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http://www.nfl.com/labs/rr/pathtothedraft/walford
Be like Gronk.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Miami tight end Clive Walford has been one of the fastest risers in the pre-draft process, and figures to boost his stock even further with a quality performance in drills during the NFL Scouting Combine.
His athleticism is no doubt intriguing, but Walford's ability in the blocking game is what really has teams interested in picking him early in the 2015 NFL Draft. The latter attribute is one reason why he brought up an interesting comparison for himself with a famous, bordering on infamous, tight end of the league.
"Rob Gronkowski," Walford said. "I don't catch every single game of his, but every playoff game this year I did watch. I watched every play he played."
Clive Walford likens his game to that of Patriots star Rob Gronkowski. (Ben Liebenberg / NFL)
» Photos: 2015 combine portrait sessions
Gronk isn't the typical comparison that comes up for Walford when talking to analysts -- Dwayne Allen is more frequent -- but you can't fault the future NFL pass-catcher for modeling his game after one of the best in the league, especially after a Super Bowl performance earlier in the month that earned him a ring.
"Running with the ball after the catch. Making crucial blocks. Pass protection," Walford said of the traits he tries to emulate the Patriots star. "Pretty much everything."
Walford has already spoken with teams in Indianapolis that could use just such a tight end, teams such as the Falcons, Jaguars, Dolphins and Lions, among others. Bringing up the best player at your position in the NFL and saying you take after him is probably not a bad thing to do at the combine as the former Hurricanes star looks to continue his journey into the NFL.
-- Bryan Fischer
Combine just like Christmas for Walford
Clive Walford is looking forward to this week's NFL Scouting Combine. He's really looking forward to it.
He doesn't see it as merely the next step in a relatively long process. Instead, "I'm like a kid at Christmas," he told College Football 24/7.
Walford -- who measured a bit taller than 6-foot-4 and weighed 254 pounds at the Senior Bowl -- should be one of the most closely scrutinized tight ends at the combine. For one, he is moving up draft boards, and his combine tests should help in that regard. Second, he had arthroscopic knee surgery in December and teams will be interested in his medical reports.
The knee gave him no issues during Senior Bowl week, and he doesn't expect it to at the combine, either. Walford also has some goals in the mind for the combine.
"I'm looking to run under a 4.7 in the 40," he said. Walford also is looking for at least a 32-inch outing in the vertical jump and a broad jump of at least 9-foot-6.
Four tight ends ran under a 4.7 at last year's combine; the only one who was drafted was North Carolina's Eric Ebron, who went in the first round. A 32-inch vertical jump would've put Walford in the top 10 in that category among tight ends last year; a 9-6 broad jump would've put him in the top 11 of that category.
Walford, who ran track in high school, competing in the quarter mile and in the high jump and long jump, has been preparing for the combine at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami. Strong combine numbers likely will drive home a point made by NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock at the Senior Bowl: That Walford is "the most explosive tight end in this year's draft."
Former Hurricanes teammate Ereck Flowers -- a potential first-round pick at tackle -- also is among the draft hopefuls working out at Bommarito. But while Walford is working out about 20 miles from the UM campus, he has been staying in a hotel and living out of a suitcase while training.
Walford also is ready for the "off-field" portion of the combine -- the copious amount of interviews he will have with team officials. He was somewhat surprised by the number of mini-interviews at the Senior Bowl, but said he won't be fazed by the process this week.
Walford said he has received some advice on how to handle the week: "Be yourself, be honest, enjoy the moment."
Hey, just like a kid at Christmas.
-- Mike Huguenin
"The Riser"
Clive Walford remembers the exact moment he realized he could play in the NFL.
"I'll never forget it," the Miami tight end tells College Football 24/7. "We played at Kansas State. I caught a 5-yard route and took it for 56 yards. I knew I could do big things then."
A 2012 game against Kansas State turned into a seminal moment for Clive Walford. (Orlin Wagner / AP)
The play came in the first quarter of the second game of Walford's sophomore season in 2012. Walford took the short pass and turned it into a big gain, down to the K-State 10-yard line. While UM was held to a field goal in what turned out to be a 52-13 loss, it started to set the stage for Walford. Frankly, the stage still is being set.
The 2015 tight end draft class is not nearly as strong as the one from 2014, when there were three tight ends seen as potential first-round picks. Only one of them, Eric Ebron, ended up going in the first round, but Jace Amaro and Austin Seferian-Jenkins went in the second round, as did Troy Niklas.
Heading into the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine, Minnesota's Maxx Williams -- who left school after his sophomore season -- is seen as the top tight end. But that could change, and that could benefit Walford, who is rising quickly up draft boards, to the point where he could sneak into the discussion about being the first tight end selected.
NFL Media's Mike Mayock certainly has been impressed by Walford, calling him "the most explosive tight end in this year's draft" during Senior Bowl week. Another positive aspect to Walford's game, Mayock noted, was that UM coaches used him in a variety of ways -- in the slot, out wide and with his hand down as a "normal" tight end.
