Looking back over that list of undrafted free agents, I realize that I completely blanked on Jon Abbate. You may remember him from such heart-strings-tugging pieces as this one about honoring his late brother. Or, perhaps more relevantly, you might remember him (as I did... finally) as the guy who had 15 tackles--including one for a loss--and a fumble recovery in Wake's 24-13 loss to Louisville in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Anyway, Abbate apparently decided to skip his final year of eligibility (the first player ever in the... uh... illustrious (?) history of Demon Deacon football to do so) and go pro. Considering that he wasn't among the 255 players taken, that was probably not the wisest decision. Still, he did lead the Deacs in tackles in each of his three seasons, was second in the ACC in tackles, and was on the Bednarik watch list to start the '06 campaign. No, I don't think he'll become a starting linebacker--because, seriously, who is he going to displace? --but I do think that this guy could be a special teams beast.

Labels: John Abbate likes to tackle, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Posted by matt on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at 8:24 PM | Permalink