UVa’s Monroe not ready to talk NFL draft

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Football practices at the University of Virginia are closed to the public and the media, and so the only witnesses to the battles between Eugene Monroe and Clint Sintim are coaches, teammates and selected others.

Sintim, a senior linebacker, leads the ACC in sacks. But you might not guess that if you saw him only in drills against Monroe.

“Every Wednesday we go into a one-on-one pass-rushing drill, and that’s really my day to try to work him over,” Sintim said this week. “It doesn’t work as often as I’d like it to, but he definitely makes me better. It’s extremely hard to get around him, and a lot of the moves I try on him don’t work as well as they do in the game.”

Monroe, a three-year starter at left offensive tackle, is known for thwarting defenders. He’s yet to make the all-ACC team —injuries marred his sophomore and junior seasons — but the 6-foot-6, 315-pound senior is ranked No. 1 on ESPN football analyst’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s “Big Board” for the next NFL draft.

“I definitely see why he’s No. 1,” Sintim said. “He’s extremely talented, he’s massive, and he has great feet. Going against him every day in practice really elevates my game. Hopefully I can say I elevate his, but I probably don’t.”

UVa (1-1, 3-3) meets 18th-ranked North Carolina (1-1, 5-1) in a Coastal Division clash Saturday at Scott Stadium. Look for the Cavaliers to run behind No. 75 often as they try to secure their third straight victory.

The NFL talk is a distraction, Monroe acknowledged this week, but he knows it’s unavoidable. He hears it “each week from teammates or family who might see it on the Internet or wherever. I’m a Virginia player right now, and I just got to get ready for the games each week here. Once the season’s over that’ll take care of itself.”

Monroe, who has 15 siblings, fits the image of a “gentle giant” off the field. He speaks softly and thoughtfully. He carries himself with dignity and humility. He’s on track to graduate early. His coaches and teammates love him.

“A great example of a kid who, despite kudos that are passed his way by others and successes he’s had as a student and as a player, has absolutely no degree of entitlement in his outlook on things,” UVa coach Al Groh said.

That Monroe would become a stellar college player is no shock. Heading into his senior year at Plainfield High in New Jersey, he was ranked by some analysts as the No. 1 prospect in the nation’s Class of 2005. Monroe had scholarship offers from such schools as Southern California, LSU, Oklahoma and Ohio State. In the end, though, the bond he’d formed with the coaching staff at UVa proved decisive.

The Cavaliers haven’t won as many games as those perennial powers during his career, but Monroe said he has no regrets.

“I hope that I can continue to improve, and my final games will be better than anything that I’ve done so far, but I think I am pleased,” he said. “I’ve had a great time at the university, and I’ve gotten to play with some great players.”

As a true freshman, Monroe backed up D’Brickashaw Ferguson, whom the New York Jets selected fourth overall in the 2006 draft. Monroe played next to Branden Albert, now a Kansas City Chiefs rookie, in ’06 and ’07, and for three years he faced defensive end Chris Long in practice.

“He is a player who has clearly profited by playing his full four years,” Groh said of Monroe. “His skill level and his execution this season is substantially upgraded from what it was last year.

“It was the same thing with Chris. Chris was a real good junior, but he was an awesome, just off-the-charts senior, and Gene now is progressing that way.”