UND coach says tackle Matt Waletzko opening eyes at Senior Bowl

sl1000794

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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]Waletzko is UND's first participant in the Senior Bowl since Jim Kleinsasser in 1999.

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Former UND offensive lineman Matt Waletzko poses with UND offensive coordinator Danny Freund on Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.
Submitted photo.

By Tom Miller
February 04, 2022 10:26 AM
GRAND FORKS — Former UND tackle Matt Waletzko is one of the few FCS players at this week's Senior Bowl, the premier college football showcase event.
Coming from the FCS, Waletzko is practicing this week alongside plenty of players ranked ahead of him in NFL Draft projections.
UND offensive coordinator Danny Freund, though, said Waletzko is opening up the eyes of NFL scouts this week in Mobile, Ala.
Freund is in Mobile this week to support Waletzko, a 6-foot-7 All-American and four-year starter for the Fighting Hawks.
"Matt is closing the gap on some of these guys," Freund said. "These teams know they have to get him in and have him develop, but there's so much upside with the long arms and the athleticism.
"I don't think some people expected him to do much, but I'm hearing he's opened up some eyes. That's what you want from these events. You want to be trending upward."
Freund attended Wednesday's practice, which was held at an indoor facility on the campus of South Alabama due to rain in Mobile.
"Matt had a really good day (Wednesday)," Freund said. "From the people I've talked to, he's got better every day which is what they want to see from a smaller school guy. Some were saying he was the best offensive lineman there at (Wednesday) practice."
Waletzko missed UND's final two games of the 2021 season with an upper-body injury but Waletzko has shown the injury isn't hampering him at practice.
In addition to his showing at the Senior Bowl, Waletzko will have an opportunity to impress at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in early March.
The Senior Bowl is an invite-only showcase of the top upperclassman prospects in the country, with more than 100 prospects split into two teams.
The National team is coached by the New York Jets staff, while the American team is coached by the Detroit Lions. The game is at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on NFL Network.
Waletzko, of Rocori High School, is on the National team. At practice, he's gone up against a fellow Minnesota native in practice in Boye Mafe, an edge rusher who attended Hopkins High School and then the University of Minnesota.
 


Migrator Man

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Waletzko is a beast. It’s a shame the Fargo media is not covering him as much as the NDSU players. Hopefully he can up his draft value this week with a good showing in the senior bowl. The highlights I have seen have be impressive. He is a smart guy too being first team all academic.
 

sl1000794

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Waletzko is a beast. It’s a shame the Fargo media is not covering him as much as the NDSU players. Hopefully he can up his draft value this week with a good showing in the senior bowl. The highlights I have seen have be impressive. He is a smart guy too being first team all academic.

We (3 of us) were in GF last weekend for the SCSU hockey series and on Friday we went to the fan appreciation luncheon at the REA. The academic alumni advisor spoke. I think that as a whole the average for all student athletes on all sports teams for UND is above 3.0 with some carrying 4.0 averages. It was VERY impressive. My brother and I would have been kicked off the track/field team for scholastic average if we were in school now.

Don't get me wrong, we were always above a 2 point average but we were seldom above 3.0!

When we graduated with BSCE degrees in the '60's ALL engineering grads had multiple offers to chose from. It was a good time to be a college engineering grad!
 
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