Lockette ready to finish process
Ricardo Lockette is tired and can’t sleep.
The reasons for him being tired are multiple: He has spent the past four months working out feverishly, more than he ever has, for about eight hours per day.
And the potential reward of all that work is why he can’t sleep: the NFL draft.
“I’m trying,” he said of getting some sleep. “But it’s not working.”
The former Fort Valley State wide receiver and track and field standout is not flying under the radar in the eyes of NFL teams as they prepare to begin the annual draft Thursday.
That’s another reason he’s tired: travel. After a few seasons of road trips to Tuscaloosa and Tuskegee, Ala., Columbus and Brunswick, Lockette has been crisscrossing the country this winter and spring working out and interviewing with NFL teams.
“This is a surreal experience,” said Lockette, who will host a draft day gathering at his family’s home in Albany on Saturday. “I can’t explain it. If you can imagine having this dream of being a professional football player all your life ...”
Lockette becomes almost giddy talking about the process.
“You see the games on TV, you see this and that, and then you’re actually going to see the team, see the head coach, meeting these guys, seeing pictures from games you watched on TV,” he said. “You see the locker room, and you’re actually on the field, and the stadiums, the stadiums are huge.
“It is unreal, man.”
Lockette has traveled a meandering road to reach this point.
He didn’t begin running track until his junior year at Monroe in Albany but was an immediate standout. He signed a football letter-of-intent with Auburn only to come up short on the SAT.
Then he went to Wallace (Ala.) State Community College for track for a year, finishing 10th nationally in the 400 meters.
Lockette took a year off from competition to train for the Olympics and then transferred to FVSU for track.
But after the 2008 season, Donald Pittman took over as the Wildcats’ head football coach after years as an assistant at Albany State, where he was familiar with Lockette.
Soon enough, Lockette was back in a football uniform for the 2008 season, his first football season since his senior year in high school.
He returned a kickoff for a 77-yard touchdown in his FVSU debut against Clark Atlanta and showed speed and explosion all season, finishing with 19 catches and 277 yards.
Then in the spring, he won the Division II 200-meter national championship, his hopes for a double win erased by a false start in the 100.
At that point, the path was interrupted by a detour.
There were reports that Lockette had tested positive for high levels of testosterone after the NCAA meet and had been ruled ineligible.
During the summer, he quietly transferred to Bethel (Tenn.) College, an NAIA school. He said in an August 2009 Telegraph story that he’d only heard rumors of the drug-test situation and wasn’t transferring because of that.
He said Bethel had some other pro prospects, and he’d get more attention there, and he said he was eligible at FVSU.
But Lockette never played a down at Bethel, saying later he realized immediately he had made a mistake and returned to the Wildcats for football in 2010.
A number of draft-related websites have reported that Lockette was suspended by the NCAA for 2009 because of that alleged test.
Lockette confirmed the suspension Tuesday.
“I feel like I’ve done so much in my college career, there’s no need to get back into that,” he said. “I just leave it where it is.”
Last season, as FVSU played five different quarterbacks, Lockette caught 23 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown.
Combine the flashes on the football field with Lockette’s size, athleticism and speed, and sharp-eyed NFL scouts were intrigued but wary.
Then came the invite to the NFL Combine, Lockette getting the e-mail as he prepared to go to his grandfather’s birthday party.
“Man, I started crying,” Lockette said. “It was the happiest day of my life.”
His workouts in Arizona began, and he drew plenty of attention by running a 4.37 40-yard time at the Combine, tying for the fastest time this year.
And suddenly he was a fairly hot name.
Longtime Dallas executive and NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt has called Lockette one of the potential steals of the draft, thanks in part to that attention-getting sprint at the Combine.
Brandt, in an NFL.com blog, compared Lockette to Indianapolis’ Austin Collie, a fourth-round choice who has been a key contributor for the Colts.
But skepticism remains. Lockette’s body of work isn’t extensive, came against mostly inferior competition and showed some inconsistency. Only two years of college football inspired one analysis to lead off with “buyer beware.”
Lockette’s fundamentals as a receiver are noted throughout various scouting reports, that his routes aren’t sharp enough and that he’s not explosive enough off of the line of scrimmage.
Noted Brandt, “Problem is that he’ll make a great catch and then drop one.”
Lockette knows his short-comings.
“If you ask me, I have to work on everything,” he said. “Getting out of my break, being able to read coverages and defenses. In D2, you don’t see all the different looks, all the different blitzes.
“I’m doing extra work on all that.”
On the positive side is his attitude, as cited in an ESPN.com breakdown that reads, “Tough and very competitive. Willing to work the middle of the field. Will catch the ball in traffic while absorbing hit. Fights for extra yardage as a runner after the catch. Gives great effort as a run blocker and will chase play in pursuit to look for block downfield.”
And from NFL.com, “He is a fierce competitor that could contribute on special teams. ... Lockette has a great attitude and potential, which makes him a late-round option.”
The personable, outgoing and confident Lockette estimated he ha interviewed with or worked out for about 18 teams, and those meetings have ranged from congenial to interrogatory.
“If you can imagine the entire staff in there and all of them shooting question at you, ‘Why’d you do this, Why’d you that? What were you thinking when you did that?’ ” Lockette said. “Back to back to back. They want to see how you act under pressure.”
Lockette and his family and friends will try to relax through the first day of the draft, stay calm but hopeful that the second day might bring a pleasant surprise and then avoid major anxiety on the third day.
“Everybody else gets stressed out about it,” Lockette said. “If you can’t control it, there’s nothing to be stressed over.
“I’m just humbled to be in this position.”
Local hopefuls
Several college football players with Middle Georgia ties, in addition to FVSU’s Ricardo Lockette, are mentioned on websites as potential picks when the NFL’s draft begins Thursday:
OL Maurice Hurt, Florida (Baldwin)
Hurt had knee surgery in December and was invited to the NFL Combine. He is rated 12th among 158 guards by nfldraftscout.com. He shown versatility in playing guard and tackle. Is ranked 20th at guard by ESPN.com.
LB Mario Harvey, Marshall (Mary Persons)
Harvey was ranked by nfldraftscout.com as one of the top 15 inside linebackers not invited to the Combine. Harvey’s nickname is “Thunder” and had an all-conference career at Marshall, but he will be hampered by being 5-foot-10. Is rated 22nd at position by ESPN.com.
Also appearing on assorted lists:
DB Darnell Burks, Fort Valley State
RB Lironnie Davis, Albany State (Central)
CB Dionte Dinkins, Fort Valley State (Southwest)
LB Antonio Felder, Kansas State (Warner Robins)
LB Brad Jefferson, Georgia Tech (Hawkinsville)
DB Carson Hill, Georgia Southern (Baldwin)
DE Michael Lemon, N.C. State (Stratford)
DL Jason Thompson, Fort Valley State
This story was originally published April 27, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Lockette ready to finish process."