In case you haven’t been following along this week, I’ve written a few stories on local football stars hoping to catch on in the NFL.

Naturally, Ray Rice of New Rochelle is the biggest name. He’s expected to go anywhere from the middle of the second round to the early in the third, depending on what develops in the first 35 picks.

After really analyzing what each team needs and the running backs in the draft, I’m predicting Detroit, Atlanta, Arizona or Carolina picking him the second round. The key, however, is that none of those teams take a RB in the first round, or guys like Rashard Mendenhall, Jonathan Stewart, and Chris Johnson are off the board. Ray will likely go after all of them (of course, Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, too), and perhaps Jamaal Charles. Things have to break perfectly for Rice to be a top 40 pick.

On Thursday, I had a story on Spring Valley native Ron Girault, who was a star safety at Rutgers the last four seasons. He’s hoping just to get drafted in the sixth of seventh rounds tomorrow.

Teams would be wise to take a chance on a kid who started four seasons, especially one who anchored a defense that held opposing teams to the second fewest passing yards per game last season. The Girault RNN video I produced is below:

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Finally, Mamaroneck grad Maurice Murray is just hoping to be signed as a free agent after the draft ends tomorrow night. Murray was a star running back at I-AA Northeastern, rushing for over 1,000 yards the last two seasons.

Murray has a very good perspective on his future, as you’ll read. All he wants is a chance and he’d even be willing to add some bulk and play fullback, which would probably take a year to do. I also produced a video package on Murray but it’s mysteriously not online. When it is, I’ll post it. He’s probably the most interesting of all.

You probably don’t remember Murray much from when he was in high school, which was back in 2002. But he was a beast. He’s gotten so much bigger since then when he was known as a speedster who worked outside the tackles. At Northeastern he developed into a durable every-down back.