McQuistan could lead locals

OGDEN — Growing up, Paul and Pat McQuistan didn't watch a lot of football. The family didn't have cable television — didn't watch much television, really — and the twins didn't even develop a favorite team.

Football, as fun as it was, wasn't a big priority for the boys from Lebanon, Ore.

Now, with the 2006 NFL Draft just 48 hours away, the McQuistan family is paying attention to the sport like never before.

"It's pretty exciting," Paul McQuistan said. "I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't excited and nervous."

Paul McQuistan, who recently wrapped up a I-AA All-American senior season at Weber State, is probably a bit of a secret to most football fans in Utah. The hulking offensive lineman has toiled in obscurity in Ogden.

His talents, however, have been noticed by NFL scouts aplenty.

And sometime this weekend, with several friends and family members nearby, his cell phone will ring and he'll find out which NFL team he'll be playing for when fall rolls around.

"This is something I never really put a lot of thought into until now," he said. "But all of a sudden it's time. It'll be good to find out where I'm going."

Paul McQuistan will be, according to several online draft ratings, the first player from a Utah college selected. He could spend all day Saturday waiting and not hear anything. But by the time he settles down at the home of fellow Wildcat and NFL draft hopeful, Brady Fosmark, on Sunday morning, his name could very well have scrolled across the television screen.

He arrived at Weber State as a 230-pound freshman and steadily added mass to his 6-foot-6 frame. By the time he was a fifth-year senior playing for Ron McBride, McQuistan was 312 pounds and drawing rave reviews from scouting services and NFL coaches.

"He has all the intangibles to be a good NFL starter for a long time," reads his scouting report on NFL.com. "He really competes and attacks defensive linemen with a fervor that few linemen show. McQuistan can be a good starting guard in the NFL, but with his height, long arms, quick feet and top-level competitiveness, he could do a solid job at right tackle also if his team wants to try him there."

Pat McQuistan's NFL future isn't nearly as clear. Eligibility problems kept Pat from joining his twin brother at Weber State for two years. He's talked with a few teams but will likely need to go the free-agent route in order to make a roster.

That doesn't mean there's any sibling rivalry or jealousy, though.

"It's pretty neat," Pat McQuistan said. "When you're a twin, if your brother is doing something, you always want to do it a little better. But this is OK. There's no jealousy, none. We're just really happy for him."