Miami University RedHawks Cornerback Quinten Rollins Has High Hopes for 2015 NFL Draft
The 2015 NFL Draft is right around the corner.
We have two weeks of NFL games left, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, and then it’s full steam ahead towards the combine and draft.
The NFL Draft always holds some surprises, and one local player is hoping to be among those who can crash the big-name party this spring.
Quinten Rollins is currently wrapping up a five-year career with the Miami University RedHawks, where he was a basketball standout for four years. Deciding to come back as a fifth-year senior, he took on a new challenge.
Football.
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Rollins hadn’t touched the gridiron since leaving Wilmington in high school.
He was a two-sport star in high school before committing to Miami to play basketball. He would excel over a four-year period, leading the RedHawks as a point guard. After concluding his career he finished second in Miami history (12th in Mid-American Conference history) with 214 steals, only behind RedHawk great, Ron Harper.
Rollins gambled on himself and became a fifth-year senior, taking his talent to the football field. He would suit up for Chuck Martin’s team in the spring. He would later win a starting role at cornerback and quickly impress scouts.
The coming out party was against the University of Michigan, in the Big House that is Michigan Stadium. Against the Wolverines Rollins accumulated six tackles and added an interception. That earned him MAC-east defensive player of the week honors.
In the season-ending loss against rival Ohio University, Rollins gave scouts one last glimpse of potential. He had two interceptions, including one that went 27-yards to the house. Again, earning MAC-east defensive player of the week.
NFL scouts are wide awake towards the possible diamond in the rough.
“The question isn’t if he will be drafted, but how high?”-AFC North Scout
One AFC North scout told CBSsports.com, “Q is the type of prospect you saw and say to yourself ‘I’ve found something here.’ But he’s also too good to stay a secret, unfortunately. Not many can do what he did this year. The question isn’t if he will be drafted, but how high?”
He will be on display in Mobile, Alabama, this saturday in the Reese’s Senior Bowl. It will be the last opportunity to see him in live game action before the scouting combine.
Rollins has danced around and most likely fits into the middle rounds of this years NFL draft. With all of the intangibles that you want in a good corner, he just needs to be refined, not remade.
The Bengals, who will likely be looking for a defensive back at some point, may look to the local product if he slots right on their board.