This article confirms what we already know about what happens to most White high school football stars, without connecting any dots of course.
Purdue’s Kerrigan could make an impact for Redskins in first year
Muncie Central High School football coach John Hochstetler always thought Ryan Kerrigan was under recruited coming out of high school, with only a few offers coming from Midwest schools.
After a career at Purdue University that culminated in consensus All-American honors last season, Kerrigan is continuing to prove college football recruiting is anything but an exact science.
Kerrigan is embarking on an NFL career and the first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins is slated to start at linebacker.
Not bad for a high school player that ranked 46th at his position by Rivals.com.
“His lower body strength has always been exceptional and his football IQ is so unbelievably strong,†Hochstetler said. “His instincts were always good.â€
Kerrigan is calling on those instincts immensely with the Redskins, making the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. The transition to linebacker is as much, if not more, a mental challenge. The NFL Combine and individual workouts convinced the Redskins he’s physically capable of playing linebacker.
Now, it’s just a matter of learning the position. It’s not a simple task since Kerrigan has been coming out of a 3-point stance for nearly as long as he’s been playing football.
“That’s always been first nature for me,†Kerrigan said. “It’s what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years. You have to see the whole field now and it’s just a matter of seeing the game from a different perspective.â€
At Purdue, Kerrigan’s job was to get into the backfield as often as possible — which he did — accumulating 12.5 sacks and 26 tackles for a loss as a senior.
In the NFL, he will still be called upon to rush the passer but he will also have to drop into pass coverage. One of the challenges is making the correct read, which fluctuates with each play.
Kerrigan earned his first NFL sack in Washington’s second preseason game at Indianapolis, bringing down former teammate Curtis Painter. On the previous play, though, he was in the flat covering Colts’ Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark. In another series, Kerrigan covered running back Donald Brown coming out of the backfield.
“It’s been challenging that’s for sure,†Kerrigan said. “It’s a different world at the linebacker position compared to defensive end. I’m making strides and with each practice and every game I’m getting better at it.â€
He had an even better third game against Baltimore last week, recording another sack among his five solo tackles.
While the lockout prevented organized team events over the summer, Kerrigan said he knew the switch to linebacker was coming once the labor dispute was solved.
Outside of a few player-organized workouts, Kerrigan routinely practiced the necessary drops needed for any linebacker.
“It was good to have those (player-organized events) and let me get my feet wet,†Kerrigan said.
LaVar Arrington, a former NFL linebacker and standout at Penn State, writes a regular blog for the Washington Post. He spoke highly of Kerrigan in a recent entry.
“The most important observation for me was that Kerrigan showed the ability to play in space,†Arrington wrote in the blog. “This was a big concern for me coming into the season as I thought he might be too big and stiff to play in a stand-up linebacker stance in the NFL. But he showed that he not only can play standing up but, if he continues to improve, that he might actually have a large impact on the Redskins defense.â€
Kerrigan started the Redskins’ first preseason game, as well. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it appears he will start when the season opens against the visiting New York Giants on Sept. 11.
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports...-impact-for-redskins-in-first-year.html#start
Purdue’s Kerrigan could make an impact for Redskins in first year
Muncie Central High School football coach John Hochstetler always thought Ryan Kerrigan was under recruited coming out of high school, with only a few offers coming from Midwest schools.
After a career at Purdue University that culminated in consensus All-American honors last season, Kerrigan is continuing to prove college football recruiting is anything but an exact science.
Kerrigan is embarking on an NFL career and the first-round draft pick of the Washington Redskins is slated to start at linebacker.
Not bad for a high school player that ranked 46th at his position by Rivals.com.
“His lower body strength has always been exceptional and his football IQ is so unbelievably strong,†Hochstetler said. “His instincts were always good.â€
Kerrigan is calling on those instincts immensely with the Redskins, making the transition from defensive end to outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. The transition to linebacker is as much, if not more, a mental challenge. The NFL Combine and individual workouts convinced the Redskins he’s physically capable of playing linebacker.
Now, it’s just a matter of learning the position. It’s not a simple task since Kerrigan has been coming out of a 3-point stance for nearly as long as he’s been playing football.
“That’s always been first nature for me,†Kerrigan said. “It’s what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years. You have to see the whole field now and it’s just a matter of seeing the game from a different perspective.â€
At Purdue, Kerrigan’s job was to get into the backfield as often as possible — which he did — accumulating 12.5 sacks and 26 tackles for a loss as a senior.
In the NFL, he will still be called upon to rush the passer but he will also have to drop into pass coverage. One of the challenges is making the correct read, which fluctuates with each play.
Kerrigan earned his first NFL sack in Washington’s second preseason game at Indianapolis, bringing down former teammate Curtis Painter. On the previous play, though, he was in the flat covering Colts’ Pro Bowl tight end Dallas Clark. In another series, Kerrigan covered running back Donald Brown coming out of the backfield.
“It’s been challenging that’s for sure,†Kerrigan said. “It’s a different world at the linebacker position compared to defensive end. I’m making strides and with each practice and every game I’m getting better at it.â€
He had an even better third game against Baltimore last week, recording another sack among his five solo tackles.
While the lockout prevented organized team events over the summer, Kerrigan said he knew the switch to linebacker was coming once the labor dispute was solved.
Outside of a few player-organized workouts, Kerrigan routinely practiced the necessary drops needed for any linebacker.
“It was good to have those (player-organized events) and let me get my feet wet,†Kerrigan said.
LaVar Arrington, a former NFL linebacker and standout at Penn State, writes a regular blog for the Washington Post. He spoke highly of Kerrigan in a recent entry.
“The most important observation for me was that Kerrigan showed the ability to play in space,†Arrington wrote in the blog. “This was a big concern for me coming into the season as I thought he might be too big and stiff to play in a stand-up linebacker stance in the NFL. But he showed that he not only can play standing up but, if he continues to improve, that he might actually have a large impact on the Redskins defense.â€
Kerrigan started the Redskins’ first preseason game, as well. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it appears he will start when the season opens against the visiting New York Giants on Sept. 11.
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports...-impact-for-redskins-in-first-year.html#start
