MAC Football Recruiting

2015 MAC Crootin' Football Draft: Round 12

Buffalo had their fun with a round of 4 signees selected.

By Alex Alvarado@ARAlvarado13 Apr 27, 2015, 10:57am EDT

Happy Monday and welcome to Round 12 of the MAC Crootin' Draft. So far, 20 future Broncos have been taken in this project, which means that class has to be growing thin of players to pick from, so it's time for everybody else to step their game up. And everybody knows that the 12th round of these drafts are important, because even Tom Brady himself was selected in the 12th round believe it or not. I think. I dunno, it's something like that.

144. Eastern Michigan Eagles

OT- Derek Dumais (UMass signee). Marblehead, MA (Marblehead). 247Sports: 75 (0.7750)

If we're being honest, I'm just getting greedy with this. Dumais has the size at 6-foot-5 and 320 pounds. EMU only had two offensive linemen in their Signing Day class, so I had to one-up that for a moment. -Alex Alvarado

Check out Dumais' highlights courtesy of Hudl:

145. Kent State Golden Flashes

S- Jaylen Pickett (EMU signee). Zephyrhills, FL (Zephyrhills). 247Sports: 77 (0.7752)

Kent State's defense needs all the help it can get so with this pick I wanted to go with the best high school defensive player available. In my opinion that's Jaylen Pickett. Pickett is a guy who can help immediately on special teams and will bring immediate depth to the Golden Flashes' secondary. Pickett is extremely athletic and actually is a member of the baseball team at Zephyrhills High School. -Mike Karpinski

Here are Pickett's highlights courtesy of Hudl:

146. Miami RedHawks

DE- Christian Gonzalez (Buffalo signee). New Berlin, NY (Milford Academy). 247Sports: 73 (0.7817)

In the search for good prospects, you sometimes have to look under the smallest rocks.

Christian Gonzalez did not play against high-caliber competiton, but showed that he had a relentless motor and good technique. That, combined with a good frame, is sometimes all you need.

Going against small town New York HS competiton scared some schools away, reflected by his being rated the #120 prospect coming out of high school, but Gonzalez had a chance to refine his skill at Milford Academy, and showed a propensity for being a hardnose.

Buffalo probably sees Gonzalez, a two-star prospect according to 247, being a rotation defensive tackle thanks to his large size and gap-blocking abilities. After all, Gonzalez is deceptively fast for being 6'4", 290 lbs., and has an absolutely relentless pursuit on the ball. Miami could use depth on both sides of the line, and picking Gonzalez will definitely help with that. -James Jimenez

Be sure to check out Gonazlez's highlights courtesy of Hudl:

147. UMass Minutemen

CB- Quan Jamison (CMU signee). Leesburg, GA (Lee County). 247Sports: NA (NA)

Safeties dominated the defensive back category in this year's recruiting class for the MAC. Unfortunately corner depth was a decent need for UMass coming in and I had yet to really address that. Jamison, while just just a two-star, has some things that make him a really exciting prospect. What made me pick him was his combination of height and speed. At 6 foot even he was a 40 time of 4.4 and I love both size and speed in my cornerbacks. Also being from Georgia means that he has played in one of the best states for pumping out football talent. UMass has three senior corners atop their depth chart so while not an immediate impact guy Jamison could certainly make a name for himself down the road. -Max Moore

Check out why Jamison flipped his commitment from Buffalo to CMU.

148. Akron Zips

WR- Brandon Smiley (Buffalo signee). Buffalo, NY (Sweet Home Senior). 247Sports: 79 (0.7783)

The ability to continue adding playmakers for Akron is just too good to keep going to. The Zips went from not having many playmakers prior to this class, to having a wide array of them coming into camp this fall. Smiley has the kind of field vision to fight for early playing time. Smiley is a day-1 special teams ace. -Russ Johnson

149. Buffalo Bulls

RB- Emmanual Reed (Buffalo signee). Crestview, FL (Sebastian River). 247Sports: 76 (0.7633)

It's good not to neglect the offense entirely. But short of the line, which I've already addressed, UB's has a good pipeline in place for the next few years at every position. So I went and got a playmaker. Emmanuel Reed was one of the latest additions to the Buffalo class this year, but he's a Darren Sproles type who's got great vision and speed. His HUDL tape shows a lot of strong blocking, but Reed sees and fits through holes of any size, and is quick enough in space to run away from most. Just get him the ball in space and let him go. -Matt Gritzmacher

Check out Reed's highlights courtesy of Hudl:

150. Ball State Cardinals

WR- Clayton Cook (Ball St. signee). Syracuse, IN (Wawasee). 247Sports: 78 (0.7823)

