Sanu joins pro ranks as Bengals’ third-round pick
Mohamed Sanu spent many nights sleeping on the couch of Sean Tyree, a close friend from South Brunswick High School (N.J.). If he does so now, it will not be out of a necessity.
Sanu became the fourth former Rutgers football player taken in the first round of the NFL Draft on Friday, when the Cincinnati Bengals took him in the third round at No. 83 overall.
Sanu set the school and Big East records for receptions in a single season in 2011 with 109, adding six more in the Scarlet Knights’ bowl game victory against Iowa State.
In less than three full seasons, he became the program’s all-time leading receiver with 210 career catches. Sanu joins offensive lineman Jeremy Zuttah as Scarlet Knights third-round picks.
“The day-to-day effect he’ll have on that locker room and the other players on that team and the community out there in Cincinnati, I think they’re going to be more and more pleased as they get to know him,” said head coach Kyle Flood.
Sanu, the only Rutgers player drafted, set a Big East record for catches in a Sept. 24 game, when he hauled in 16 in a victory against Ohio at High Point Solutions Stadium. He was a unanimous All-Big East First-Team selection, breaking Arizona Cardinal and former Pittsburgh wideout Larry Fitzgerald’s single-season catches mark.
Sanu said he looked up to Fitzgerald when he was younger, and now joins him in the pro ranks. Like Fitzgerald, Sanu had a penchant for highlight-reel grabs.
He straddled the sideline Oct. 1 at Syracuse, catching a pass from then-freshman Gary Nova with one hand. He leapt for a one-handed, outstretched touchdown reception Sept. 10 at North Carolina. And he scaled a Louisville defender Oct. 21 for one of his seven scores.
“What I remember most are his amazing catches,” said Jevon Tyree, Sean’s younger brother and a Rutgers commit for 2012. “The catches that Mo made are beyond the NFL. I’ve never even seen catches like that in my life.”
Sanu arrived at Rutgers in 2009 as a three-star recruit at safety, according to Rivals.com. He brought versatility — playing quarterback, safety and punter — to Piscataway, where he moved to wideout on the eve of the Knights’ 2009 season opener against Cincinnati.
“That’s something a lot of people can’t do and a lot of people struggle with,” said senior wide receiver Mark Harrison, part of Rutgers’ 2009 recruiting class with Sanu.
Sanu caught 10 passes for 101 yards in his Rutgers debut. He eventually lined up in the Knights’ Wildcat formation and returned punts.
“Mo could have been the quarterback for Rutgers,” Jevon Tyree said.
He showed flashes of passing ability in his first two seasons, throwing a combined four touchdowns. He scored three touchdowns in a St. Petersburg Bowl victory in 2009, including two on the ground.
But former head coach Greg Schiano returned Sanu in 2011 to wide receiver, where he worked during the summer with former position coach P.J. Fleck. The results were staggering.
Sanu caught at least 10 passes in six games, broke 100 receiving yards seven times and recorded more receptions than his first two seasons combined.
“[Ray Rice has] gone on to do great things with the franchise tag, what he’s done with the Ravens,” Flood said. “I think it’s going to be very similar with Mohamed.”
