100 in 100: Mardy Gilyard (31 of 100)

Mardy Gilyard was by far the best receiver in the Big East this past Season. He was Quarterback Tony Pike's favorite target and very deserving of it. He arguably had the best game from the offensive side of the ball than any other player participating in the Senior Bowl. Gilyard was named the Offensive Player of the game and came out of the game with 5 catches for 103 yards. He had an additional 76 yards in th return game for a grand total of 179 All-Purpose yards.

During the career of the Cincinnati Wide Receiver, he put up some heafty stats. Initially, his freshman year, he played cornerback. The Cincinnati Coaching staff quickly took notice of how talented this young college athlete and moved him to Wide Receiver. In 2006, he was redshirted for academic reasons and would not play. By 2007, Gilyard found his way on to the field. He managed to grab 36 passes for 500+ yards. It wasn't until 2008 that Mardy Gilyard would begin to make a significant impact. In 2008, the young receiver had an astounding 81 receptions for 1200+ yards with an average of 15.8 yards a reception. By this time Gilyard was creating a nightmare scenario for opposing special team coaches because of how stellar he had become in the return game as well. 2009 Gilyard continued his success and had the most receptions of his collegiate career with 87; he nearly touched the 1200 yard mark once again and was yet again a force to be reckoned with on special teams.

Mardy Gilyard has a special story behind his success. In 2006, after he had been redshirted Gilyard almost left Cincinnati. Due to the poor grades, the Freshman nearly lost his scholarship. There was a period of that time where the young man was living out of his car and passing out sack lunches to other homeless people at a downtown Cincinnati park. It is this kind of off the field actions that will give NFL Teams comfort in drafting Mardy Gilyard to be a receiver for their team. This is a wonderful rags to riches story and if you have the time, feel free to click on the SI article linked to the word "story" above.

Below, I will list some of the former Cincinnati Receiver's achievements...

This video illustrates bits and pieces of everything that Gilyard is capable of. He may be the most well-rounded wide receiver in this year's draft. He has adequate speed, find holes in zone coverages and nine times out of ten, beats his guy in man coverage. He runs his routes extremely well and catches nearly everything that comes his way. He also shows that he can be a thorn in the side for opposing teams.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

• 2008 All-American
• 2009 All American

CAREER STATS:

SUMMARY AND PROJECTIONS:

Gilyard is expected by alot of folks to be selected in the first round, however with only a few wide receivers (at most) expected to go in the 1st, it's very possible that Gilyard could slip to the 2nd. He is going to be a high value guy for a team if he falls to the 2nd; getting a guy who's 1st round talent one round later should make some GM very happy. He is easily a top 50 player. He's 6'1" and 185 LBS.

Possibilities -- 1st Round; Picks: 16-32 -- 2nd Round; Picks 33-49.