Walford led Miami with 44 receptions in 2014, for 676 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns. The thing is, he remains somewhat raw because he didn't start playing football until his senior season in high school at perennial power Belle Glade (Fla.) Glades Central, the alma mater, of among others, Kelvin Benjamin (who was a year behind Walford in high school), Fred Taylor, Ray McDonald, Louis Oliver, Santonio Holmes and Jessie Hester.
Indeed, Walford credits Hester, who was Glades Central's coach at the time, as being the first person to open his eyes to what football could do for him. "He told me football could get me to college," Walford says.
His college decision came down to Miami and South Carolina, and Walford said Miami's "tradition" -- both as a winning program and a producer of tight ends -- led to him becoming a Hurricane. Greg Olsen, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow, Jr., and Bubba Franks are UM tight ends who have gone in the first round since 2000. Jimmy Graham, who played only one season of football for the Hurricanes, became a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2010.
As with Graham, Walford's first love was basketball, which he played all four years in high school. He also was on the track team -- as a quarter-miler, high jumper and long jumper. Yep, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder (Walford now is 6-5 and 254) who was a high jumper and long jumper. So, when's the last time you high jumped, Clive? "It's been a while," he says, laughing.
The basketball background definitely has carried over to the football field. Walford said one of his strengths is high-pointing the ball. "You go up and get the ball, like getting a rebound," he says.
Clive Walford's impressive Senior Bowl set in motion the potential for a rapid rise up draft boards this spring. (Johnny Vy / NFL)
Walford gave up basketball when he got to college, but his Senior Bowl experience was a flashback of sorts. "It reminded me of AAU basketball," he says, noting all the big-time players -- and the accompanying hoopla surrounding those players -- who were gathered in Mobile, Ala.
Asked for a scouting report on himself, Walford said he was "a dual-threat tight end. Can catch, can run-block. A high-motor guy. Competitive." He admits he needs to work on his second-level blocking (he says he anticipates too much), but "that's something I can fix."
One interesting aspect about the 2015 draft class is that five of the 19 tight ends (a bit more than 20 percent) invited to the combine are Florida natives, with three of them -- Walford, Florida State's Nick O'Leary and Louisville's Gerald Christian -- are from Palm Beach County. Walford says all three know each other, and that in addition to playing against both in college, he also played against both in his only year of high school football.
Christian and O'Leary were mega-recruits as prep players. O'Leary was a national top-30 player in the 2011 recruiting class, and Christian was a national top-60 player in 2010. Walford was barely a top-60 Florida guy.
Going into the NFL draft, however, Walford will be the hotter prospect. And maybe the hottest prospect of all at the position.
-- Mike Huguenin
Be like Gronk.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Miami tight end Clive Walford has been one of the fastest risers in the pre-draft process, and figures to boost his stock even further with a quality performance in drills during the NFL Scouting Combine.
His athleticism is no doubt intriguing, but Walford's ability in the blocking game is what really has teams interested in picking him early in the 2015 NFL Draft. The latter attribute is one reason why he brought up an interesting comparison for himself with a famous, bordering on infamous, tight end of the league.
"Rob Gronkowski," Walford said. "I don't catch every single game of his, but every playoff game this year I did watch. I watched every play he played."
Clive Walford likens his game to that of Patriots star Rob Gronkowski. (Ben Liebenberg / NFL)
» Photos: 2015 combine portrait sessions
Gronk isn't the typical comparison that comes up for Walford when talking to analysts -- Dwayne Allen is more frequent -- but you can't fault the future NFL pass-catcher for modeling his game after one of the best in the league, especially after a Super Bowl performance earlier in the month that earned him a ring.
"Running with the ball after the catch. Making crucial blocks. Pass protection," Walford said of the traits he tries to emulate the Patriots star. "Pretty much everything."
Walford has already spoken with teams in Indianapolis that could use just such a tight end, teams such as the Falcons, Jaguars, Dolphins and Lions, among others. Bringing up the best player at your position in the NFL and saying you take after him is probably not a bad thing to do at the combine as the former Hurricanes star looks to continue his journey into the NFL.
-- Bryan Fischer
Combine just like Christmas for Walford
Clive Walford is looking forward to this week's NFL Scouting Combine. He's really looking forward to it.
He doesn't see it as merely the next step in a relatively long process. Instead, "I'm like a kid at Christmas," he told College Football 24/7.
Walford -- who measured a bit taller than 6-foot-4 and weighed 254 pounds at the Senior Bowl -- should be one of the most closely scrutinized tight ends at the combine. For one, he is moving up draft boards, and his combine tests should help in that regard. Second, he had arthroscopic knee surgery in December and teams will be interested in his medical reports.
The knee gave him no issues during Senior Bowl week, and he doesn't expect it to at the combine, either. Walford also has some goals in the mind for the combine.
"I'm looking to run under a 4.7 in the 40," he said. Walford also is looking for at least a 32-inch outing in the vertical jump and a broad jump of at least 9-foot-6.
Four tight ends ran under a 4.7 at last year's combine; the only one who was drafted was North Carolina's Eric Ebron, who went in the first round. A 32-inch vertical jump would've put Walford in the top 10 in that category among tight ends last year; a 9-6 broad jump would've put him in the top 11 of that category.
