Tag: John Ferrara

2006 Offer Board

QUARTERBACK (9)
David Cone – Statesboro, GA (Michigan)
Mitch Mustain – Sprindale, AR (Arkansas)
Neil Caudle – Hoover, AL (Auburn)
Tim Tebow – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Florida)
Matthew Stafford – Dallas, TX (Georgia)
Pat Devlin – Exton, PA (Penn State)
Dexter Davidson – Coconut Creek, FL (Pittsburgh)
Nick Stephens – Flower Mound, TX (Tennessee)
Taylor Potts – Abilene, TX (Texas Tech)

RUNNING BACK (6)
Carlos Brown – Franklin, GA (Michigan)
Brandon Minor – Richmond, VA (Michigan)
Cameron Smith – Snellville, GA
Knowshon Moreno – Middletown, NJ (Georgia)
Aaron Gant – Orchard Lake, MI (Ohio State)
Chris Wells – Akron, OH (Ohio State)

WIDE RECEIVER (9)
Greg Mathews – Orlando, FL (Michigan)
Damian Williams – Springdale, AR (Arkansas)
Chris Slaughter – Fort Valley, GA (Auburn)
Percy Harvin – Virginia Beach, VA (Florida)
Tony Wilson – Daytona Beach, FL (Georgia)
Derrell Johnson – Youngstown, OH (Iowa)
Robby Parris – Cleveland, OH (Notre Dame)
Chris Bell – Norfolk, VA (Penn State)
David Ausberry – Lemoore, CA (USC)

TIGHT END (6)
Dedrick Epps – Richmond, VA (Miami)
Will Yeatman – San Diego, CA (Notre Dame)
Jake Ballard – Springboro, OH (Ohio State)
Andrew Quarless – Uniondale, NY (Penn State)
Nate Byham – Polk, PA (Pittsburgh)
Dorin Dickerson – Imperial, PA (Pittsburgh)

OFFENSIVE TACKLE (9)
Perry Dorrestein – Plainfield, IL (Michigan)
Stephen Schilling – Bellevue, WA (Michigan)
Alex Stadler – Bealeton, VA (Alabama)
Jim Barrie – Tampa, FL (Florida)
Marcus Gilbert – Fort Lauderdale, FL (Florida)
Daron Rose – Tampa, FL (Florida State)
Bartley Webb – Springdale, AR (Notre Dame)
Connor Smith – Cincinnati, OH (Ohio State)
Sam Young – Fort Lauderdale, FL (USC)

OFFENSIVE GUARD (3)
Justin Boren – Pickerington, OH (Michigan)
Justin Anderson – Ocilla, GA (Georgia)
Joe Thomas – Parma, OH (Pittsburgh)

CENTER (0)

DEFENSIVE END (8)
Greg Banks – Denver, CO (Michigan)
Brandon Graham – Detroit, MI (Michigan)
Adam Patterson – Columbia, SC (Michigan)
Quintin Woods – Flint, MI (Michigan)
John Paul – Immokalee, FL
Micah Johnson – Fort Campbell, KY (Kentucky)
McKenzie Matthews – Syracuse, NY (Pittsburgh)
Jason Adjepong – Carteret, NJ (Virginia Tech)

DEFENSIVE TACKLE (8)
John Ferrara – Staten Island, NY (Michigan)
Jason Kates – Harrisburg, PA (Michigan)
Marques Slocum – New Berlin, NY (Michigan)
Corey Peters – Louisville, KY (Kentucky)
Dexter Larimore – Merrillville, IN (Ohio State)
Jason Pinkston – Pittsburgh, PA (Pittsburgh)
Butch Lewis – Aurora, CO (USC)
Neil A’asa – Big Rapids, MI (Utah)

LINEBACKER (9)
Obi Ezeh – Grand Rapids, MI (Michigan)
Cobrani Mixon – Cincinnati, OH (Michigan)
Jonas Mouton – Venice, CA (Michigan)
Quintin Patilla – Flint, MI (Michigan)
Akeem Hebron – Gaithersburg, MD (Georgia)
Toryan Smith – Rome, GA (Notre Dame)
Thaddeus Gibson – Euclid, OH (Ohio State)
Michael Morgan – Dallas, TX (USC)
Joshua Tatum – Oakland, CA (USC)

