Tackle could be WPIAL’s top pick

Sean Hickey said some NFL teams like him as an offensive tackle and some as a guard. A few believe he could play both.

But while his future position might be uncertain, Hickey is fairly certain his name will be called at some point in the NFL draft.

Hickey is a graduate of Franklin Regional High School who played at Syracuse University. Among former WPIAL players not from Pitt and Penn State, Hickey looks like he might be the best prospect for the draft.

“From all the feedback I’m receiving, I feel strongly that I will be drafted,” Hickey said.

“Where I will be taken depends on some of the teams. But kind of from what I’m hearing, maybe in something like the middle rounds.”

Hickey is rated by some draft sites as a fourth-to-sixth-round selection. Joe Butler runs Metro Index, a high school scouting service in Pittsburgh, and also evaluates NFL prospects for Inside The League, a website and consulting service for professional football.

“Sean Hickey really had a nice career at Syracuse,” said Butler. “Let’s put it this way: The top 100 players are guys who will go in the first three rounds. Players 100 to 200 are the next three rounds. He’s that type of guy, a 100 to 200 player.”

Hickey, who is 6 feet 5½, 309 pounds, thought about making himself available for the draft after his redshirt junior season. He was projected then as a possible middle-round selection. But Hickey decided to come back to Syracuse for his fifth year. Although his draft status seems to remain unchanged, he believes the extra year of college helped.

“I decided to come back for multiple reasons,” Hickey said. “When I made the decision, I felt one more year of developing my body, particularly my lower body, would help. I thought last year I might not be 100 percent ready. I wanted to work on a couple things with my game and spend one last year with my teammates.

“Our season [with a 3-9 record] didn’t go as well as we wanted, but in individual terms, I felt the month of October was probably the best football I played in my life. ... I do feel like I’m a better player than a year ago and that will help me when I get to training camp or minicamp.”

Butler said that besides Hickey and a few players at Penn State (tight end Jesse James, linebacker Mike Hull and offensive lineman Miles Dieffenbach), it’s very possible no other former WPIAL players will get drafted. Among former WPIAL players not at Pitt and Penn State who will most likely sign as NFL free agents are Boston College safety Ty-Meer Brown (McKeesport), Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown (Seneca Valley), Eastern Michigan safety Kevin Johnson (McKeesport) and IUP receiver Drew Carswell (StoRox).

From just outside the WPIAL, former Oil City High School tight end Ben Koyack (Notre Dame) is projected as a probable middle-round pick.