Bernard Pierce to Ravens!

Final BE draft standings:
(2012 schools only)
Cincinnati 4
*Temple 3
UConn 1
Rutgers 1
Syracuse 1
USF 0
Pitt 0
Louisville 0
*Pierce (Ravens), Rodriguez (Bears) and Whitehead (Lions) help Owls tie single-season record for most players drafted (1987). Derek Dennis (Carolina), Pat Boyle (Lions), Morkeith Brown (Bucs), Stephen Johnson (Saints), Rod Streater (Oakland), Kevin Kroboth (Eagles), Adrian Robinson (Steelers) and Wayne Tribue (Broncos) sign FA contracts.

As far as I’m concerned, the Ravens got the steal of the draft in the third round when they selected Bernard Pierce.
Baltimore made a trade to move up seven spots to get Pierce.
Pierce was the Pennsylvania state champion in the 100-meter dash as a high school kid four years ago and he runs even faster with the football in his hands.
He’s got great vision, a sick burst to the outside, terrific moves in the open field and has the ability to punish tacklers and fall forward for an extra five yards at the end of every play. He’s a  much better receiver than people give him credit for (remember, he had Chester Stewart throwing him the ball for much of his three years at Temple). Largely because of Pierce, the Owls ran an offense that eschewed the pass for a power running game.
Ravens play Eagles in game two.
If Pierce starts, I’m not betting on the Eagles that day.

Two Owls on Fox Sports Network

Temple’s photogenic and effective offensive line in the waning moments of Kent State game.

(thanks for the photos, Cyrus)

The mom/son firm of Kroboth, Tribue, Kroboth, Tribue.

This completely slipped my mind because I’ve always associated college all-star football games with Saturday afternoons after the BCS national title game but two Temple Owls, Kevin Kroboth and Wayne Tribue, are on the field now (1/16/12) in the Casino Del Sol All-Star game in Phoenix.
The game is being carried on Fox Sports Network is 722 (Comcast) in Philadelphia.
The game started at 9 p.m., Philadelphia time, and should be over by midnight. If you miss it Monday night, keep checking that Fox Sports Network channel. They will replay it at times this week.
It’s on different channels if you have Verizon Fios, Direct TV and Dish TV.
Kroboth and Tribue kick off the “draft geek” season where everyone from Mel Kiper to the kid living in his mom’s basement can make their own evaluations against that of the NFL experts.
Already, Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez is getting rave reviews for his play on the first day of practice at the East-West Shrine game in Tampa, Fla.
Right now, if I had to bet, Bernard Pierce and Evan Rodriguez will definitely be drafted and Adrian Robinson will go anywhere in that 4-6 range as an OLB.
Pierce is a third-rounder. ERod could go as high as fourth.
Derek Dennis, Wayne Tribue and Kee-ayre Griffin could also be drafted as well.
I see Kroboth as a seventh-rounder or a free agent and I’m sure Stephen Johnson will get a shot somewhere. Joey Jones and Rod Streater can play pro somewhere, be it in the NFL, CFL or Arena League.
That’s what these all-star games are for to sort most of this out.
The nice thing is that they are easy to spot on Fox Sports Network as both are wearing the familar Temple T with their same college numbers, Kroboth wearing 37 and Tribue 69.
Here is a complete list of their East roster teammates. The roster was the only one I could find on the internet and had to take a photo of it, so it’s a little blurry but you can still make out the names.