CORNERBACK (3)
Jai Eugene – Destrehan, LA (LSU)
Ken Tinney – New Berlin, NY (Michigan State)
Darrin Walls – Pittsburgh, PA (Notre Dame)

SAFETY (8)
Steve Brown – Columbus, IN (Michigan)
Jamar Hornsby – Jacksonville, FL (Florida)
Myron Rolle – Princeton, NJ (Florida State)
Asher Allen – Tucker, GA (Georgia)
Reshad Jones – Atlanta, GA (Georgia)
Taylor Mays – Seattle, WA (USC)
Antwine Perez – Camden, NJ (USC)
Franchot Allen – New Berlin, NY (West Virginia)

KICKER (1)
Bryan Wright – Salem, OH (Michigan)

John Ferrara, #74

Offensive guard John Ferrara

2010 Countdown: #53 John Ferrara

HIGH SCHOOL
Ferrara attended Monsignor Farrell High School on Staten Island.  He had 173 tackles and 28 sacks in his last two seasons in high school and was ranked as a 3-star recruit to both Rivals and Scout.  Rivals made him the #46 strongside defensive end in the country, and he was the #58 overall defensive end to Scout.  He committed to Michigan on October 22, 2005, choosing the Wolverines over offers from Michigan State, Mississippi, Northwestern, Penn State, and Rutgers.

COLLEGE
As a freshman in 2006, he redshirted and played defensive tackle in practice.  As a redshirt freshman in 2007, Ferrara had become the second-string defensive tackle, beating out bigger and more highly touted recruits Marques Slocum and Jason Kates for playing time.  Ferrara played in all 13 games (12 at defensive tackle) and made 2 tackles with 1 tackle for loss.  The terrible, terrible shortage of offensive linemen in 2008 caused a position change for Ferrara.  When it became apparent that offensive guard Cory Zirbel’s career was finished due to injury, Michigan need further depth.  Ferrara would have been a backup on defense again, anyway, so he made the switch to offensive guard in August, just prior to the season.  He played on special teams throughout the year, but also earned 5 starts at left guard, including the last 4 games of the year.  More of the same occurred in 2009, when he played special teams and started 1 game against Eastern Michigan at right guard.  As a fifth year senior in 2010, Ferrara never played offense, contributing only on special teams and missing several games due to a hand injury.

CAREER STATS
2 tackles, 1 tackle for loss; 6 starts at offensive guard

AWARDS
Academic All-Big Ten in 2008, 2009, and 2010

SUMMARY
Ferrara was a glue-type player that exists on every good football team.  Despite not getting much playing time, he stuck around for all five years.  It’s entirely possible that he would have started – or at least played significant minutes – at defensive tackle in both 2009 and 2010.  All that stood in his way in both seasons were an underachiever (Will Campbell) and a few underwhelming veterans (Greg Banks, Renaldo Sagesse, and Adam Patterson).  However, he was doing his duty as a backup offensive lineman during that time, and for that he should be commended.  It seems that one reason for his lack of playing time would be his inability to get any heavier than 286 lbs.  He spent most of his career in the 270’s, which is very light for an offensive lineman.  Personally, I thought he played fairly well in the second half of 2008, and probably should have earned more playing time as a backup in 2009.

PROJECTION
Ferrara probably has no future as a professional football player.  However, he has a degree and is/was rumored to be dating Kristy Bojazi, a Michigan cheerleader who was profiled at one time on CNN/SI.

Kristy Bojazi

So he seems to be doing well for himself.

You can now follow Touch the Banner on Twitter.

NFL Draft Review: Michigan-style

Why do I have a picture of Joe Cocozzo?

2ND ROUND
#61.  Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton was drafted by the San Diego Chargers.  Mouton was the first Michigan player chosen by the Chargers since offensive guard Joe Cocozzo in 1993, who was selected in the third round (#63 overall).

3RD ROUND
#74.  Arkansas quarterback (and former Wolverine) Ryan Mallett was drafted by the New England Patriots.  He has first round talent but an undrafted free agent level of maturity, so he probably couldn’t have asked for a better situation.  Sure, I bet he would have loved first round money, but now he gets to sit behind and learn from Tom Brady for a few years.  If he learns well, he could become a franchise quarterback when Brady moves on or retires.

