Two NFL prospects finally get respect
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When Eben Britton played offensive line at Burbank Burroughs, USC never offered him a scholarship and UCLA waited until the last minute to make an offer. He ended up at Arizona, and now Sam Farmer of The Times projects him to be a first-round NFL pick in his mock draft.
No Burroughs grad has been taken in the NFL draft since the school opened in 1948, according to football Coach Keith Knoop. Britton is now 6 feet 6, 312 pounds.
Another former local player who has moved up since his high school days is linebacker Clay Matthews Jr., an Agoura graduate who had to walk on at USC. He’s also projected as a first-round pick.
What does it say? It means that recruiters aren’t always accurate. Knoop said some might have questioned the competition Britton faced in high school. And Matthews was just beginning to gain maturity and strength, like his father, a former standout at USC and with the Cleveland Browns.
It will be fun on draft day watching two San Fernando Valley products get their moment in the spotlight.
-- Eric Sondheimer