ssmitty

may how time flies when you're having fun.................

ssmitty

papz, you familar with reciever nate morton?

papz

No clue actually smitty... but I guess I'll go do some research now. 8)

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Good size but nothing that stands out or anything.

ssmitty

wake forest

papz

His stats aren't impressive... he's a bit old for a incoming prospect. Various reports said that he has very good hands and fast. He looks like a hybrid of Mike Hass and Chase Lyman... which is very interesting in my book. But his numbers hasn't lived up to his attributes. If I had to put him somewhere in the draft, it would probably be in the 6th or 7 round... unless of course he blows people away during the combine (if he's invited).

xan

Is there a list for the Combine yet?

TheDeuce

I'm glad somebody asked about Nate...

I go to Wake Forest so I've actually had the pleasure to see him play for the last three seasons. He's a big guy, 6'3" and 215 pounds. Does not have blazing speed, but he is definitely faster than you would think he is. Great possession receiver. He dropped very few balls this season. He's from Texas. An interesting thing about him is that he's probably the best quarterback on the Wake Forest roster but he has a speech problem that prevents him from being able to call the plays, make audibles, etc. As a result, the coaches moved him to WR where he's been the team's leading receiver for the last two seasons. But because of his arm strength, he's always a threat to run some trick plays (5-9 over his four years for 222 yards, 3 TD, and 0 INT). He's a very smart player and a good kid. I don't know if he'll get drafted because people might be worried about his 4.6 speed or whatever, but if he does get a shot I'll wish him well because he sure did make a difference at WFU.

The real story coming out of Wake Forest though is Jon Abbate, our MLB. As far as measurables go, he's kind of like Nate Morton: not spectacular. But in terms of effectiveness, this kid is amazing. He's only 5'11", but the guy hits like a bowling ball. I actually went to a game my freshman year when we were playing ECU, and he picked one off and started racing down the sideline. The QB who threw the pick ran over to try and make a tackle, but Abbate laughed to himself, and then lowered his shoulder. After it was all said and done, Abbate returned the interception about 30 yards and the QB had to be taken out on a stretcher because of what Jon had done to him. The guy can hit, he had 120 tackles this season (including back-to-back 15 tackle performances in the ACC Championship game and the Orange Bowl). He also had three sacks, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. He was the heart and soul of this defense and people might shy away from him because of his size, but he reminds me of Zach Thomas at around the turn of the decade. The guy can play, trust me.

O and another note, Abbate is the first player in team history to leave school before graduating for the NFL draft.

TheDeuce

I forgot to say one more thing about Nate Morton... you can look at his stats all you want and say "Well that's not impressive," but you have to look at the type of offense that Wake Forest runs, which is almost entirely run-oriented. He's a very good runb blocker, which I love in a WR. Wake only threw the ball 241 times the entire season. Jamarcus Russell threw it 342 times. Morton is a good receiver, I don't know if he's pro material, but he is very good and the only reason his stats don't reflect that is because of the type of offense he played in.

ssmitty

then i'd like to try them both out.........do we have 2 sevens right before the last 3 picks in the draft?

TheDeuce

I think Abbate is going to go much earlier than the 7th round. I hope he goes first day because he and his family have endured a lot through the last year with the death of his little brother. It'd be great for him to get something nice.