Deon Butler: A State College (Penn State) Perspective
By author
A few days ago I posted an entry about Max Unger featuring an Oregon perspective from Andy McNamara. His perspective was something unique, and offered a different synopsis of Unger than your average draft guide.
Satisfied with the opinion I received from Mr. McNamara, I pursued similar perspectives about wide receiver Deon Butler. Obviously, I reached out to Nittany Lion blogs.
Bill Kline, The Morning Call’s sports editor and a Penn State alumnus, writes a blog about Penn State football called Nittany Lines. Mr. Kline was kind enough to offer his opinion of Deon Butler, and what the 12th Man should expect from the record-setting wide receiver:
"Deon Butler is a former-walk on who was tried first at defensive back at Penn State. But after his first year, a red-shirt year, he shifted to wide receiver and did well in spring practice, so well that he ended up starting that fall (2005) as a red-shirt freshman.He ended up the leading receiver in Penn State history in terms of receptions, but his career was overshadowed somewhat by classmate Derrick Williams, who was a top-rated prospect coming out of high school and also started at wideout for the same four years as Butler. Williams, who was a threat to run and also in the return game, seemed to always get more attention.Butler was not a slot receiver like Williams was, yet he managed to get open. Butler became more of a home run threat his senior year, and his time in the forty at the NFL Combine was very fast, something that surprised Penn State fans who wondered why he didn’t go deep more often earlier in his career.Butler has very good hands and made some exceptional catches in his career. I don’t recall very many drops from Butler.One concern is that that through the years against top-notch and/or physical secondaries, such as Ohio State/Michigan, Butler – who is small — sometimes had trouble gaining separation."
I’m very excited about Deon Butler’s potential as a Seahawk. The size concerns me a little, but you can’t discount his pure speed and quickness. Combine that with excellent hands, vision, and elusiveness, and it sounds like we’re getting a pretty good football player in the Northwest.
What are your thoughts on Deon Butler, 12th Man?