Projo Pats Blog

The first offensive player taken by the Patriots was Sabastian Vollmer, a huge (6-7, 315) offensive tackle from Houston.

He is very much a sleeper, a surprise pick in the Patriots' mold, so much so that he was not among the more than 300 players invited to the draft combine. The NFL hands out a guide before the draft on ``Players to look for in the 2009 Draft.'' The list includes 56 offensive linemen. Vollmer did not make the list.

A native of Duesseldorf, Germany, he is 24 years old and could barely speak English when he began school at Houston.

Rick Gosselin, of the Dallas Morning News, had this report on him recently:

``One the most intriguing offensive line prospects in the 2009 NFL draft is All-Conference USA left tackle Sebastian Vollmer. He allowed only one sack in 610 pass attempts by the Cougars last season.

``But Vollmer is still learning how to play both his position and the game of football. He was born and raised in Germany but played American football there on a two-time national champion. He was lightly recruited by American colleges, garnering scholarship offers from Houston, Indiana, Louisiana Tech and Western Michigan.

``Vollmer redshirted in 2004, played some tight end in 2005 and then missed 2006 with a back injury. He returned as a tackle in 2007 and started his final two seasons to put himself on NFL draft boards.

``Vollmer was not invited to the NFL scouting combine but did play in the Texas vs. Nation all-star game where he attracted the attention of scouts. His coaches flipped him from the left side to right offensive tackle and that's where his future lies in the NFL -- on the power side. He's a giant at 6-7, 315 pounds. His arrow is pointing up and, on a thin tackle board, he could find himself in the middle rounds of this draft.

 Tags  Sabastian Vollmer

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