One of the most intriguing prospects in the 2015 draft is a cornerback from Miami (Ohio) who played just one season of college football but played it so well that he was the MAC defensive player of the year and is a Reese's Senior Bowl invitee.
Quinten Rollins (6-foot-0, 203 pounds) finished the season with 72 tackles, seven interceptions, 4.0 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and nine pass breakups; the seven interceptions rank first in the MAC and tied for third nationally.
Before this season, Rollins had last played football as a senior at Wilmington (Ohio) High in 2009. But while he was a two-year captain in football, he was better at basketball and signed with Miami in that sport. He was a four-year starter for the RedHawks at guard and finished his career in March ranked second in school history and 12th in MAC history in steals (214); he also ranks fourth in school history in assists (391) and seventh in games started (106).
Rollins got the itch to play football again and was eligible as a fifth-year senior. He went through spring practice, then worked his way into the starting lineup in fall camp. While he obviously is raw as a prospect, he showed good instincts and athleticism, and his upside looks huge.
"NFL scouts can't believe it," RedHawks coach Chuck Martin told ncaa.com. "I've never heard a story like this, and I've been coaching all my life."
Martin raves about Rollins as a person and as a player.
"The scouts are trying to figure out what red flag they're missing," Martin said. "They can't find a red flag in character, can't find a red flag in competitiveness."
Rollins told ncaa.com, "I've still got a long way go to. I still have a lot of weaknesses I've got to turn into strengths."
He'll get a chance to convert those weaknesses, and he could get it as early as the second day of the draft.
Another prospect from a smaller Ohio college also has caught scouts' eyes.
Myers (6-5, 220) has prototype size for a dropback passer and threw for 9,598 yards, 94 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in three seasons. Myers played at perennial power Cleveland St. Ignatius in high school; he was a three-star recruit and one of the nation's top-25 pro-style quarterback prospects. He signed with Pitt in the 2010 recruiting class, redshirted that fall, then served as a backup in 2011 for coach Todd Graham. Graham left after that season and so did Myers, transferring to Division III John Carroll, which is located in suburban Cleveland.
He threw for 2,982 yards in 2012, 3,288 yards in 2013 and 3,428 yards (and 41 touchdowns) this season). John Carroll finished 11-2, with both losses coming to national runner-up Mount Union (Ohio) -- once in the regular season and the other in the second round of the Division III playoffs.
John Carroll coach Tom Arth told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer in October that just about every NFL team had been in to see Myers. "He's talented -- always has been, and always will be," Arth told the newspaper.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
