a very good article on andy from today...

[timmyboy]

The New Orleans Saints paid for Andy Alleman to tour their training facility and meet their coaches.So did the Dallas Cowboys.``You meet all these coaches,'' said Alleman, a guard with the University of Akron football team. ``You see their facilities and they tell you that you'll love it here. It's like they are recruiting you.''When having lunch -- ``eating a free sandwich,'' as Alleman called it -- something struck him.``I sometimes wonder if they're forgetting that they have to pick me!'' Alleman said. ``I'm getting excited, talking to all these people, and I'm like, `This is the place to be! Where do I sign?' I'm ready to play here right now.''On Saturday, Alleman might finally know where he'll begin his pro career. He said executives from the Cowboys, New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Ravens have told him to expect to be picked in the second round of the NFL Draft. The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers said the third round was more likely.ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. rates Alleman as the No. 5 guard in the draft, which could put him in the third round. Scouts Inc. rates Alleman as the 108th-best player in the draft, and wrote, ``He could turn into an NFL starter in time... stock is soaring... could be off the board by the end of the first day.''``My goal is the second round, but I just want to be a first-day player,'' Alleman said, meaning picked in the first three rounds.The highest any UA player has been picked is the third round: Charlie Frye (No. 67, Browns, 2005), Jason Taylor (No. 73, Miami Dolphins, 1997) and Dwight Smith (No. 84, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2000).``Andy is special,'' UA coach J.D. Brookhart said. ``He snuck up on some people because he changed from defense to offense after he transferred to us. He really put himself on the NFL radar screen with how he played at N.C. State and Penn State. He's good and he's going to get better. The pros will love his intensity and focus. He gets his sleep, takes care of his body and really wants to make it.''Alleman has always surprised people. He played three years at North Canton Hoover, then transferred to Massillon for his senior season. The star of that team was future Ohio State quarterback Justin Zwick. Alleman was an all-district selection, but not considered a blue-chip, top-50 college prospect.``It's wasn't like I was some guy sitting on the end of the pine getting no offers,'' he said. ``I had 22 scholarship offers. I went to Pitt, a very good program. But looking back at it, I've always had to fight and claw and battle for everything.''He has no sense of entitlement, and a tremendous attitude of gratitude. He's confident, with a bit of an edge that drives him to prove critics wrong.He was good enough to start in his first two seasons as a defensive end at Pitt. For a variety of reasons, he transferred to Akron, where Brookhart (a former Pitt assistant) had taken over as coach.``We put him on the offensive line because we thought he'd be good on defense but even better as a guard,'' Brookhart said. ``Most offensive lineman are pluggers and plodders. Andy is an athlete. He can really move.''According to Brookhart, the key to Alleman's ascension as a pro prospect was 2004, when he was a redshirt player sitting out a season because he had transferred from another NCAA Division I university.``He went from being a starter at Pitt to being pounded on our scout team,'' Brookhart said. ``Andy was a bit of a hot head, and this really matured him. You could see him preparing himself. He worked and worked and worked. It's really paying off.''Alleman is 6-foot-4, 310 pounds. A Green Bay Packers scout characterized him as a ``Denver-type guard, the kind who can really move.''Sounds like someone the Browns could use.Alleman said he has not visited the Browns. He's not sure if he has heard from them. (``I've talked to so many guys on the phone.'')Nonetheless, they are aware of Alleman. General Manager Phil Savage drafted Frye and signed Can't State's Joshua Cribbs, so he's respectful of Mid-American Conference players.Sometimes, teams don't show much interest in middle-round picks before the draft, not wanting other franchises to know whom they might select.``I never thought I'd go to Akron coming out of high school,'' he said. But I'm glad I did. They didn't give me the position; I had to earn it. But they really worked with me. It was the right fit for me to showcase my talent.''Compare that to Zwick, who started as a redshirt freshman for the Buckeyes, then lost his position to future Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith. It's not a knock on Zwick, but who ever dreamed that coming out of Massillon it would be Alleman who was the possible first-day pro pick while Zwick might not be drafted?As Alleman said: ``Opportunity means so much. You really do need to be in the right place at the right time.''Had Zwick played somewhere else, such as at a MAC school, he could be the Charlie Frye of this draft. Who knows? Like Alleman, Zwick has strong character and a tremendous work ethic.No one dreamed Smith would win the Heisman. There was some question about him even being a quarterback when he enrolled at OSU.Alleman said that, ``In my heart of hearts, I think I could play the defensive line in the pros. But if I had stayed there, I would have been one of those guys sweating it out to get drafted, or maybe trying to get into camp as a free agent.''Changing schools and positions altered all that.Now, he will be picked by a team that has scouted him and virtually guarantees him a roster spot as a rookie.``Whatever team takes me will get a guy who plays hard all four quarters, plays with passion and finishes blocks,'' Alleman said. ``They'll get a guy who plays the game like it should be played.''IM VERY SUPRISED TO SEE THESE SCOUTS SAYING HE IS A SECOND ROUND PICK, BUT I HOPE HE DOES GO THAT EARLY. HE HAS BUSTED HIS BUTT FOR US AND I HOPE IT ALL PAYS OFF FOR HIM IN THE END.