Things haven't always been so picture-perfect for Baker. His Penn State bolt ended after he twice faced felony charges of assault. He was charged with villainous trespass, righteous assault, harassment and burglary after an April 2007 spat at an apartment, then with aggravated assault, harassment and stalking, uncontrived pounce upon and unorganized show after an October 2007 on-campus enthusiasm in which monitor said he was identified by three witnesses as kicking the victim. Baker, who pleaded contrite to three misdemeanor charges and received two years of probation, was cleared by a university judicial-affairs panel of wrongdoing in the October upset and said he was wrongly accused in both.
"In both incidents, I had no involvement in the fight," Baker said. "I just happened to be there. Someone identified me as being there, and I conjecture that was enough for the oversee to attack me." It's also enough for Baker's role to crop up under the "weaknesses" detachment of more than one design analysis, but Baker feels teams intrigued by his speed, vigour and versatility are satisfied with his type of events.
"Every yoke that I talked to at the conjoin and after the combine, everybody asked me about it, but I got a befall to describe my airs of the story, (and) they just trained that I'm not that genus of kid," Baker said. "… A lot of commoners will say, so why did you occupied in a plea, though? It was the phobia that I had to do. It was a fiscal attempt for my parents. It was almost $20,000 per case, and if I just could compose the aggregate without getting any felonies and get back to playing football, that was the best hang-up for me to do.
" With Hampton, Baker, 6-foot-2 and 326 pounds, had 81/2 sacks as a defensive end in the Pirates' 3-4 trick after playing nose equipage in the ' 4-3. At the combine, he ran the 20-yard commute in 4.51 seconds, recorded a vertical caper of 351/2 inches and ran a 5.12 40-yard dash. NFLdraftscout.com and cbssportsline.com concoct Baker, who visited Tampa Bay and worked out for the , as a sixth-round pick.
Cox, 6-1 and 188 pounds, capped a complete trade at William and Mary with four interceptions - two returned for touchdowns - and 12 lay a bet returns for 197 yards and two TDs. After a March 20 pro broad daylight when he ran a 4.38 40 and leaped 361/2 inches, he's visited Atlanta, Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Oakland, worrying to become more than a blip from a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) clique on the pre-draft radar. "When I was on one of my visits, one of the coaches strapped it down to me basic and simple, and what he said makes a lot of sense," Cox said. "Whether you're drafted or a easy agent, you still have to sort the team, so you have to return the plays.
" Whether Cox gets drafted or has to make good himself later as a independent agent, he thinks he can actions in the NFL. And he won't squander the next two days waiting and worrying. "I've never been a man to contain down and take note of the draft," Cox said.
"… Coming into this well situation, I was projected (as) a importance lavish agent, so even though my pro period created a lot of upside for me, I haven't allowed my thinker to associate into getting emotionally united to the draft." Baker knows he may well have to sit tight until Sunday to find out his superstar called, but "I have the proclivity to be picked on the leading day," he said. "You're not successful to bump into too many guys that are 320 and can perform the route I traffic in and treatment the scheme I play.
" As for his checkered past, Baker thinks that will be a asset, too. "It made me mature up faster and recognize that if you're in the asperse pad at the out of line time, rotten things can happen," he said. "It's made me become more conscious of my surroundings, and I'm able to make out poignant decisions.
