Making a Name For Himself
USF junior defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul started training camp 14 days late, but that hasn't stopped his progress on the field. Pierre-Paul leads USF with 8.5 tackles for loss has two sacks. Throw in an interception and a touchdown, a forced fumble, two pass breakups and five quarterback hurries and it obvious why he has opponents on full alert. Pierre-Paul & George Selvie have clearly formed the most feared tandem of defensive ends in the BIG EAST. Their efforts have freed up the inside where Craig Marshall (4.5 TFL, 4 sacks), Terrell McClain (3.5 TFL, 1 sack), David Bedford (2.5 TFL, 1 sack) and Aaron Harris (3 TFL, 3 sacks) have helped form arguably the best defensive line in the BIG EAST.
Pierre-Paul is a full-blooded Haitian, who has an 81 inch wing span and can do a backflip in full pads. The 6-6, 265 Deerfield Beach product was a basketball player until his junior year of high school.
By the Percentages
Jason Pierre Paul leads the BIG EAST in percentage of tackles that go for a loss (among the league leaders). Below is the breakdown:
| Name, School |
TFL
|
Total Tackles
|
Percentage
|
| J. Pierre-Paul, USF |
8.5
|
20
|
42.5
|
| M. Williams, Pitt |
11.5
|
28
|
41
|
| J. Freeny, Rutgers |
8
|
20
|
40
|
| A. Silvestro, Rutgers |
7.5
|
19
|
39.4
|
| L. Witten, UConn |
10
|
26
|
38.4
|
| A. Jones, Syracuse |
5
|
14
|
35.7
|
The Word on Pierre-Paul
The draft experts at ESPN.com have high expectations for Pierre-Paul, even though he is just six games into his BCS football career:
From Scouts Inc. | Click Here to Read Entire Insider ArticleThe first is junior DE
Jason Pierre-Paul, a JUCO transfer who is making plenty of noise with his size (6-foot-6, 265 pounds), length and strength. Pierre-Paul anticipates the snap and gets off the ball and around the edge quickly, and he also uses his hands and long arms well to disengage from blockers against the run.
Pierre-Paul put his motor and feel for angles on display as well, getting down the line at one point and showing explosiveness in his hips by uncoiling on the ball carrier. He also registered a pair of quarterback hurries and deflected a pass that was intercepted by teammate Nate Allen.
From Mel Kiper | View the Entire Insider Big Board
Kiper debuts Jason Pierre-Paul at No. 12 on his NFL Draft Big Board with the following observation: " Explosive natural pass rusher out of juco ranks."
