Delaware's Devlin looks to wow NFL scouts in his final season

NEWARK, Del. - On a humid August morning, two Cleveland Browns scouts made the trek to Delaware Stadium.

Like the countless other NFL personnel who have come before, they followed Pat Devlin's every move during Delaware's intrasquad scrimmage.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback didn't disappoint, firing crisp and precise passes in the Blue Hens' spread offense. Perhaps seeing enough, the scouts quietly exited the stadium after one of Devlin's on-the-money throws midway through the scrimmage.

As he has been since transferring to Delaware from Penn State in 2009, the fifth-year senior was oblivious to the attention.

"I'm just focused on taking the team as far as I can," he said, shrugging off the NFL attention. "We want to win a national championship. That's our ultimate goal. . . . I want to do whatever I can to help this team achieve that."

Perhaps.

But scouting Devlin appeared to be a top priority for NFL teams this summer.

"We have been averaging three or four [NFL teams] every day," Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said. "And a lot of them are sending two per team. A lot of them are sending, like, player personnel directors. So we are getting a high-level group of guys coming through here."

That's because NFL teams are trying to figure out whether the Downingtown native can follow in the footsteps of former Delaware quarterback and Pittsburgh transfer Joe Flacco. After being selected 18th overall by the Baltimore Ravens in 2008, Flacco is regarded as one of the NFL's top young talents.

While Flacco boasts a powerful right arm, Devlin's strengths are his accuracy and a high football IQ.

Maybe that's why Devlin is listed by NFLDraftScout.com as the third-best senior quarterback prospect for the 2011 NFL draft behind Washington's Jake Locker and Florida State's Christian Ponder.

"At the high level, he's a late second-round grade for some teams," NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said of Devlin's draft value. "I've seen anywhere from late [second round] to about the fifth round."

As in the case of Flacco, Mayock believes competing in a postseason all-star game, against major-college competition, will help determine Devlin's value.

"Flacco got a huge break a couple of years ago when Matt Ryan pulled out of the Senior Bowl," said Mayock, who will be replacing Pat Haden as the color commentator for Notre Dame telecasts on NBC10. "Flacco got a chance to practice the whole week in front of the whole league. That helped him amazingly.