaczur - not sure he was a Pinkel era guy either. He never redshirted and I thought his last year with the Rockets was 2004 - so he never played for Pinkel although he might have been in the Pinkel recruiting class following the 2000 season (although he took more than a few of them with him over to Mizzou). So over a 10 year period, that is not a very long list of guys compared to more recent years. He did pretty well with guys that were not NFL level talent. Can't really call Willams a Pinkel guy either. It would really have to be guys that played from 1994 through 2005 (allowing for redshirts). Not sure Gradkowski was a Pinkel recruit either because he came into the picture after Pinkel had moved on. Nothing wrong with having really good college players that didn't make it to the NFL. Heisman Trophy winners represent that category really well.

(04-19-2015 01:00 PM)MotoRocket Wrote:  so a lot of those guys were really not Pinkel guys and other than a few, were not in the league very long. Kaczur - not sure he was a Pinkel era guy either. He never redshirted and I thought his last year with the Rockets was 2004 - so he never played for Pinkel although he might have been in the Pinkel recruiting class following the 2000 season (although he took more than a few of them with him over to Mizzou). So over a 10 year period, that is not a very long list of guys compared to more recent years. He did pretty well with guys that were not NFL level talent. Can't really call Willams a Pinkel guy either. It would really have to be guys that played from 1994 through 2005 (allowing for redshirts). Not sure Gradkowski was a Pinkel recruit either because he came into the picture after Pinkel had moved on. Nothing wrong with having really good college players that didn't make it to the NFL. Heisman Trophy winners represent that category really well.

Kaczur and Gradkowski were both Amstutz recruits. Gradkowski was recruited by Rob Spence.

Yeah you guys are right about Kaczur - I read my list wrong. Body came in in 2001 too, so you can scratch them off.

Although McCollum and Williams may not have been Pinkel recuits, they did play (and thus develop) under him, so he deserves at least partial credit for getting them ready for the NFL.

(04-19-2015 02:12 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Yeah you guys are right about Kaczur - I read my list wrong. Body came in in 2001 too, so you can scratch them off.

Although McCollum and Williams may not have been Pinkel recuits, they did play (and thus develop) under him, so he deserves at least partial credit for getting them ready for the NFL.

Williams was a hot head and never got along with Pinkel. He signed a big contract with Denver, but I'm not sure he ever gave a dime back to the program.

chase nelson may actually be the first rocket drafted this year. rockets could have 3 guys drafted nelson, manczs, syvestre, but if the typical lack of respect tradition continues maybe none. a lot of undrafted rockets in the league in recent years. would think detmer has a good shot to make it too.

(04-19-2015 03:06 PM)pono Wrote:  chase nelson may actually be the first rocket drafted this year. rockets could have 3 guys drafted nelson, manczs, syvestre, but if the typical lack of respect tradition continues maybe none. a lot of undrafted rockets in the league in recent years. would think detmer has a good shot to make it too.

If they (NFL teams) don't HAVE to draft a kicker they won't. JD will be an undrafted free agent signing and go to camp, but he'll need to beat out an established veteran.

Vince Marrow was a Saban recruit...transferred from YSU (basketball...not sure if he ever played there?)

Actually...Tommie Boyd was a Saban recruit as well...prop 48 and didn't play until Pinkle came in. Tyrone Brown was a track guy...he came along during the Pinkle era, but I'm not sure how much he even played. I know he didn't play a down while I was there. I know he caught Atlanta's eye with his speed...presumably during sr. day?

What about WR Stephen Williams? He had signed a contract with the Dolphins last year, not sure if he's still there. I believe he is.

(04-19-2015 01:23 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  Kaczur and Gradkowski were both Amstutz recruits. Gradkowski was recruited by Rob Spence.

Well, as the story goes, when Amstutz came back from Missouri, "somebody" found Bruce's video tape in a drawer and decided to look at it. So, I wonder whether he was actually recruited before Pinkel left. Spence coached him, though, for sure.

(04-19-2015 09:08 PM)inductchuck16 Wrote:  What about WR Stephen Williams? He had signed a contract with the Dolphins last year, not sure if he's still there. I believe he is.

He was released in the pre-season last year and didn't play in 2014. I'm not aware of him being signed anywhere else since.

(04-19-2015 11:27 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  Lance Moore should be on an NFL roster this year. Asked for his release from Pittsburgh.

Hopefully Lance will get another look, but there's no guarantee. He hasn't gotten any good looks so far, although there were rumors the Chiefs were interested. He'll come with a big veteran salary, and most teams would rather fill in with young players who won't cost as much.

(04-19-2015 02:19 PM)DetroitRocket Wrote:  

(04-19-2015 02:12 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  Yeah you guys are right about Kaczur - I read my list wrong. Body came in in 2001 too, so you can scratch them off.

Although McCollum and Williams may not have been Pinkel recuits, they did play (and thus develop) under him, so he deserves at least partial credit for getting them ready for the NFL.

Williams was a hot head and never got along with Pinkel. He signed a big contract with Denver, but I'm not sure he ever gave a dime back to the program.

According to NFL.com, Dan played in the NFL 8 years. He played 4 in Denver and 4 in KC. He had 27 sacks, most came in KC.

Speaking of giving back: Coach Cullop mentioned this today at the Women's Hoops banquet-Jayrone Elliot made a sizable donation to help the women make their trip to England and Spain next year! Nice gesture, Jayrone!

(04-19-2015 09:55 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Speaking of giving back: Coach Cullop mentioned this today at the Women's Hoops banquet-Jayrone Elliot made a sizable donation to help the women make their trip to England and Spain next year! Nice gesture, Jayrone!

I started following him on twitter this past year and since then I've come to realize he's a really good guy. He also has a lot of Toledo pride.