NFL draft profile: Jonathan Baldwin
Cornerbacks always remember their toughest opposition. Buffalo’s Domonic Cook, one of the best corners in the Mid-American Conference, is no exception. Cook’s list reads: Rutgers’s Kenny Britt, Syracuse's Mike Williams, Missouri's Jeremy Maclin, Connecticut's Marcus Easley, and Pitt’s Jonathan Baldwin.
Of these five, Baldwin is the only one who has not made the transition to the National Football League yet, but come next year’s draft, that will surely change.
Baldwin is generating a lot of draft buzz and is currently considered by many to be the second-best wide receiver in all of college football. The 6ft 5in, 225 lb junior has exceptional speed and playmaking ability to complement his size and has been scorching secondaries to such a degree that he is being compared to another famed Pittsburgh receiver: current Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald.
When asked about the comparison, Cook laughed it off and said: "Oooh, I don't know about that, there's only one Larry. Baldwin is a great guy, though. I'm sure if he keeps getting good coaching he could be right up there."
The possibility of any player blossoming into a Fitzgerald-esque receiving titan is what will heavily draw teams to the Pennsylvania native. Additionally, as he plays for Pittsburgh teams will know that he is disciplined and has been trained under an extremely qualified staff led by Dave Wannstedt, who coached for several years in the NFL.
Wannstedt declined to allow Baldwin to comment to reporters on his impending transition to professional athletics in order to maintain his focus on the upcoming season and school year. However, Wannstedt is extremely aware of Baldwin’s gifts and how useful they will be to an NFL team.
"He's unique in his physical skills," Wannstedt told ESPN.com's Brian Bennett this spring. "He'll play a long time on Sundays. He makes a catch almost every day in practice that you just don't see very often."
Plus in a league that has been increasingly placing more value on conduct and personal demeanour, Baldwin should seem like a perfect pick. He is the anti-thesis to the loud diva wide receiver, which is another similarity between him and Fitzgerald. Baldwin is mild-mannered and entirely focused on what transpires on the field rather than off it.
When describing how Baldwin carries himself, Cook noted: "He was a real quiet guy. He didn't really talk the way most big guys do. He just sort of let it fall into his hands."
And the ball certainly fell into Baldwin’s hands quite a lot of times in 2009. As a sophomore, Baldwin caught 57 passes, eight of which were for touchdowns. Even more impressive are Baldwin’s after-catch abilities. He racked up a total of 1111 yards for the year, or 19.5 yards per catch. That’s the second-best average for a receiver with more than 50 receptions. It means that Baldwin pretty much carried his team a fifth of the way downfield every time he made a catch, which makes him a very valuable asset to any team that likes to pass.
Pitt running back Dion Lewis also noted that Baldwin’s presence helps teams even when he is not being thrown to directly. "He helps the running game a lot," Lewis said. "Teams can't play too many men in the box because that will leave him in one-on-one coverage. Most teams aren't going to wanna do that."
With all of his accolades, Baldwin is a sure thing top-selection if he can continue to play at the same level he has throughout college in 2010. At that point it would be foolish for him to not enter the draft, as he would easily be one of the top selections in 2011. Baldwin has the abilities to make his own name for himself, and do not expect him to be considered Fitzgerald-esque for much longer.
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