There's a chance that a few months from now, Wisconsin-Whitewater wide receiver Jake Kumerow will add to the draft history of his family.
His dad, Eric, was a linebacker from Ohio State who was a first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 1988. His uncle, John Bosa, was a defensive end from Boston College who was the Dolphins' first-round pick in 1987. And his cousin, Joey Bosa, a sophomore, is an All-America defensive end at Ohio State with an extremely high upside.
Jake Kumerow's final college game is Friday night, when Wisconsin-Whitewater meets Mount Union (Ohio) in the NCAA Division III championship game (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU). And while Kumerow is not a first-rounder like his dad or uncle, and isn't near the same type of prospect as his cousin, he does have some things going for him.
Obviously, his bloodlines are impressive. So is his size (6-foot-5, 205 pounds). His production is noteworthy, too: In the past two seasons, covering 25 games (he missed four this season with an ankle injury), he has 135 receptions for 2,317 yards (17.2 yards per catch) and 32 touchdowns.
NFL scouts have noticed: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that more than 20 NFL scouts have watched him play or practice this season and that he has been timed in 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. That kind of speed, coupled with his size, makes him an intriguing prospect.
Warhawks coach Lance Leipold certainly thinks highly of Kumerow.
"Jake Kumerow on the field is a good thing for the Warhawks," Leipold told the Janesville (Wis.) Gazette. "Whether or not Jake's catching passes, there's sometimes maybe a few extra yards on a running play because Jake's on the field."
Kumerow began his career as a walk-on at Illinois in 2010 and played for the Illini as a redshirt freshman in 2011 before transferring to Wisconsin-Whitewater for the 2012 season.
Last season, Kumerow had six games with multiple TD receptions; this season, he has had two games with three TD receptions.
Mount Union is the alma mater of Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon and Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Cecil Shorts, and also of Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers. The Purple Raiders have a lot of history with Wisconsin-Whitewater. Incredibly, this will be the ninth time in 10 seasons that the schools have met for the Division III title. UWW is 5-3 in those games, including winning three in a row and four of the past five.
Kumerow wouldn't mind a repeat of last season's outcome, when he had a 103-yard, two-touchdown performance in a 52-14 rout of Mount Union.
Whitewater carries a 31-game winning streak into the matchup, the longest current streak at any level of the NCAA. The game is the final one at UWW for Leipold, who already has been hired as coach at Buffalo. Leipold set an NCAA record earlier this season by becoming the fastest coach to 100 wins in NCAA history; he did it in his 106th game.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
