Vladimir Ducasse

Vladimir Ducasse
No. 62 Chicago Bears
Position: Offensive lineman
Personal information
Date of birth: October 15, 1987
Place of birth: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight: 325 lb (147 kg)
Career information
High school: Stamford (CT)
College: Massachusetts
NFL draft: 2010 / Round: 2 / Pick: 61
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • 2009 FCS All-American First Team (Associated Press)
  • 2009 CAA All-Conference First Team
  • 2009 New England Football Writers All-Star
  • 2008 Sports Network Hon. Mention All-American
  • 2008 CAA All-Conference First Team
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2014
Games played: 63
Games started: 11
Stats at NFL.com

Vladimir Ducasse (/ˈvlædɨmɪər duːˈkɑːs/; Haitian Creole pronunciation: [vladimiɣ dikas]; born October 15, 1987) is a Haitian-born professional football offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

High school career

A native of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Ducasse moved to the United States in 2002.[1] He attended Stamford High School in Stamford, Connecticut, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball and track. In football, Ducasse played offensive line and was named First Team All-State by the Connecticut High School Coaches Association. He also earned First Team All-Fairfield County by the FCIAC Coaches.

Ducasse was also an standout track & field athlete at Stamford High, where he was one of the state's top performers in the throwing events. He captured the League championship in the discus, with a throw of 44.77 meters (146 ft, 5 in) and was a runner-up in the shot put, with a throw of 16.43 meters (53 ft, 9 in).[2]

Ducasse was not rated by any recruiting service, and neither drew the attention of any Division I Bowl Subdivision college.[1] He chose to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

College career

As a true freshman at UMass, Ducasse saw action in four games as a reserve offensive lineman. In his sophomore year he became the starter at left tackle, started 12 of 13 games in 2007 and aided UMass' line in allowing just 15 quarterback sacks in his 12 games.

In his junior season, Ducasse started all games at left tackle and was part of offensive line that has allowed just six sacks, the fewest in the Colonial Athletic Association (0.5 per game) and second in the NCAA. Ducasse finished his career with 35 consecutive starts at left tackle. In those 35 games, UMass has allowed just 39 sacks and had a 100-yard rusher in 23 of those games. He was named a FCS First Team All-American by the Associated Press.[3]

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Ducasse was considered one of the best offensive guard prospects available in the 2010 NFL Draft.[4] He worked out at TEST Sports Clubs in Martinsville, New Jersey in order to prepare himself for the NFL combine.[5] He scored 13 on the Wonderlic intelligence test.[6]

Ducasse was selected in the 2nd round (61st overall) by the New York Jets, as the first non-BCS-eligible player drafted in 2010. He is the first UMass football player drafted by the NFL since linebacker Khari Samuel in 1999, and the highest Minuteman taken since Greg Landry was the 11th pick overall by the Detroit Lions in the 1968 NFL Draft.

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BPWonderlic
6 ft 4¼ in 332 lb34¾ in9⅝ in 5.21 s 1.76 s 2.86 s 4.97 s 8.25 s 26 in 7 ft 7 in 29 reps13
All values from NFL Combine[7][8]

New York Jets

Immediately after the Jets selected Ducasse, they released Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca.[9] Ducasse and Matt Slauson, a second-year backup, competed for Faneca's old job in training camp that season.[10] On July 7, he was signed by the Jets to a four-year deal worth $3.25 million, including a signing bonus just over $1 million.[11] Ducasse played 2 games during his rookie year in 2010 and eventually helped the Jets into the playoffs until losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship. In 2011, Ducasse played all 16 games and made 1 start. In 2012, Ducasse again appeared all 16 games playing left guard and right tackle prospectively.

Performing well in training camp, Ducasse earned the starting job at left guard during the 2013 NFL season. However, due to penalties and struggles, Ducasse was benched in favor for rookie Brian Winters.[12] Ducasse played in all 16 games with 4 starts for the 2013 season. He became a free agent for the first time in his career after the season ended.

Minnesota Vikings

Ducasse signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Vikings on March 24, 2014.[13]

Chicago Bears

Ducasse signed a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears on March 16, 2015.[14]

Personal

Vladimir Ducasse is the son of Delinois Ducasse, an accountant for the Bank of the Republic of Haiti. His mother died when he was 5. He has an older brother, Macarthur, and two younger siblings, Jefferey and Jemima. Vladimir and Macarthur moved to Connecticut in 2002 to live with his aunt and uncle Virginia and Lezanoro Ducasse. The rest of his family still resides in Haiti and was affected by the 2010 earthquake.[15] As of right now, jefferey lives in Connecticut and Jemima is in Spain with her mother.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dobrow, Marty (October 24, 2009), "For Ducasse, destiny leads to NFL draft", Boston Globe
  2. ↑ https://www.trackingfootball.com/players/vladimir-ducasse-11482/
  3. ↑ "UMass' Ducasse an AP FCS First Team All-American", Stamford Advocate, December 16, 2009
  4. ↑ "2010 OG Draft Prospects", CBS Sports, retrieved December 19, 2009
  5. ↑ Garafolo, Mike (January 26, 2010), "Haiti native Vladimir Ducasse training for NFL draft in Martinsville, keeping an eye on homeland", The Star-Ledger.
  6. ↑ McGinn, Bob (February 25, 2010), "Packers may get offensive lineman they need in NFL draft", Journal Sentinel.
  7. ↑ "Vlad Ducasse Combine Profile", NFL.com, retrieved February 27, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Vlad Ducasse Draft Profile", NFLDraftScout.com.
  9. ↑ Mehta, Manish (April 23, 2010), "Jets to cut Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca", The Star-Ledger.
  10. ↑ Cimini, Rich (April 27, 2010), "New York Jets' new offensive lineman Vladimir Ducasse made it from Haiti to NFL", ESPN.
  11. ↑ Vrentas, Jenny (July 7, 2010), "Second-round pick Vladimir Ducasse signs with Jets", The Star-Ledger.
  12. ↑ "Jets to bench struggling Ducasse for Winters".
  13. ↑ Consentino, Dom (March 24, 2014). "Jets free-agent offensive lineman Vlad Ducasse signs with Vikings, per report". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ Wright, Michael C. (March 16, 2015). "Bears sign offensive guard Vladimir Ducasse". ESPN. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ Curtis, Davis (January 21, 2010), "With family alive in Haiti, Ducasse can return focus to Senior Bowl", Sporting News

External links