Draft hopeful Dan Skipper recaps his career at Arkansas and looks ahead to this week's NFL Draft in an exclusive Q&A session with HawgSports.com.
DAN SKIPPER DRAFT PROFILE:
Projected: 6-FA (WalterFootball.com)
Career Starts: 47 consecutive (51 games played)
HawgSports: Thanks for giving us a few minutes. How many interviews have you been doing lately?
Dan Skipper: "Honestly, not too many. For a week there I was doing about one every day, but no one really wants to talk to me these days."
HS: I know how much you love to do interviews...
DS: "Oh yeah, definitely. It's a necessary evil."
HS: What are you hearing lately about where things stand?
DS: "I honestly have no idea, man. I've heard everything from third round to undrafted, so we'll see. It's probably somewhere in the middle there. You guys probably know more about it than I do because I don't pay attention to it. It's a different beast, so who knows."
HS: Is the process about what you expected? I mean, is it more or less stressful than you imagined?
DS: "For me, it was pretty interesting. I went straight from the bowl game to Atlanta and started training right away. I started getting ready for the East-West game right off the bat, then I went to the combine. Just seeing those sorts of things and seeing how the deal works, and then after the combine and pro days it was like a monkey off my back.
It was a little different because of the wedding right there in the middle of it. That was kind of the next big thing. After the wedding, we've just been hanging out. Didn't have any visits, didn't have any coaches flying me to work me out.
That's where it differs for a lot of guys. With me, no one really has questions. I am what I am and there's not a lot of question marks about me, a lack of this area or that area. I am what I am, and I try to be pretty consistent about it."
HS: I'm sure they ask all kinds of questions, but do they ever bring up the 'old Dan,' the guy who was less disciplined as a freshman?
DS: "The NFL scouts don't ever ask about it. They don't really ask about that stuff. I haven't had a whole lot of tricky questions. They're more worried about off-the-field stuff from what I can pick up, and that's pretty easy with me."
HS: What does your wife think about all of this? You just got married and now you're jumping straight into this process.
DS: "She's definitely nervous and obviously excited. Right now, it's the unknown of not knowing where we'll be moving to, what it's going to look like, and, depending on how the draft goes, how well set up we'll be. It's just one of those things where there's just so many unknowns, so it's hard for both of us."
HS: Going back to high school, you're a guy who could have gone just about anywhere. Coach Pittman and Coach Bielema come in and convince you to come to Arkansas. So, after four years, how are you going to remember your time here?
DS: "I had a great time here, I wouldn't change it. I learned a lot about life and football. I had a great time. The memories I made, the life experiences I had, the big wins, all the losses and everything in between."
HS: What's it like to play for Bret? What kind of guy is he really?
DS: "What you see is what you get. He'll get after you, but at the same time he'll be there to laugh and joke with you. The best way to describe him is what you see is what you get. He's not going to hide anything. He's one of the most honest men in this business, that's something he's definitely got going for him."
HS: So what's the game plan this weekend?
DS: "We'll be here in Fayetteville hanging out. We'll hang out Friday night and probably go to the spring game Saturday, but if not, we'll re-evaluate and go from there."
