Christo Bilukidi makes a big impression

[The Shadow]

http://www.sfgate.com




Vittorio Tafur




In every rookie's quest to make an NFL team, there are physical, mental
and emotional hurdles he must clear before he gets to see his name in
lights, or at least in a nameplate above an NFL locker.

He has to be able to hold his own on the field and not get pushed around
or run by. And he has to be able to understand a playbook and his
assignments, as well as deal with the highs and low blows to his confidence.

Raiders rookie defensive tackle Christo Bilukidi knows all that, and he
has a step on the other 59 players who gathered at the team's rookie
minicamp over the weekend.

The sixth-round pick out of Georgia State stands 6-foot-5, weighs 311
pounds, ran a 4.9-second 40-yard dash and changes directions well. He
can match up with NFL players Monday.

"Definitely," Bilukidi said. "I am a tall guy. As long as I stay low and
keep leverage, I will always have a chance at winning."

Bilukidi is the first player in Georgia State's short two-year history
to be drafted by an NFL team, and neither he nor coach Bill Curry was
surprised. Curry played 10 years in the NFL and then coached at Georgia
Tech, Alabama and Kentucky, so he knew what he was looking for when he
watched the game tape from Eastern Arizona Junior College, where
Bilukidi was playing, three years ago.

"The first time I ever saw him, I knew he physically had the opportunity
to make the NFL," Curry said in a phone interview. "I was very, very
impressed. He had the size, and he could run. He just had to get
stronger and be more consistent."

And ... learn a little more about how to play football.

A native of Angola, Bilukidi lived in France and Brazil before his
family moved to Canada. He was a basketball player and didn't try
football until his senior year in high school. He liked the contact and
kept playing at Eastern Arizona.

"I worked very hard at it, and after my junior year I realized I had a
chance to play in the NFL if I kept listening to my coaches and kept
getting stronger," Bilukidi said.

He had 10 sacks and 89 tackles in his two seasons with Georgia State,
and was drafted by both the NFL and the Canadian Football League (in the
third round).

"He is still a project, but he is a very special human being," Curry
said. "He speaks fluent French, and he is graduating with a degree in
sociology."

Bilukidi received his diploma May 6.

"He still has to mature as a player, but more importantly, he is a
mature man," Curry said. "He is a quick learner, he is very bright, and
he learned how to be a good leader for us last season. And he works hard
and he is tough."

Bilukidi, 22, indeed worked very hard Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"(Friday) it seemed so fast, but I am getting my second wind back and
getting in football shape," he said. "The pace was a tough transition
for a lot of rookies. It was the first time in my life I was sore
without working in pads."

Veterans start coming in for organized workouts Monday, and Bilukidi
plans to stick close to defensive tackles Richard Seymour and Tommy
Kelly and soak up everything like a sponge.

He acknowledges that he might be behind other rookies in one regard
because of the level of competition at Georgia State, but he believes
that people should look for him at the finish line.

(And there does seem to be a spot for Bilukidi on the roster, with
veteran run-stopper John Henderson no longer with the team.)

"Because of my athleticism and my height and my size, I'll be able to do
whatever anybody else on the D-line is doing," Bilukidi said. "Like I
said, I'm a fast learner and I'm athletic at the same time.

"I am just taking the first steps and doing everything I can to be
successful."

New guy: Former Jaguars tackle Kevin Haslam tweeted that he signed with
the Raiders. His agent says it's a one-year contract. The 6-foot-5,
304-pound Haslam played five games in 2010 after signing as an undrafted
rookie out of Rutgers. He had a season-ending knee injury in training
camp last season.

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