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Former Bullis School Students Prepares for NFL Draft

WalterFootball.com views Joe Lefeged as the 10th best safety in this year's NFL draft.

Like many kids growing up, Joe Lefeged always dreamed of one day playing in the NFL, and the former  student wasn’t shy about talking about it either.

Yet instead of shooting down her son’s lofty aspiration, Lefeged’s mother actually encouraged it.

“My mom always told me that I could do whatever I put my mind to,” said Lefeged — a Germantown native.

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And with the 2011 NFL draft, which starts April 28, now less than three weeks away, Lefeged is on the verge of proving her right.

WalterFootball.com views Lefeged as the 10th best safety in this year’s draft and projects him to be selected somewhere in the fourth to sixth round range.

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A three-year starter at safety for Rutgers' Scarlet Knights, the 6-foot, 210-pound Lefeged posted 238 tackles during his college career, including 84 as a senior, along with a team-high six pass breakups, en route to second-team All-Big East honors.

A valuable special teams contributor as well, Lefeged broke Rutgers’ single season school-record with 948 kickoff return yards as a senior while averaging 24.9 yards per return. He also blocked four kicks during the season.

Prior to Rutgers, Lefeged starred at Bullis for three seasons before transferring to Northwest High School for his senior year.

An all-around threat at Bullis, excelling at outside linebacker defensively as well as at quarterback and running back on offense, Lefeged earned All-IAC accolades as both a sophomore and as a junior before being voted as the Washington Post’s All-Metro Defensive Player of the Year as a senior at Northwest.

“It’s been a long journey [from high school to now getting ready for the draft],” Lefeged said. “But it’s also been a lot of fun, I’ve enjoyed every moment of it and it will all be worth it if I’ve ever so fortunate to have my name called [on draft day].”

And after his performance at the NFL Scouting Combine at Indianapolis’s Lucal Oil Stadium in February, and the subsequent interest he received from NFL teams, Lefeged hopes that he will indeed hear his name called.

Lefeged posted the fastest 40-yard dash (4.43 seconds) among all safeties at the combine and also shined during positional drills.

He met with what he estimated to be 15-20 of the NFL’s 32 teams during his time in Indianapolis and has had workouts with a few of them since then.

“I think [Joe] can definitely be an effective player [in the NFL],” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano told the New Jersey Star-Ledger in March. “The thing that always impressed me was that even after he became a starting safety as a sophomore, we kept putting him down as a nickelback because he’s such a good blitzer and such a good underneath player. So I think that’s valuable, and he’s also a great special teams player.

“So, again, if you can do those three things [play safety, nickelback and special teams], you’re going to play a long time in that league, especially if you’re as intelligent as Joe is.”

Yet as excited as Lefeged is about making the jump to the NFL, and as busy as he has been preparing to take that step, he hasn’t lost sight of his academics.

Just 15 credits short of earning his degree in communications, Lefeged is taking four courses (12 credits) right now, is slated to take a final course during the summer and is on pace to graduate by October.

“One thing that I still wanted to do, and will do, is get my degree,” Lefeged said. “So I’m just at school right now. I work out in the morning, eat and then just getting ready to go to class.”

But Lefeged also realizes that he’s just a little more than two weeks away from fulfilling a childhood dream and is looking forward to seeing what NFL team he ultimately ends up with.

“It means a lot to me,” Lefeged said of being on the verge of reaching the NFL. “I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at. And now, for draft day to be just a few weeks away is kind of hard to believe and hasn’t really hit me yet, although I’m sure it will soon. I’m just really grateful and thank God every day for this opportunity that I have.” 

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