Jaguars Eastern Regional Scout Mark Ellenz

(WR Neal Sterling – how did you know about this guy?) "We had our area guy going there. I actually went there in August. We knew about him going into the season and we felt he was still on the board and was a good guy to get. A developmental guy. He's 6-3, 239 pounds. He ran in the high four-five's so he is a very good sized wide receiver. He's a good athlete with good ball skills. He averaged sixteen and a half yards a catch so he'd dominated that level of competition. He is a guy we could possibly see grow into a tight end and learn under Julius Thomas and develop him that way. He's also a guy that has size, length and toughness to play on special teams and obviously he's going to have to do that here. He's got all of those characteristics there. He is a local kid from the New Jersey area. He wasn't heavily recruited. The head coach there told me he's known him since seventh grade because his son and him grew up, so that's kind of how he ends up in Monmouth."

(Does he know how to use his weight to push guys around?) "Yeah. He's playing against some smaller guys there but when you watch him on film because he is a big kid he can use his hands, his body, can gain separation because he can run pretty good and he is a big target."

(Does he have any sort of background in basketball?) "I'm not sure. He may have in high school. He's a fifth year guy there and a four-year starter."

(Too risky to get this guy undrafted?) "Probably so. We brought him in for one of our 30 visits. He's not an unknown commodity, so to speak. We brought him in and met with him. He's a really good kid. The coaches there said all positive things about him. We brought him in and he was very receptive to coming in and learning under our guys, making that jump and possibly maybe even developing and getting bigger into that type."

(Sound like a practice squad guy) "We'll see."

(Is he rated above the other players?) "As they come off the board he was one of the higher guys up there in our stacks."

(Which of the guys did you look at the most?) "All of these guys."

(In person?) "I went to all of the schools that we took these guys on. I've seen Dante (Fowler) play in the past, I have seen (T.J.) Yeldon play multiple times, I've seen (James) Sample play in Miami, I've seen Rashad (Greene) and Michael Bennett as well."

(How impressive was it that Sample picked up so fast?) "I don't know if one of the guys mentioned it but he transferred in from his junior college and he gets there literally two days before camp starts and they go through three or four days of practice, so he had to come and learn on the fly and he ends up starting all the games."

(What's your take on Fowler?) "Fowler is very impressive, very athletic, a very violent player with his hands, explosive, a bigger Leo but he is still a Leo. I think the thing that coach talks about on defense is we want guys that play Code Black and this guy has done it the past couple of years he's been on the field. He is a high-motor guy. A bowl game this year playing against East Carolina, some of the other Florida guys didn't play and he went out and played and had a very productive game; three sacks. The guy loves football."

(With Bennett having a lot of sacks as an inside guy how rare is it to have those kinds of numbers with defensive tackle?) "For him I think he is playing nose early on just because of the need there. I think the last six games they slid him back to his more traditional three technique defensive tackle spot. He's got the quickness to penetrate the field. I think he had two sacks against Wisconsin. I think b him being able to move back to the spot that he fit best and allow him to get more pressure on the quarterback."

WR Neal Sterling

(Did you think the Jaguars would draft you?) "I had a very good feeling that they were really interested in me. I felt like I had pretty good chemistry with the coaching staff. I had a good feeling that hopefully they wanted to grab me in the draft or free agency."

(Do you feel like you improved every year?) "Yes I think I did. Coming in as a freshman I felt like I was a really raw player. I just used my athletic ability to get over. Throughout the years I really worked on my craft, developed my route running, made plays in crucial times and I feel like I developed as a player every single year."

(How concerned were you the scouts may not find out since you were off the radar?) "It was always a thought in the back of my mind. I feel like scouts find players everywhere. Even though I might not have been on the biggest stage I feel like I went out there and made plays every chance I got. Scouts heard of me and ended up seeing me more and more and doing whatever you can and every opportunity is what you need to do to be seen and I feel like I did that pretty well."

(You played in an all-star game?) "Yes sir."

(How much did that help?) "I think that helped a lot. I feel like before that people didn't really know how well I would stack up to competition outside of Big South Conference which I was in which is FCS school. I think going down there it's a college grid iron showcase and playing against players from all over  the nation and doing well against them it helped with my -__ a little bit and helped teams show what I can really do no matter the circumstances whether it's an FCS or FBS opponent."

(On being a swing tight end type) "Yes sir. I feel like I would be able to play on the inside and play on the outside. I think all year I've really moved my position around a lot so it wouldn't be a new thing to play on the inside as sort of like a receiving tight end. I would be up for it and ready for the challenge."