Football: Catapano awaits NFL Draft

While he has not gotten the hype of FCS products like Oregon’s Dion Jordan or LSU’s Barkevious Mingo, Catapano is nonetheless expected to be the first Ivy League player drafted this year. He led Princeton football’s turnaround with a stellar senior season, leading the league with 12 sacks and winning the Bushnell Cup as Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year.

His ability to rush the passer and his relentless motor have been turning scouts’ heads all season. Catapano says he does not model his game after anyone in particular, but admits one player he does admire is the Minnesota Vikings All-Pro defensive end Jared Allen.

“I definitely admire Jared Allen. Just because he’s so relentless and focuses on all the little things,” Catapano said. “He’s not too flashy — he just gets the job done.”

Catapano was also invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game along with 54 other outstanding seniors from across college football. Many scouts questioned how he would perform against elite competition, coming out of the Ivy League, but Catapano had a solid day and drew praise from Russ Lande of the National Football Post, who pointed to Catapano’s knack for getting to the quarterback as his greatest strength.

“Quick off the ball, Catapano displayed strong and aggressive use of hands to jolt and defeat pass blocks with surprising ease,” Lande wrote in an article on “six players who helped their draft stock the most” over the course of the week. “Able to consistently beat the offensive tackle around the corner and inside allowed him to regularly pressure the quarterback in every drill.”

At Princeton’s Pro Day, Catapano’s draft stock rose further as he showed he was physically on par with the top talent in the draft. He bested several players projected to go in the first round, running the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds — 0.08 seconds faster than Bjoern Werner of FSU, whom scouts have compared to Osi Umenyiora of the Atlanta Falcons — and reaching 37.5 inches in the vertical jump — 0.5 inches higher than Barkevious Mingo of LSU, who is expected to go in the top 10 picks. He also bench pressed 225 lbs 33 times — three more times than Sheldon Richardson, the big Mizzou defensive tackle projected to be in the top five.

Catapano’s strength, speed and production are NFL-caliber, but some scouts are unsure which position best suits him defensive end or outside linebacker. But Catapano believes he can fit into whichever team drafts him and that his potential to play multiple positions makes him a more appealing prospect.

“[What position I will play] depends on what team drafts me,” he said. “In a 4-3 I would play what I played in college [defensive end]. Other teams saw me very suited to that 3-4 outside linebacker position. That’s something that definitely helps my value — my versatility.”

Alan Herman, Catapano’s agent, has said he expects Catapano to go in the fifth round. However various draft projections have Catapano going anywhere from the third to seventh rounds. Regardless, it looks as if he will be the first Princeton player to be drafted since Dennis Norman, an offensive tackle, went in the seventh round to the Seahawks in 2001.

The draft kicks off on Thursday night and will continue with the second and third rounds Friday night and the fourth through seventh rounds on Saturday. It will be covered live on ESPN and the NFL Network, and Catapano will be watching with the people who have supported and guided him through the draft process.

“I’ll be watching it at my house with a small group of family members and friends that helped me get to this point,” he said. “Just celebrating getting here — it’s been tough, there have been a lot of obstacles. I never would have gotten here without such a strong backbone of support.”