Rutgers University's All-Big East Conference wide receiver, junior Mohamed Sanu, announced Tuesday that he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL Draft, which will take place April 26-28. The decision now moves the conversation about his stellar collegiate career to his NFL draft projections.
For those Rutgers football fans curious as to where NFL mock drafts have Sanu ending up, SB Nation's Mocking The Draft most recently, Dec. 19, had Sanu going to the Minnesota Vikings with 34th-overall pick (second round).
SBN's Dan Kadar says, "Percy Harvin can be a great player for the Vikings but struggles when they ask him to play outside on every play. Sanu could hold the outside spot, letting Harvin be versatile."
On Dec. 31, SB Nation had Sanu ranked as the No. 31 overall prospect and the fifth-best wide receiver prospect as of Dec. 16.
In SBN's initial NFL mock draft, Ryan Van Bibber said Sanu is "A big, physical target with good hands and yards after the catch ability fits perfectly with [Alex] Smith's limitations as a quarterback."
There's no doubting Sanu's hands, which snagged a Big East and school record 115 balls this season for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns, but his critics will look at his size (6-foot-2, 215-pounds) and speed.
However, those doubting Sanu's size need to take a look around the NFL and see that productive wide outs don't need to be seven feet tall. Just look at Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson (6-2, 210), who has almost the exact same height and weight number as Sanu and compiled his second straight 1,000-yard season.
What's going to separate Sanu from the first or second round is speed, which everyone will get a better judge of during the NFL combine (Feb. 22-28) or Rutgers Pro Day - which last year was held in early March.
Currently, NFLDraftScout.com has Sany's 40-time in the 4.57-seconds range.
For more on Sanu or the Rutgers Scarlet Knights football program visit the SB Nation blog On The Banks. For the latest NFL Draft information, visit SB Nation's Mocking The Draft.