Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Temple makes drastic move with Deloatch

PHILADELPHIA - Romond Deloatch arrived on North Broad Street in the Fall of 2012 as a highly touted wide receiver from Hampton, Va., where he won four state championships with Phoebus High School.

In his last game with the Phantoms, Deloatch did not disappoint, reeling in seven catches totaling 180 yards and adding two touchdowns.

Deloatch saw a golden opportunity to contribute right away. As one of 14 true freshman to see the field last year, Deloatch debuted against Penn State and had his biggest game against Cincinnati, where he led the Owls with four receptions for 42 yards. This year, the 6-foot-4 225-pound Deloatch moved inside to tight end to make better use of his size.

 That was until yesterday.

 In a sudden move, Temple coach Matt Rhule decided to have him practice with the defensive ends.

"I put him with the D-line to kind of shake him up," Rhule said after Deloatch was late for a meeting.

But the punishment resulted in a pleasant surprise. Using his quickness to attack the quarterback, Deloatch has raised some eyebrows recently at training camp accounting for seven sacks in yesterday’s practice and another two on Tuesday.

“He’s a really talented young player and a great kid,” Rhule said. “If (New England Patriots coach) Bill Bellichick can do it, we're certainly going to try to do it.”

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