After a round of 18 interviews of prospects at the NFL Scouting Combine Friday night, one little-known prospect especially stood out to the Ravens.
Mount Union multi-purpose threat Cecil Shorts III caused Ravens Director of Player Personnel Eric DeCosta to tweet, “Great interview with Cecil Shorts of Mount Union last night. He was a two-way performer, [receiver] and [cornerback], for Mount Union in their D-III National Championship game this year.”
As a wideout, Shorts posted three-straight 1,000 receiving seasons, totaling a team-best 63 catches for 1,106 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.
He also tallied 114 rushing yards with one score, 22 punt returns (16.1 yd average) with two touchdowns and nine kick returns (22.8 yd. average) for one touchdown.
And in addition to his brief corner duties and his prolific performances at wideout, Shorts came into Mount Union as a quarterback.
While he anticipates teams questioning his Division III pedigree, Shorts believes he will prove himself on the field. He obviously wowed the Ravens in his interview.
“When they meet me, they’ll see I’m an overall good guy with no character problems or issues with the law or team discipline,” Shorts told National Football Post before the combine. “That will speak for itself. Playing-wise, I just want to prove that I can play. People question my speed, which I take as a slap in the face. I’ll definitely prove that I’m fast, will catch every ball and that I can play at this level.”
Shorts said he expects to run between a 4.3- and 4.4-second 40-yard dash on Sunday.
Meanwhile, several more notable wideouts told reporters they had met with the Ravens thus far, including Pittsburgh’s Jonathan Baldwin, Niles Paul of Nebraska, Miami’s Leonard Hankerson, East Carolina’s Dwayne Harris, Hawaii’s Greg Salas of Hawaii and Fort Valley State’s Ricardo Lockette.
Get more insight from Director of Player Personnel Eric DeCosta and Director of College Scouting Joe Hortiz during the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine by following 1WinningDrive on Twitter
