During my trip to the UTEP at Houston game last Friday night, I was immediately told by a friend in the scouting community to take a look at Matangi Tonga (#57 pictured above). Since I was there to see who would 'Get Nasty', my friend's comment caught my attention. While there were several pro prospects in the game, Tonga's energy and athleticism stood out from the start.
In what was a somewhat sloppy game between the Wolfpack and Knights, the Wolfpack moved to 2-0 on the season and became one of the few bright spots in the ACC. NC State took advantage of five Central Florida turnovers, resulting in 14 points and stifling any comeback attempts in the 2nd half. Knight junior QB Rob Calabrese was replaced late in the game by true freshman Jeffrey Godfrey, who led the Knights on two scoring drives and what looked to be a potential game-tying drive before sophomore WR Quincy McDuffie fumbled away the ball, thus sealing the game for the Wolfpack. Both offenses combined for 547 total yards, an average of about 5.4 yards per play in a game that lacked polish and playmaking.
#3 Akeem Auguste and #12 C.C. Whitlock (pictured above) were just a few of the underclassman prospects seen in Thursday's night contest. DraftNasty National Correspondent De’Angelo Bryant was on hand to witness the Gamecocks 41-13 victory over the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss.
George Henshaw is a football expert with nearly four decades of coaching experience, including the last 20 in the NFL. Henshaw had stints as offensive coordinator for both the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, along with being the assistant head coach for the Tennessee Titans from 1997-2005. He was also senior offensive assistant and running backs coach for the New Orleans Saints during the 2006-07 seasons. Henshaw is a former head coach of Tulsa, and was a member of the staffs at Alabama, Florida State and West Virginia. He was in attendance at last Saturday's Memphis vs. Southern Miss. matchup and shares his expertise with DraftNasty.
Mike Henshaw, the son of former NFL coach George Henshaw, is a former NFL scout with the New Orleans Saints. Hired by the Saints in the summer of 2007, Mike worked in the Personnel/Scouting department, assisting directors of personnel and Pro/College scouts. Mike went on to stay with the Saints for two seasons (2007 & 2008), and finished his stint prior to the 2009 regular season. His well-rounded experiences included evaluating players from around the league as well as prospects from NFL Europe, the Arena Football League and the CFL. Henshaw also was in charge of rating current professional players and preparing the club for acquisitions through free agency or the waiver wire. Other important duties Henshaw dealt with were assisting Pro Scouts with weekly opponent advance reports, maintaining the scouting data base, and the free agent board after each daily transaction. Here's his report on the Marshall vs Tulane game.
