Broncos grab Yiadom in 3rd round

I guess John Elway knows a good thing when he sees one. For the second time in three years, he used a late third round pick to take a BC defensive back. This time it was Isaac Yiadom with the 99th pick overall. He joins former teammate Justin Simmons in Denver.

Yiadom was projected as a mid round pick, so it was nice to see him go on the early side. He should be an immediate impact player for the Broncos. Elway taking him so closely after Simmons is an endorsement of what BC is doing defensively. 

Congrats to Isaac and good luck in Denver. 

Simmons signs with Broncos and other links

Justin Simmons signed with the Broncos. Under the current bargaining agreement, there is not much negotiating room. Your pick really determines your pay.

If Mehdi Abdesmad doesn't make the Titans, he will be in high demand in Canada. As a Canadian, he can fill a valuable roster slot.

This guy thinks BC has the 5th best QB situation in the division. I remain more optimistic. If one of the guys steps up, we could surprise plenty of teams.

Broncos draft Simmons

Congratulations to Justin Simmons. The versatile DB is headed to the Super Bowl Champion Broncos. While not a Day 1 pick, Simmons is still high enough that BC can leverage his good news with our future recruiting. Simmons deserves so much credit for climbing up Draft boards. He had a very good season, but meeting him and seeing his tapes probably sold Denver.

Let's hope he has a great career and more BC guys join him in the NFL this weekend.

Downes finishes Marathon and other links

In case you missed it, the Globe had a great article on Marathon Bombing survivor and BC grad Patrick Downes. It is worth your time and if you are interested, you can give to the scholarship at BC in Patrick's name.

Can Justin Simmons be a NFL Draft sleeper if he keeps getting this much attention?

BC is in the mix for Utah State basketball transfer Lew Evans. He would be a 5th year and eligible to play right away.

Some of BC's 2018 targets are getting media attention already.

More Simmons news and other links

If you base things purely on media coverage, then Justin Simmons is rising up draft boards. The Lions are looking at him and in a thin class of Safeties, Simmons' experience and versatility could be an asset to many teams.

BC offered Virginia athlete Chris Pierce. He already has offers from Old Dominion and Virginia.

Baseball won their weekend series with UVA.

In case you missed it, the Globe had a great article on BC Janitor Fred Vautour and his five children. All are BC grads. I used to wait in line at Lower for Fred's chicken sandwiches back in the '90s. Even then you could tell he loved BC and took great pride in his work.

Men's Hockey earns 2 seed and other links

Even with their loss in the Hockey East Semis, the Men's Hockey team earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. They will play Harvard in Worcester.

The Saints have interest in Justin Simmons.

The BC Women's Hockey team lost the National Championship to Minnesota. It is hard to end such an incredible season with such a tough game.

Clemson swept baseball as the team fell to 2-4 in ACC play.

Simmons makes most of Combine time

Justin Simmons keeps moving up Draft boards as he dominated at the NFL Combine Monday. For the pure speed and strength events like the 40 or bench press, Simmons showed off times that were near the top. Plus he also tested well in quirky events like the shuttle run.

I don't know what this showing will do for Simmons' stock, but it is hard to believe he will slip to the 6th round (like this profile suggested). Teams already knew that Simmons could play multiple positions. Now his raw numbers support that he will be among any team's leaders in speed. I hope that whoever draft Simmons knows what an asset they truly have. 

Simmons getting notice

USA Today ranked Justin Simmons as the No. 1 prospect at the East-West Shrine game. While that is a nice accolade, that doesn't necessarily translate into First Round Status. It has a decent history, but the Shrine Bowl is not the Senior Bowl. If Simmons plays well and impresses, he might move up some draft boards. However, other Draft followers don't have him rated as highly.

The Draft is more important that usual for BC this year. We need all the good publicity we can get and saying we help mid-level recruits like Simmons reach the NFL is still a great pitch.

Season in Review: Biggest Surprises

We all had expectations for the season and a few players we thought might shine. However, I doubt any of us predicted the impact these three guys would have. Here are the biggest surprises of the 2014 season.

1. Sherman Alston

When he committed, Alston seemed like a nice player to round out the recruiting class. He showed good speed and smarts, but didn't project to a true position in college (mostly because of his size). Here was a New Jersey player that Rutgers didn't recruit. Yet as soon as he got on campus, the rumblings began. Addazio and his staff realized they had something. They just didn't know what he was. And with that they did what ever they could with him, using him on punt returns. as a WR and most effectively as a Split End getting the ball on jet sweeps. Alston proved most effective when he got a little bit of daylight. Once he got some space, he could use his speed and elusiveness to turn little plays into big ones. His breakout game was USC, but he drew attention anytime he got on the field. In fact a common complaint as the season wore on was that we were using him too often as a decoy instead of getting him the ball. Other players had bigger years, but Alston was the biggest bonus since so little was expected.

2. Justin Simmons

In August did you expect Justin Simmon to lead the team in tackles? The junior had a nice career prior to this season, but nothing to indicate that he would make such a huge jump in productivity. Simmons wasn't just a pile jumper getting lots of tackles. He saved the Wake game with a critical INT and also got to the QB when asked to blitz. Simmons also showed versatility as he split his time between corner and safety. He wasn't our best defensive player, but he was the guy who made the leap during a crucial transition season.

3. Aaron Kramer

An after thought who had never started a game, Kramer was thrust into the spotlight when Harris Williams went down against UMass. It seemed like our Offensive Line might crack, but Kramer played well against UMass and then followed the solid play throughout September. He might not have been as consistent as some of the other starters and had some tough games later in the season, but overall Kramer played well and much better than most of us would have expected.