Connor Barwin
Connor Barwin Saturday night the in Senior Bowl, NFL scouts will be buzzing about the extraordinary talent of University of Cincinnati's Connor Barwin. The 6-foot-3 225 pound first-team All-Big East defensive end will also be playing offense for the North Team.

Barwin was a solid tight end through his first three seasons at Cincinnati. He caught 31 passes for 399 yards and two touchdowns in 2007 before coach Brian Kelly moved him to the defensive side of the ball for his senior year.

"He called me in," Barwin recalls, "and said, 'Connor, we're trying you out as defensive end, but don't think we're trying you out at defensive end because you're going to play defensive end. I know you're going to be good at it.' "

Coach Kelly was right. Barwin emerged as one of the key figures for a team that rolled to an 11-3 record for the best season in school history. His 11 sacks paced the Big East and represented the third-highest single-season total by a member of the Bearcats.
He also produced 48 tackles, including 15 for losses, to go with seven passes broken up and six quarterback hurries.

Those are impressive numbers for anyone, but jaw-dropping for a first-year starter that played offense for three prior season. Barwin's seamless transition at such a late stage of his college career speaks to his intelligence and selflessness.

"Some teams are looking at me as a tight end. Some are looking at me as a defensive end," he says. "The ones who seem the most excited about me are 3-4 teams looking for an outside rusher. That might be the one that excites me the most because I haven't played it yet."

There is one more thing about this kid that is expected to go within the first two rounds of the NFL Draft.

He plays special-teams as well. Barwin blocked three punts during his senior season.

Whether Barwin ends up catching passes on offence, sacking quarterbacks on defense, or becoming a specialist of special-teams, one thing is for sure. We will be seeing him on Sunday's next season.