Walford, who ran track in high school, competing in the quarter mile and in the high jump and long jump, has been preparing for the combine at Bommarito Performance Systems in Miami. Strong combine numbers likely will drive home a point made by NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock at the Senior Bowl: That Walford is "the most explosive tight end in this year's draft."
Former Hurricanes teammate Ereck Flowers -- a potential first-round pick at tackle -- also is among the draft hopefuls working out at Bommarito. But while Walford is working out about 20 miles from the UM campus, he has been staying in a hotel and living out of a suitcase while training.
Walford also is ready for the "off-field" portion of the combine -- the copious amount of interviews he will have with team officials. He was somewhat surprised by the number of mini-interviews at the Senior Bowl, but said he won't be fazed by the process this week.
Walford said he has received some advice on how to handle the week: "Be yourself, be honest, enjoy the moment."
Hey, just like a kid at Christmas.
-- Mike Huguenin
"The Riser"
Clive Walford remembers the exact moment he realized he could play in the NFL.
"I'll never forget it," the Miami tight end tells College Football 24/7. "We played at Kansas State. I caught a 5-yard route and took it for 56 yards. I knew I could do big things then."
A 2012 game against Kansas State turned into a seminal moment for Clive Walford. (Orlin Wagner / AP)
The play came in the first quarter of the second game of Walford's sophomore season in 2012. Walford took the short pass and turned it into a big gain, down to the K-State 10-yard line. While UM was held to a field goal in what turned out to be a 52-13 loss, it started to set the stage for Walford. Frankly, the stage still is being set.
The 2015 tight end draft class is not nearly as strong as the one from 2014, when there were three tight ends seen as potential first-round picks. Only one of them, Eric Ebron, ended up going in the first round, but Jace Amaro and Austin Seferian-Jenkins went in the second round, as did Troy Niklas.
Heading into the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine, Minnesota's Maxx Williams -- who left school after his sophomore season -- is seen as the top tight end. But that could change, and that could benefit Walford, who is rising quickly up draft boards, to the point where he could sneak into the discussion about being the first tight end selected.
NFL Media's Mike Mayock certainly has been impressed by Walford, calling him "the most explosive tight end in this year's draft" during Senior Bowl week. Another positive aspect to Walford's game, Mayock noted, was that UM coaches used him in a variety of ways -- in the slot, out wide and with his hand down as a "normal" tight end.
Walford led Miami with 44 receptions in 2014, for 676 yards (15.4 yards per catch) and seven touchdowns. The thing is, he remains somewhat raw because he didn't start playing football until his senior season in high school at perennial power Belle Glade (Fla.) Glades Central, the alma mater, of among others, Kelvin Benjamin (who was a year behind Walford in high school), Fred Taylor, Ray McDonald, Louis Oliver, Santonio Holmes and Jessie Hester.
Indeed, Walford credits Hester, who was Glades Central's coach at the time, as being the first person to open his eyes to what football could do for him. "He told me football could get me to college," Walford says.
His college decision came down to Miami and South Carolina, and Walford said Miami's "tradition" -- both as a winning program and a producer of tight ends -- led to him becoming a Hurricane. Greg Olsen, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow, Jr., and Bubba Franks are UM tight ends who have gone in the first round since 2000. Jimmy Graham, who played only one season of football for the Hurricanes, became a third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2010.
As with Graham, Walford's first love was basketball, which he played all four years in high school. He also was on the track team -- as a quarter-miler, high jumper and long jumper. Yep, a 6-foot-4, 225-pounder (Walford now is 6-5 and 254) who was a high jumper and long jumper. So, when's the last time you high jumped, Clive? "It's been a while," he says, laughing.
The basketball background definitely has carried over to the football field. Walford said one of his strengths is high-pointing the ball. "You go up and get the ball, like getting a rebound," he says.
Clive Walford's impressive Senior Bowl set in motion the potential for a rapid rise up draft boards this spring. (Johnny Vy / NFL)
Walford gave up basketball when he got to college, but his Senior Bowl experience was a flashback of sorts. "It reminded me of AAU basketball," he says, noting all the big-time players -- and the accompanying hoopla surrounding those players -- who were gathered in Mobile, Ala.
Asked for a scouting report on himself, Walford said he was "a dual-threat tight end. Can catch, can run-block. A high-motor guy. Competitive." He admits he needs to work on his second-level blocking (he says he anticipates too much), but "that's something I can fix."
One interesting aspect about the 2015 draft class is that five of the 19 tight ends (a bit more than 20 percent) invited to the combine are Florida natives, with three of them -- Walford, Florida State's Nick O'Leary and Louisville's Gerald Christian -- are from Palm Beach County. Walford says all three know each other, and that in addition to playing against both in college, he also played against both in his only year of high school football.
Christian and O'Leary were mega-recruits as prep players. O'Leary was a national top-30 player in the 2011 recruiting class, and Christian was a national top-60 player in 2010. Walford was barely a top-60 Florida guy.
Going into the NFL draft, however, Walford will be the hotter prospect. And maybe the hottest prospect of all at the position.
-- Mike Huguenin
