Spartans Headed To The League

As many of you are already aware, this could be the Spartans' best draft performance in recent memory.  So I have decided to begin providing a weekly update on ABDFF of how various Spartans are doing in relation to the NFL draft.  Folks, these are exciting times.  The NFL draft process is young and there is already a lot of good news about the Spartans. Let's start with a list of Spartan seniors and early departures.

42            Todd Anderson        FB            6-2           265          SR            Napoleon, Mich. - Napoleon

85            Garrett Celek          TE            6-5           252          SR            Cincinnati, Ohio - LaSalle

8              Kirk Cousins             QB           6-3           205          SR            Holland, Mich. - Holland Christian

3              B.J. Cunningham     WR          6-2           215          SR            Westerville, Ohio - Westerville South

67            Joel Foreman          OG           6-4           315          SR            Highland, Mich. - Milford

88            Brian Linthicum      TE            6-5           245          SR            St. Louis, Mo. - Clemson

82            Keshawn Martin     WR          5-11         189          SR            Inkster, Mich. - John Glenn

75            Jared McGaha         OL            6-6           298          SR            Powell, Tenn. - Powell

7              Keith Nichol            WR          6-2           220          SR            Lowell, Mich. - Oklahoma

69            Blake Pacheco         DL            6-1           264          SR            Salinas, Calif. - Monterey (Calif.) Peninsula College

96            Kevin Pickelman      NT           6-4           288          SR            Marshall, Mich. - Marshall

73            Arthur Ray Jr.          OG           6-3           299          SR            Chicago, Ill. - Mount Carmel

39            Trenton Robinson   S              5-10         195          SR            Bay City, Mich. - Bay City Central

16            Chris D. Rucker        WR          5-9           178          SR            Detroit, Mich. - Detroit Country Day

20            Kyle Selden             P              6-5           199          SR            Waterford, Mich. - Our Lady of the Lakes

47            Adam Setterbo       FB            6-3           245          SR            Spring Lake, Mich. - Spring Lake Senior

81            Brad Sonntag          WR          5-8           176          SR            Saginaw, Mich. - Nouvel Catholic Central

57            Johnathan Strayhorn               DT            6-0           272          SR            Detroit, Mich. - Oak Park

4              Edwin Baker            RB           5-9           210          JR            Highland Park, Mich. - Oak Park

99            Jerel Worthy           DT            6-3           310          JR            Huber Heights, Ohio – Wayne

So far, most of the news is about the seniors.  And you would expect that since we have all these "senior-related" events going on: the Senior Bowl, the East-West Shrine game, and NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

Nevertheless, let me just just briefly start with Jerel Worthy.  As everyone knows, Worthy has been considered a first-round pick most of the year.  He's still considered a first-rounder by most mock drafts.  But at one point, guys like ESPN's Todd McShay had him going in the top 15, and now most mock drafts seem to have him going in the bottom half of the first round.  I think that once the NFL Scouting Combines get going, Worthy will get his chance to impress and move up into the top 15.

Then we have Kirk Cousins, who seems to be making a big splash at the Senior Bowl camp.  About a week or two ago, Mel Kiper Jr. was suggesting that Cousins could go by about the 5th round of the NFL draft.  Now we're hearing people (like Sporting News' Russ Lande) talk about Cousins going as high as the 2nd round.  That's crazy!  Oh no it isn't.  I've said it before, Cousins has played at times like a first-rounder -- particularly during the B1G championship game -- and it was only a matter of time before others saw what Spartan fans saw this year.  If Cousins does end up going in the second round, don't be surprised to see a significant boost in MSU's quarterback recruiting, as soon as next year.

Then there's BJ Cunningham.  In case you missed his touchdown at the East-West Shrine game, here it is.  Other than that, there's not much else...except if you think it's a big deal that ESPN's Todd McShay was raving about Cunningham!  McShay thinks Cunningham was the best receiver at the practices and that he could end up going in the third round of the draft.

Finally, there's Brian Linthicum, who is playing in the Senior Bowl.  According to Tony Pauline at SI.com, Linthicum has been impressive at the Senior Bowl practices: "Brian Linthicum (TE/Michigan State) has really impressed all day. He looked very athletic during opening drills and has made several impressive catches in full scrimmage."

Worthy, Cousins, and Cunningham have garnered most of the early attention, but here's a quick list of some related items:

- Keith Nichol made a nice grab (video) at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
- Kirk Cousins, B.J. Cunningham, Keshawn Martin, Edwin Baker, and Trenton Robinson have all been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.

