The Remarkable Journey of Jordan Kovacs (Link to Article)
Jordan Kovacs survived (probably with ease) the first round of roster cuts the Dolphins made. The much more difficult task will be to survive the final round cuts when the roster pares down to 53 - with his attitude and tenacity, I wouldn't put it past him. Even in the event he does get cut after the next game I would imagine he'd be a shoe in for someone's practice squad.
In any event, when I was checking into his roster status, I stumbled upon a nice write up on the Dolphins website. Hits a lot of the points (he was a walk on?!?) that we've heard over and over, but also provides some insight into the draft process and his impressions of the NFL. Go Jordan!
Edit: Somehow I missed that the article was from early May. The google news search indicated it was "8 hours old" so I figured this may have been new information that was board worthy. Apologies.
August 27th, 2013 at 8:07 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 8:27 PM ^
While true, that's not a particularly high bar to hit: even Rudy makes Rudy look pathetic http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2011/12/16/sec-says-rudy-ruettiger-is-a-stock-scammer/
Oh, and Rudy was offsides...
August 27th, 2013 at 8:08 PM ^
This was posted back when it was written. Great story, though.
August 27th, 2013 at 8:20 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 8:22 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 8:25 PM ^
You're right - typo on my end. I'll edit the post.
August 27th, 2013 at 8:28 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 8:34 PM ^
We blame the media. They really should have mentioned it once or twice.
August 27th, 2013 at 9:02 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 9:41 PM ^
August 27th, 2013 at 10:56 PM ^
Not only that, but I've heard rumors that Nik Stauskas is more than just a shooter!
August 27th, 2013 at 8:31 PM ^
Eh, we can leave it, I suppose. It was a great article really.
"He stood on the field after his first practice, talking about getting in the best shape of his life and trying to outwork every other teammate. He spoke about the importance of learning fast and making plays. He spoke about showing up every day with “a chip on my shoulder.”
I always liked this about Jordan Kovacs, how it seemed that his intent was to show people what Jordan Kovacs can do for the team. When the result is that you go from walk-on to being sixth on Michigan's all-time list for total tackles, I think you've shown people just how valuable and how skilled and intelligent you are. I really hope Jordan has a nice career at the next level.
August 27th, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
I know it's like walk on guy in college and undrafted in the NFL would seemingly be a miracle if he made the team.....but if you have watched Kovacs play in the preseason he deserves it.
In each of the first three games he played he was in the top ten for tackles on the team. He also passed the eyeball test for me. He looked to be in position, good coverage (although often difficult to see) and guys didn't get many YAC after Kovacs was there to make a play.
I think he at least makes the practice squad.
August 28th, 2013 at 12:34 AM ^
It was good to see that all of Michigan's rookies made it past the first cut, other than part-time Wolverine Sam McGuffie.
The damage has been to M's non-rookies: Breaston and Braylon cut, as well as Martell Webb who'd made it on a couple of practice squads over the past year. As for the previously posted and/or not exactly new: Stevie Brown tore his ACL and is out for the season, Mario Manningham is still (or again?) on the PUP, and Jonas Mouton is again on IR. (He's been there most of his pro career, unfortunately.) David Baas is also out for the Giants but expected back.
August 28th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^
August 28th, 2013 at 6:29 AM ^
If Kovacs makes the team it will be based on the things he can do to help the Dolphins win football games; not the things he did in the past to help Michigan win games.
August 28th, 2013 at 11:55 AM ^
August 28th, 2013 at 6:42 PM ^
I don't think I said anything that implied these guys weren't cut because they were from Michigan. I posted the info because I thought the readers of this blog were be interested in the status of players they were rooting for less than a year ago.
August 28th, 2013 at 6:58 PM ^
No, there was a caved post from "UofM626" that he was replying to - though you can still see it on the droid app.
August 28th, 2013 at 3:39 PM ^
I mean he can train his body to meet his needs. And he already has what many other guys lack, belief in his own ability and knowing that he has succeeded in a slim-chance scenario when other guys who have always been better based on their size and ability, have not faced the adversity of competing to make a team.
Not only did Kovacs start in his fifth college game, he played a lot before that against Notre Dame. And he was named to an All-American freshman team after his first season.
Michigan hasn't had a better safety in years. Kovacs will play in the NFL.