STATE COLLEGE - Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman might have played his last game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday in the Nittany Lions' home finale. The redshirt junior is NFL bound - it's just a matter of when he'll make the leap.
Bowman can declare for the NFL draft in mid-January, or he can play his senior year at Penn State and enter the draft next year. Bowman has not decided whether he'll stay or go, but he's certainly been mulling his options.
"I've been thinking about it," Bowman said. "It's a great thing to have, a great choice to make. I'm going to sit down with my parents and think over what's the best choice to make."
Bowman said whether he'll forego his senior year depends on the draft projection he receives from the NFL.
"It has to be first round," Bowman said. "I want to be the best. To be the best, you have to win. Being first round is why I've been waking up at 5 or 6 o'clock in the morning - just to be the best and get drafted as the best."
Scout Inc's Top 32 lists Bowman as the No. 13 draft-eligible prospect. He's considered the No. 2 linebacker - behind Alabama's Rolando McClain - and the No. 1 outside linebacker. Bowman didn't fare as well on ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper's Big Board.
Bowman burst onto the scene last season when he finished as Penn State's leading tackler and earned first-team All-American honors.
Bowman had attracted attention before that, but for the wrong reasons. In 2007, he was suspended for the regular-season finale and bowl game, then the 2008 spring practice because of his involvement in an on-campus fight.
Then, due to a probation violation, he didn't play in the 2009 Blue-White game.
But Bowman bounced back on the field this fall and straightened out his personal life. He is Penn State's second-leading tackler with 74 stops and ranks second on the team with 12 tackles for loss. He is tied for the team lead with two interceptions and two recovered fumbles. Perhaps more telling than Bowman's statistics is his big-play ability. Bowman returned a fumble 91 yards for a touchdown against Eastern Illinois. In a 31-20 victory against Indiana on Saturday, he returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown.
"He is really good with the ball in his hands," said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, whose Lions will play Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium. "He's a heck of an athlete. I hope we don't lose him to offense."
