Denton Rc

green_goblin · April 30, 2006

NFL Draft: Chosen or not, Cobbs set to continue career

UNT RB ready to travel to far away places to play football

09:05 AM CDT on Saturday, April 29, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

When Patrick Cobbs’ career at North Texas concluded in November, one of the greatest running backs to ever play for the Mean Green appeared to have done all he needed to continue his career in the NFL.

Cobbs won the national rushing title in 2003 and became one of only 69 players in NCAA football history to rush for 4,000 career yards.

For Cobbs, those accomplishments turned out to be just the beginning of what could be a long road to the professional ranks.

Cobbs was skipped over when invitations were handed out to the NFL scouting combine, where prospects are measured and timed. That slight sent Cobbs on a journey through a series of individual workouts over the last few months, where he has tried to prove he belongs in the NFL.

He will find out if he did enough to convince someone to take a chance on him after the two-day NFL Draft that begins this morning. Cobbs is projected as a late-round pick or potential free agent signee.

“I am looking forward to the draft, but I have no idea where things are headed,” Cobbs said. “People get lost in the draft and things go all kinds of ways. You just roll with the punches. As long as I get a chance, I will be all right.”

Cobbs is considered to be at the top of a short list of UNT seniors who could find their way into NFL camps through the draft or free agency. Kicker Nick Bazaldua is also considered a pro prospect.

Cobbs finished as UNT’s all-time leading rusher with 4,050 yards, while Bazaldua is the Mean Green’s all-time leading scorer with 247 points.

Both players are out to prove that their productivity in college is an indication that they can overcome what some pro scouts see as shortcomings in their NFL resumes.

Cobbs sat out a nearly a year with a sprained knee in 2004, has never put up blazing 40-yard dash times and is small for a running back at 5-9, 198. Bazaldua didn’t kick off during his collegiate career and lacks the leg strength of some of the top kickers in the draft.

Like Cobbs, Bazaldua has tried to improve his draft stock in individual workouts.

Both Cobbs and Bazaldua participated in the Mean Green’s pro day in March, when the wind was blowing at 20-25 miles an hour. Cobbs posted times of 4.71 with the wind and 4.94 against it in the 40-yard dash, which is considered slow for a running back.

“The conditions were bad at school and our turf is slow,” Cobbs said. “I decided to go somewhere else to run again.”

The decision paid dividends when Cobbs ran a pair of 40-yard dashes in 4.47 and 4.51 seconds during a workout at UT-Arlington.

“There were a lot of people out there at UTA,” Cobbs said. “I tried to separate myself. A lot of people talked to me afterward and they said it went well. Hopefully, it went well enough to have an impact.”

Gil Brandt, a senior analyst at NFL.com and a former vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said that Cobbs will end up in an NFL camp whether he is drafted or not.

Cobbs’ 20 bench press repetitions at 225 pounds and his time of 7.10 seconds in a three-cone agility run were both solid, Brandt said.

“I think Cobbs will go to training camp and might be like Willie Parker,” Brandt said of the former free agent who rushed for 1,067 yards for the Pittsburgh Steelers last season. “They call him Fast Willie Parker now, but he didn’t have Fast Willie times before the draft.”

Falling below most teams’ draft radar is nothing new for UNT players. Former UNT linebacker Cody Spencer was a sixth-round pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2004 and is the only Mean Green player to be drafted since 1995. He is now playing for the Tennessee Titans.

All-Pro offensive lineman Brian Waters of the Kansas City Chiefs and linebacker Brad Kassell of the Jets both made teams as free agents.

“What we have heard is that Patrick has a chance to be a mid- to late-round draft choice or for sure a free agent,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “That is nothing new for our players. He will get into a camp, give a great account of himself and put himself in position to make a team.”

Bazaldua has earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, but said he will focus on kicking for the next few months to see if he can continue playing.

Cobbs has similar plans.

“If I don’t get drafted, then I will sign with whoever wants me as a free agent,” Cobbs said. “I am willing to try playing in Canada or NFL Europe. I will do whatever I can to keep playing football.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .

Edited April 30, 2006 by green_goblin

LoveMG · April 30, 2006

“The conditions were bad at school and our turf is slow,” Cobbs said.
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so why did we install slow turf?

ipEAGLE · April 30, 2006

so why did we install slow turf?
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Its thick... feels like sand. The older style turf provided a much faster game speed, but with that came more injuries.

SilverEagle · April 30, 2006

I'll take a slower tuff over injuries any day. If it's slower for us, then it's slower for our opponents.

Baby Arm! · April 30, 2006

so why did we install slow turf?
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It's slow in the same way that natural grass is slower than astro turf. The new field turf plays much more like natural grass, Its softer and has more give...just like a natural playing surface.