NFL Draft Diamonds Prospect Interview: Dan Buchholz, OL, Duquesne University

NFL Draft Diamonds and our staff have been bringing our readers Prospect Interviews over the past 2 years and this year we mixed up the questions and added some fun questions for our readers.  We have tons of NFL staff that read our interviews, and we actually received several of the questions from NFL scouts we speak too.  This gives them a little bit more information regarding your character.  We hope to bring you more than 300 interviews of NFL Draft Prospects this season.  You will be able to track them all on the front page of our website in the banner.

What is your name?

Dan Buchholz

What is your Height/Weight?

6’4″ 300lb.

What is your position?

Offensive Tackle

Where do you play college football?

Duquesne University

Football is about giving back, what is the coolest thing you have done off the field?

Working with the Josh Gibson Foundation, assisting in the academic and athletic development of young kids in Pittsburgh

What was the hardest college class you ever had to take?

Intermediate Accounting

Where are you from?

Malvern, Pennsylvania

Who is your role model, and why?

My dad, because of his unbelievable work ethic and willingness to succeed and provide for my family

Did you play any other sports growing up?

I played baseball, basketball and wrestled while in elementary school and eventually ended up just playing football and lacrosse in high school

Did you play any other positions in football?

Defensive End in high school

At your position, what separates you from others?

My ability to focus on the little things and do the small details correctly in order to keep building on my game

When you are breaking down film, what do you look for?

The stance of the defensive linemen to see if they are giving any moves away in the pre-snap, and how they react once they are engaged with an offensive lineman

Who was the toughest player you ever faced?

Jeff Covitz, DE from Bryant

If you could compare your play to one player in the NFL who would it be and why?

Justin Pugh, he was an undersized tackle coming out of college and made the transition to guard. When looking at his college film I see a lot of similarities in our style of play

What was the biggest obstacle in your life you had to overcome, and how did you overcome it?

I played my entire junior and senior high school seasons with a torn labrum in my shoulder because I did not want to take any time off. Having to deal with the pain was tough, but knowing that I could still compete to fulfill my dream of earning a football scholarship kept me going.

Do you have any pre-game rituals? 

I put all of my equipment on in the same order at the same time before every game

As a small school football player what obstacles do you feel you have to overcome? 

The hardest thing has been getting noticed. It’s tough to be in the shadow of players from bigger schools sometimes

What is your biggest strength?

I would say my biggest strength is my athleticism and footwork
What is your biggest weakness? 

My biggest weakness is finishing my blocks in space and at the second level

If I were a GM and gave you a second to sell yourself, what would you say?

I am willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. Coming from a small school has taught me the true value of working hard to get where others are

Who was your favorite player and/or NFL team growing up?

I was and am a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles because they are my hometown team, but my favorite player was Peyton Manning because of his work ethic and understanding of the game

If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, who would you choose?

Chuck Bednarik, Will Ferrell, and Chris Kyle

With your first NFL paycheck what would you buy?

Ideally I would like to give it to my parents as a thank you for everything they have done for me up to this point in my life

Rapid Answers:

• Spongebob or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? 
• Backstreet Boys or One Direction? 
• Lifetime Channel or HGTV? 
• Waffles or Pancakes?
• Snakes or Spiders?
• Madden or Mario?