Lembo wants more weapons. For a coach who loves to sling it around as much as Pete, there can never be enough receivers with big play potential. Cook provides just that. I love his height at 6'2" and after we put a little more weight on him (185 lbs) he could fill in nicely for Jordan Williams once his time at Ball State is finished. -Keith Scheessele

151. Ohio Bobcats

WR- Isaac Holder (EMU signee). Tampa, FL (Sickles). 247Sports: 80 (0.800)

How this 3-star WR was still left this late is anyone's guess, but it's my benefit. He's got the size to be a DYNAMITE slot in the MAC. Ohio has a decent crop of speed guys, but none as highly valued out of high school as Holder is. He gives them another speedy weapon to stretch the field with (if Solich ever figures out how to do that). -Sam Smucker

152. Central Michigan Chippewas

OT- JC Bartok (BGSU signee). Columbus, OH (Worthington Kilbourne). 247Sports: 74 (0.7867)

If you take a look at JC's game film, he looks more like a pass rusher than a blocker. He's got a great burst off of the line, is able to pick up the blitz rather effectively, and he's not a guy that gets beat very often. He might need to bulk up a little more before seeing the field, but his strength and versatility should translate well to the college game. -Max Lowe

153. Western Michigan Broncos

DT- Brian Arp (Ohio signee). Kearney, NE (Kearney Sr). 247Sports: 77 (0.7752)

Yes, I need some secondary, but I'm not sure if you're taking note of the offensive linemen everybody's been grabing recently. Controlling the line of scrimmage is vital and in a much more talented MAC West, I've got to win the ugly battles. Arp is a diamond in the rough pick for me here. I don't know if he'll be a prominent defensive linemen in the MAC by his senior year, but he's not going to make things any easier for quarterbacks not on the Ohio Bobcats. -Alex Alvarado

154. Toledo Rockets

LB- Matthew Finkler (BGSU signee). Willoughby, OH (Kirtland). 247Sports: 76: 0.7793)

Matthew Finkler- Inside linebackers, you can never have enough toughness as a program, that is something I have learned throughout my time here at Toledo. FInkler is a tough Inside LB from Willoughby, OH (Kirkland HS) and is a valuable part of this class, both as a player and as a leader. On a defense that needs to continue to improve, the Rockets are thrilled to be able to add such a talented and vocal athlete this late in the process. -Russ Johnson

155. Bowling Green Falcons

OT- Jordan Fair (Toledo signee). Mason, OH (William Mason). 247Sports: 74 (0.7962)

Offensive lineman Jordan Fair's recruiting bio says he is an "aggressive player who plays the game with a nasty streak." At 6'4" and 275 pounds, Fair bench presses 275 pounds and squats 405, while having a 27 inch vertical leap. Sounds like a perfect "big ugly" to add to our offensive line. If you are reading Mr. Fair, that is a term of endearment.

Fair played tackle in high school but projects to slide inside and play guard in college. Fair was listed as a three star recruit by ESPN and Scout, with Scout listing him as the 89th best guard prospect in the country. Just plug him in and let him play for the next four years. -Randy Carpenter

Check out Fair's highlights courtesy of Hudl:

156. Northern Illinois Huskies

OT- Evin Ksiezarczyk (Buffalo signee). Buffalo, NY (West Seneca East Senior). 247Sports: 79 (0.7783)

Did I spell that right? I hope so. Just don't ask me to pronounce it. At 6-foot-6 290 pounds, Ksiezarczyk will be hard to move on the offensive line and will bring plenty of toughness to NIU. Ksiezarczyk has an ideal frame for offensive line so look for Rod Carey and his staff to get Ksiezarczyk ready to be a MAC regular. NIU has a great track record for developing players into some of the MAC's best, so don't be surprised if Ksiezarczyk surprises some people during his collegiate career. -Mike Karpinski

Check out Ksiezarczyk's highlights courtesy of Hudl:

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Neither Miami nor WMU had a signee be selected this round, but Buffalo had a strong 12th Round with four players taken: three for offense and one JUCO transfer defensive end. Overall, they have had 12 players taken after only having one player taken in eight previous rounds.

Ohio with yet another defensive player taken in this draft, now with 16 signees taken (ties with Miami) while Toledo's one player selected gets their total up to 15. NIU hasn't heard any of their names called in the past couple of rounds, so their total still stands at 12. CMU just had their eleventh name called while BGSU and EMU both bumped their totals up to 10.

UMass and Ball State both had a player a player taken here, but them and Akron all still have less than 10 players taken in the Draft so far.

Round x Team