Jesse Wendt signed a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins.  Is this the first time we have ever had 2 WIAC football players sign in the same year?

Congrats Derek, show St. Louis what you can do.

Actually, I think Chad Wurth was just as good as Beaver.  They are both the same type of running back, Wurth just had less around him than Beaver had.  Both are good DIII players and that is it.

I didn't mean to rip on Beaver, he is a good back at the Division III level.  I don't know if I would go as far as say he is one of the top at DIII.  I guess he is stat wise, but if you put him at a different school those stats wouldn't be the same.  He doesn't have pro level athleticism or size, and it will hurt him next year if he wants to play on.  I don't think Childs has that athleticism either after watching him play.  He is very skilled, but when it comes to game breaking speed he doesn't have it, and unfortunately that is all the scouts are looking for in a DIII athlete.  

Goo 62, Childs is also better than Englebert in your opinion?  When did he workout for the scouts this spring?  What sports agent is representing him?  As for Beaver being the next Barry Sanders, if he was on UW-Stouts team he wouldn't have had any more yards than Englebert or Reese had.  They both got every yard this season by breaking tackles.  Beaver got every yard this season by running through holes that you could drive a truck through.  Brady Pittz must be better than Englebert too since he had about 200 yards against Stout.  Any running back would succeed at Whitewater.  Your arguments make no sense what so ever, and you are embarassing fellow UWW grads like myself.

This is in reply to Goo 62.  A low 4.5 40 yard dash and 25 + reps for a running back Englebert's size are definately NFL caliber numbers.  Look at the combine numbers from this year and the past 5 years, these numbers would put him in the top 10 each year.  I don't know how the kid didn't belong at the workout.  If he didn't belong neither did Derrick Stanley.  A 4.55 40 yard dash isn't real impressive for a 170 lb receiver, but hey the scouts obviously see something in these guys otherwise they wouldn't have been asked to show up that day.  I heard from UW-Whitewater players in attendance that each guy tore it up during position drills, and that is what counts the most if you have the athleticism, which all of these guys have.  We need to quit being negative and get behind these guys.  It isn't too often that the WIAC has 4 guys in the same season with the possibility of playing on after college.

I do not think Werner has any chance of playing in the NFL.  But, I have to disagree with Goo 62, if Englerbert had no chance than why would NFL teams want to work him out?  He put up combine numbers that were in the top 10 at the tailback position for this years class, I think he will get a shot with some team.  I hope all 4 get a shot, they are all good kids who deserve it.  Make the WIAC proud. 

I agree with Goal Line Stand on this one.  Scouts don't really care much about how an athlete performed at the DIII level, they care more about their athletic ability.  A prime example is the late Matt Pagel.  During Matt's senior season he barely broke the 200 yard rushing barrier, and had even fewer yards in each of his previous seasons.  Still, because of his athleticism not his stats he signed a free agent contract with the San Diego Chargers.  Englebert and Wendt didn't have great seasons, but because they are explosive athlete's they are drawing some interest and will get a shot.  Then you take a guy like Justin Beaver who is a great DIII running back stats wise, but he will probably not get a shot because he doesn't have the raw numbers or size to do so.

I think Wendt has a shot at getting drafted in the 6th or 7th round.  Talking with the Whitewater guys who watched the pro day they said Wendt stood out from the rest and the scouts were very impressed with his physical attributes.  I recently looked back at the last 5 years of combine and pro day numbers and no receiver has his combination of size 6'3 230, strength 26 reps @ 225, and speed 4.42 in the 40 yard dash.  I think a team will take a chance on him realizing that he hasn't really had any solid coaching in his college career (strop, carey - horrible).  If he can get a good coach to help him with his routes and other mechanical things he can definately play.

I do agree, the age thing may hurt Wendt and Englebert.  I believe Jesse is 27 and Englebert is 25.  It would have been nice to see what Englebert could have run had he not been in the horrific car accident 3 years ago.  You have got to give the kid credit, with all he has been through a 4.5 is still a blazing time.

None of the receivers on that combine list are even close to Wendt when it comes to size and strength.  There is a possibility that a team could convert him to a tight end at the next level.  Personally after watching him play I feel this would be a better fit for him as he is not as natural of a receiver as Stanley.

Whitewater and Stout held a pro day together today at the Williams Center.  The four athlete's participating were Pete Schmidt, Derek Stanley, Jesse Wendt, and Ryan Englebert.  Listed below are the 40 yard dash times of each guy. 

Pete Schmidt - 4.81 / 4.84
Derek Stanley - 4.54 / 4.55
Ryan Englebert - 4.52 / 4.58
Jesse Wendt - 4.44 / 4.46

I spoke with a couple of guys from next years team who were in attendance and they said Wendt and Schmidt were very impressive in the testing, and all 4 did an excellent job in position drills.

Englebert and Wendt are two guys that were on a bad team last year, thus they didn't get a lot of looks.  It is great that UW-Stout is hosting a pro day for these guys since we know they both have NFL bodies and the athleticism to go along with it.  Both guys will run faster 40's and bench 225 lbs more than any body at this years the NFL combine at their respected positions.  I recently checked out a webite of a guy who trains both of them and it said that both guys are currently running in the low 4.3's and bench pressing well over 30 reps.  Good luck to both of them and Whitewater's Stanley and Schmidt.  It is always nice to see guys from small schools make a name for themselves and their league.

Trey actually ruptured his achilles tendon while training for his pro day.  He was slotted as a 4th-5th round draft pick before the injury.

Trey Bell was cut by the Chicago Rush earlier this week.  What now for Trey?  Here is a link to the Chicago Rush roster as of today.

http://www.chicagorush.com/roster.asp