“This is what I’ve been looking forward to, so it’s terrible,” Dysert said. “It’s awful for me. But it’s something I’ve got to deal with. Everything happens for a reason. I just have to work through it.”
Dysert said he has met with “eight to 10” teams while in Indianapolis, but the Bengals and Browns were not among them, although he did talk to both clubs at the Senior Bowl last month.
Asked if there was an NFL offense where he thought he would fit best, Dysert summoned the name of another quarterback who played in Oxford.
“I’ve always looked up to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers,” he said. “Ben does a great job of extending plays with his feet. When the play breaks down, he does a great job of avoiding pressure and finding that open guy downfield. That’s something I think I do pretty well and something I’ve tried to work on. I try to emulate my game off him.
“It’s weird because he grew up about 20 minutes away from me in Findlay, and I’m from Ada,” Dysert added. “Ben was always a big name around our area. Then going to Miami, kind of following in his footsteps, it’s always been a big thing for me.”
So what if Pittsburgh is the team that drafts him?
“That’d be crazy,” Dysert said. “That would be exactly like following in his footsteps then.”
Growing up in Ada, Dysert was a frequent visitor to the Wilson Football Factory, where the balls used in the NFL are made.
“Every year there was a school field trip there,” Dysert said. “I’ve wanted to play quarterback in the NFL since I was 10. Being in this position is awesome. It’s just awesome to see the hard work and dedication and sacrifice you’ve put in through the years is finally paying off. It’s going to pay off soon. It’s right on the tip of your fingers. The dream is about to come true.”
Chudzinski chats: New Cleveland Browns coach Rob Chudzinski held his press conference Friday, and it didn't take long for the subject to turn to quarterbacks, both his own and the college prospects.
“I’ve been playing catch-up on a lot of the college study and the college tape,” he said. “This will give me an opportunity to do that this week and this weekend as well as getting in the interviews and being around some of those guys.”
Chudzinski said he has watched a lot of tape on Brandon Weeden and Colt McCoy, and while he’s encouraged by what he’s seen, he understands film has its limits.
“Watching guys on tape, it’s hard to really make a total assessment on them,” Chudzinski said. “You want to get them out on the practice field, get them in meetings, see how the things you’re asking them to do translate to their responses and what they do in situations that you put them in.”
Defending Dalton: Bengals coach Marvin Lewis was asked Friday about the criticism quarterback Andy Dalton received following the playoff loss in Houston and whether he thought it was warranted.
“He plays the position of criticism, other than the head coach,” Lewis said. “When we don’t win, the quarterback is going to take a little bit of flak. I thought Andy did a good job for us. When he holds that trophy, he would have done a great job, and that’s we’re looking forward to.
“We’re not going to go into the draft looking for a starting quarterback,” he added. “But I think, basically, every other position is open to be drafted.”
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