Enrique Cruz invited to NFL combine | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Enrique Cruz invited to NFL combine

sutomcat said:
Consistency was Dale’s strength. UL just hired him.

I figure that decision will cost them at least 2 wins.
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He has the connection with Braum from Purdue. He was a consultant at Louisville before coming to SU. They did not make him the OL coach when Braum went to Louisville.
 
Blanko97 said:
Did he boot Cruz? Can’t imagine he has said many good things about Syracuse
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Did not “boot” him. Williams dropped him in his rankings right before the spring game and couldn’t give him a road map to improve enough to see significant playing time. With one year of eligibility left he made the decision to move on and get a chance to play. Enrique is a very proud Newhouse grad and his family still is positive about Syracuse following their season closely. I am in touch with all of them and stepdad texted me while sitting in the stands in Lawrence last fall. He was watching the Cuse game on his phone and taking heat from all the other Jayhawk parents around him.
 
Consigliere said:
Did not “boot” him. Williams dropped him in his rankings right before the spring game and couldn’t give him a road map to improve enough to see significant playing time. With one year of eligibility left he made the decision to move on and get a chance to play. Enrique is a very proud Newhouse grad and his family still is positive about Syracuse following their season closely. I am in touch with all of them and stepdad texted me while sitting in the stands in Lawrence last fall. He was watching the Cuse game on his phone and taking heat from all the other Jayhawk parents around him.
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With Enrique, you couldn’t ask for a better student/athlete and person. I’m so happy for him and his family. I hope he makes it.
 
hoopsupstate said:
With Enrique, you couldn’t ask for a better student/athlete and person. I’m so happy for him and his family. I hope he makes it.
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The family has promised to come back for a game and tailgate when schedules allow. Hopefully they can do it during an official visit for Liam!
 
Consigliere said:
Pretty good first day. Second best vertical and broad jump among all O Linrmen. Seventh best 40 time.
He’ll finish workout tomorrow with some additional drills and bench press, but looking like a pretty solid Day 3 pick at this point. Too bad he couldn’t crack the rotation here last year…..

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I actually randomly saw him on TV during Combine coverage! He ran a sub-5.00 40 yard dash twice.

Hope that helps propel him into the NFL.
 
No bench press at the combine. He’ll lift at Kansas pro day. Weight was down a bit from his playing weight of 322.
 
CbusCuse said:
A 4.94 sec 40 at 6'-5 1/2" and 313 lbs is very impressive but a 35" vertical at that size seems like it has to be upper echelon as well.
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Yes he had some of the top numbers out of all OL for these measurables...

Unfortunate he could not finish his career at Syracuse. He would have been a great representative for us to have in the NFL Draft. Very thankful however, he was awarded the opportunity to go to Kansas, get some draft buzz, get invited to the combine and potentially live out his NFL dreams.

Enrique is a class act all around.
 
JRHEETER said:
Yes he had some of the top numbers out of all OL for these measurables...

Unfortunate he could not finish his career at Syracuse. He would have been a great representative for us to have in the NFL Draft. Very thankful however, he was awarded the opportunity to go to Kansas, get some draft buzz, get invited to the combine and potentially live out his NFL dreams.

Enrique is a class act all around.
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Yep. Was sad to hear, when it was reported he was portaling. With his athleticism, I was sure he was going to be a really good OT at SU by the time he left. We never had top tier guys playing there so the opportunity was surely there and he didn't get injured that I can remember. Guess our OL coaches just struggled to develop him. Very excited to have Juan Castillo aboard. Could make an enormous difference.
 
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CbusCuse said:
Yep. Was sad to hear it when it was reported he was portaling. With his athleticism, I was sure he was going to be a really good OT at SU by the time he left. We never had top tier guys playing there so the opportunity was surely there and he didn't get injured that I can remember. Guess our OL coaches just struggled to develop him. Very excited to have Juan Castillo aboard. Could make an enormous difference.
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Castillo is going to make a HUGE difference.

Enrique was someone Dale Williams told him in his Senior year during Spring practice that he did not see a path to be playing at all last season.

That is major malpractice. This is a OL who is going to likely be drafted. Yes, it will be a late round draft pick, but a draft pick none the less.
 
JRHEETER said:
Castillo is going to make a HUGE difference.

Enrique was someone Dale Williams told him in his Senior year during Spring practice that he did not see a path to be playing at all last season.

That is major malpractice. This is a OL who is going to likely be drafted. Yes, it will be a late round draft pick, but a draft pick none the less.
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Shocking too because I think Spoon would have been solid at OG. Cruz was way more mobile. Could have formed a nice right side.
 
CbusCuse said:
Yep. Was sad to hear, when it was reported he was portaling. With his athleticism, I was sure he was going to be a really good OT at SU by the time he left. We never had top tier guys playing there so the opportunity was surely there and he didn't get injured that I can remember. Guess our OL coaches just struggled to develop him. Very excited to have Juan Castillo aboard. Could make an enormous difference.
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He called me almost immediately after entering the portal. Had been accepted into the master’s program at Newhouse and hated to give that up. Said he likely had one more year to play football in his life and wanted to see the field. Had nothing to do with anything other than that. Visited KU and loved it. Had other offers and planned on visiting Duke and Georgia Tech but Leipold told him he couldn’t guarantee a spot would remain open so he committed on the spot.
Williams had him ranked no worse than the second best offensive lineman in spring ball until the week before the spring game when he dropped him to eighth with no explanation and no guidance on what areas of his game needed improvement to move back up.

So happy things worked out for him in Lawrence and his dream of having a shot at playing in the NFL are about to become a reality. Widely expected to be a Day 3 pick with a very slight chance of climbing as high as late fourth round. Still chat with Enrique and family regularly and will try to make a preseason game to tailgate together if things work out.
Now we need to get an offer out to Liam. He’s class of 2028 and has already been offered by Miami and Arizona State. Having a former Bears coach replace Williams can’t hurt!
 

KU Sports

Starting at tackle for the Kansas football team has been a reliable path to professional opportunities in recent seasons. The Jayhawks’ two tackles from the 2024 season, Logan Brown and Bryce Cabeldue, won Super Bowl rings last month with the Seattle Seahawks. “I actually just met them when I...
www2.kusports.com www2.kusports.com
 
BTW, also chatted with Rhino recently. He is killing it as a HS coach in Chicago and would love to move up to the college ranks. Talked to Coach Fran about him at a Coach’s show during the season and Matt Park chimed in that Chris was DART before we knew what DART was. I exchanged contact information between the two and Chris will call coach after his current arena league season. He is playing DL for the Pueblo Punishers and loving it.

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