6TH ROUND
#201.  Michigan offensive lineman Steve Schilling was drafted by the San Diego Chargers.  This is the first time multiple Michigan players have been chosen by one team since . . . 2008, when the Miami Dolphins picked offensive tackle Jake Long in the first round and quarterback Chad Henne in the second.

UNDRAFTED
DT Greg Banks, OG Justin Boren (Ohio State), OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, DE Eugene Germany (Central Washington), LB Kevin Leach, LB Cobrani Mixon (Kent State), FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb

NFL Draft Preview: Michigan-style

Jonas Mouton (#8) should be one of just two Michigan players drafted this weekend

The NFL Draft has always been a fun time for me, because I would always sit around and wait for the next Michigan player’s name to get called.  Between watching for a Michigan player to get drafted and waiting for the Lions to pick, one Saturday in April was perhaps the most exciting day of the football off-season.  But Michigan’s production of NFL players has waned in recent years.

Ever since six players were taken in the 2008 draft – four in the first three rounds – the Wolverines have only been able to muster five total draft picks in 2009 (4th round: Terrance Taylor; 6th: Morgan Trent) and 2010 (1st: Brandon Graham; 5th: Zoltan Mesko; 7th: Steve Brown).  That’s an average draft position of the 4.6th round.

By contrast, 60 players were taken from 1995-2007, an average of 4.62 per year.  On average, those players were drafted in the 3.68th round.  Not only has the number of Michigan draftees been lower in the past couple seasons, but they’re getting picked lower, too.

That average draft position might rise slightly this year, but there will probably only be two Wolverines chosen this coming weekend:


Jonas Mouton – Linebacker
Mouton measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’1″ and 239 lbs.  I think he could play a couple positions, either as a weak inside linebacker in a 3-4 or as a weakside outside linebacker in a 4-3.  He’s pretty solid in coverage and changes direction well (video here, senior profile here).
Projection: 5th round to the Patriots


Steve Schilling – Offensive guard
Schilling measured in at the NFL Combine at 6’5″, 304 lbs.  He had a pretty good Combine performance, but nothing stellar.  He played a lot of offensive tackle at Michigan, but I think he’s strictly a guard at the next level.  Four years of starting experience should help him (senior profile here).
Projection: 4th round to the Browns


Undrafted: DT Greg Banks, OT Perry Dorrestein, LB Obi Ezeh, OG John Ferrara, LB Kevin Leach, FB/LB Mark Moundros, DE/DT Adam Patterson, CB James Rogers, DT Renaldo Sagesse, TE Martell Webb


I do think there is a remote chance that two other players get drafted late – Obi Ezeh and Martell Webb.  Ezeh was, for all intents and purposes, a four-year starter at middle linebacker.  That might be worth something to a team late in the draft.  And Webb turned into a very good blocker.  If a team is looking for a cheap blocking tight end in the 7th round, they could do worse than picking a 6’4″, 268-pounder with decent athleticism.

2010 Countdown: #53 John Ferrara

Name: John Ferrara
Height: 6’4″
Weight: 283 lbs.
High school: Monsignor Farrell High School in Staten Island, NY
Position: Offensive guard
Class: Fifth year senior
Jersey number: #74
Last year: I said Ferrara would be a backup offensive guard and wouldn’t play much. He started 1 game at offensive guard but was a regular contributor on special teams.

Ferrara is one of those character guys whose versatility will be missed. In his first two years on campus, he played defensive tackle. Despite having earned playing time at DT as a redshirt freshman, he volunteered to play offensive guard when numbers on the offensive side started to dwindle. He started five games in 2008, but was relegated to backup duty by Steve Schilling’s move from right tackle to left guard. Last season he started against Eastern Michigan, but most of his value was derived from his blocking on special teams.

Unfortunately for Ferrara, he’ll be standing next to Greg Frey on the sideline again this year. Schilling and Patrick Omameh have locked down the guard positions, and last year the coaches seemed interested in getting playing time for developing youngsters like Elliott Mealer and Ricky Barnum. Ferrara will likely be helping out on special teams again this year and might get a cameo or two if scores get out of hand. But he’s a very solid backup in case any injuries occur.

Prediction for 2010: Third string offensive guard, special teams contributor