- Trenton Robinson was interviewed by the Detroit Lions.  

- Unfortunately, there's not much news on other guys I expect have a good chance to get drafted, guys like Kevin Pickelman (injured), Todd Anderson, and Joel Foreman.  But hopefully, these guys will get invited to the NFL Combines, soon.

Leonidas writes on his own blog What Is Your Profession?. In addition to asking what your profession is he has begun writing to cover recruiting for ABDFF in his spare time. You can hit him up at noble.leonidas@gmail.com.

Homecoming: B.J. Cunningham

Prior to 2010, the All-Time Career Reception leader was Matt "Stone Hands" Trannon. You might think it's such a strange thing that "Stone Hands" was the nickname in my house for MSU's all time reception leader, but so it is. His freshman year I think he dropped as many passes as he caught and even in his Senior Year when he wasn't throwing touchdown passes he still occasionally had a drop that was all LOL WUT. So not only did it surprise me, but it pleased me greatly to learn that coming into the season that B.J. Cunningham was only 10 catches away from moving old "Stone Hands" down to number two.

When Mark Dantonio arrived in late 2006 the first order of business was to give all of the JLS assistants their walking papers and then call up all of our current commitments and inform them that their scholarship offers were being re-examined. For obvious keepers like Keith Nichol and Mark Dell this was merely a formality, for guys like this was the end of their courtship with Michigan State. For guys like B.J. Cunningham who were being recruited by Mark Dantonio at Cincinnati, this was the beginning of a new courtship with Michigan State.

In December 2006, Cunningham committed to MSU just a few weeks after Dantonio took over as head coach. He was a three-star prospect according to Rivals and Scout. He and Mark Dell came in as the two WR's in the class of 2007, Dell was the heralded four-star talent and Cunningham the important workmanlike possession receiver. Cunningham described his strength as: "I can go up and get the ball and I am good at running after the catch. I also have no problem going across the middle" Here's a clip of him doing and an interview with the man himself doing all that to displace old "Stone Hands".



Cunningham was redshirted in 2007 while Mark Dell saw playing time stretching the field for Devin Thomas. Dantonio went to say "Head coach Mark Dantonio said Cunningham could have made a significant contribution in 2007 from midseason on had he not redshirted." This too, turned out to be oddly prophetic as Cunningham finished in second for team receptions in 2008 with 41 only being beaten out by Blair White.

In 2009, the year of the "Cousins/Nichol when you have two quarterbacks you have none" platooning, Cunningham increased his catches from 41 to 48. Blair White made himself available like 7-11 for Cousins that year catching an astounding 70 passes. Cunningham again showed himself as a reliable person to move the sticks and again finished second in total catches.

In 2010, B.J. Cunningham finished second in receptions for the third year in a row. He tallied 50 catches to Mark Dell's 51. In a move which might help describe the current state of MSU pass-catching, he led the team in touchdown catches with nine, good for 45 percent of Cousins' total touchdown haul.

So we come to 2011 and I felt a bit like Cunningham was under the radar. We knew he was solid, but the MSU All-Time Reception leader? More catches than Andre Rison, Plaxico Burress, Charles Rogers and Kirk Gibson? Well yes, he finished a strong second to each of the leaders in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and within a few catches except for 2009 where Blair White was open every damn play.

So it's fitting that this trip to Ohio State is going to be his homecoming. While he doesn't boast the ridiculous speed of Charles Rogers or the takeover ability of Plaxico Burress, B.J. Cunningham is the personification of Mark Dantonio football. Cunningham catches the ball and move the chains. Does he have a chip on his shoulder that he wasn't offered by Ohio State, I don't pretend to know and I don't think it's relevant. What is relevant is that when B.J. Cunningham goes home to his homecoming on Saturday he has the opportunity to belong definitively in that list of Spartan great receivers.

While it's fair to suggest that having this record alone above all those other guys should mention him in the same breath as those receivers, it isn't. After all, how many people think back to the days of good old Matt "Stone Hands" Trannon and wish we had him back? Hey, did you know he also played basketball? You need to have that Marquee win, like Plax did against Michigan in 1998 or Rison helping beat USC a second time in the Rose Bowl.

B.J. Cunningham can get that win this Saturday. He doesn't need to do anything flashy to do it either. He needs to do what he does best. He needs to play his own Mark Dantonio football, not flashy, not grandiose, not tricky. He just needs to catch passes and move the chains. In short, he just needs to do his job. If everyone else can follow the lead of B.J. Cunningham, I'd just give us a fighting chance.