....Being from Hawaii, there is a feeling of pride inside me and the community when a local player gains national attention for his athletic abilities. Dominic's quest to become a standout NFL offensive- lineman will be followed very closely from the islands. People are reading about his exploits and words like "tenacious" and "warrior" are being thrown around with regularity, but those are just words; you have to see him play for yourself. If there ever was a tangible example of the "go for the throat mentality", Raiola is it. The team he goes to will no doubt love him and their fans will likely make him one of their favorites. He is just so competitive and aggressive that you can't help but marvel at his effort. Just plug him in and you have a anchor and leader for 12 years barring injury, maybe more. Some team will be smart and ignore the tradition of picking centers outside the first round. He deserves to go atleast in the top 20, but might not, because skill players, OTs and defensive players, usually rank higher in importance in most war-rooms. Teams can go ahead and roll the dice on the "high upside" guys who just as often go bust than succeed; the team that picks Dominic will rest easy. Mark it down: Raiola is going to be a great great center.

Dave Te Thomas on Raiola

ANALYSIS Positives...Solidly built lineman with thick legs and wide hips...Has great initial quickness, doing a nice job of rolling his hips to generate explosion coming out of his stance...Has the lower leg drive to sustain his blocks, maintaining position while consistently finishing...Gets tremendous movement heading upfield and is one of the more agile blockers available for the draft (4.2 in the 20-yard shuttle)...Shows classic knee bend in his stance, delivering his hands up quickly to grab, catch and punch the defender...Has the body control to stay with the more athletic pass rushers...His wide base, powerful legs and superb balance prevent defenders from walking him back in pass protection...Shows fluid change-of-direction agility and a very aggressive nature...Finalist for the school's Lifter of the Year Award the last two seasons. Negatives...Little shorter than one would like, but will compensate with tremendous power and a very wide lower torso to get leg-drive... While he has impressive lateral agility, he does drop to his knees at times when moving upfield to neutralize the linebackers.

CAREER NOTES Another in a long line of sensational offensive linemen to wear a Nebraska uniform in the last three decades...In 1999, he became the first sophomore center since Dave Rimington in 1980 to garner post-season honors...Became the first freshman offensive lineman to start a game since Rob Zatechka in 1991...The two-time Nebraska Lifter of the Year finalist has been very capable of "lifting" the Cornhuskers' formidable rushing attack, setting a school season-record with 140 knockdown blocks (11.67 per game) as a sophomore, only to better that mark the following year with 145 (13.2 per game)...Blessed with the perfect blend of power and quickness, he set school position records in their off-season conditioning program in the 10-yard dash (1.70) and 20-yard shuttle (4.20)...While known for his exploits on the football field, he has been equally impressive in the class room, garnering Academic All-Big Twelve Conference honors the last two years while making the conference's honor Roll three times.

AGILITY TESTS

Two-time finalist for Husker Lifter of the Year honors...5.11 in the 40-yard dash...1.7 in the 10-yard dash...4.2 in the 20-yard shuttle...30-inch vertical jump...475-pound bench press...Set a Performance Index position record with 2640 points in 2000.

HIGH SCHOOL

Three-year starter on the offensive line for St. Louis School in Honolulu (HI)...Team went undefeated in his last three years and ranked 15th nationally in 1996, winning its 11th straight state championship...Earned first-team All-State honors as a junior and a senior...Also a National Honor Society member, a three-year scholar-athlete and ranked sixth in his class of 180...First player from the state of Hawaii to be awarded a Nebraska football scholarship.

PERSONAL Communication Studies, earning Academic All-Big Twelve Conference and Big Twelve Honor Roll recognition with a 3.118 cumulative grade point average...Two-year member of the Unity Council...Son of Wendy and Tony Raiola...Born 12/30/78...Resides in Honolulu, Hawaii.

NOTE...Statistics are from review of game film by our scouting department...SGP-season grade percentage...GM-games played...PLAY-amount of snaps played in...KB-key blocks (pancake/ knockdowns)...TDB-touchdown resulting blocks...DWF-downfield blocks...PRS-pressures allowed...
SKA-sacks allowed...High Grade Game-best graded game for the season.

Stats	GM	SGP	Play	KB	TDB	DWF	PRS	SKA	High Grade Game
1998	12	83.6	494	76	6	14	4	1	89% vs. Colorado
1999	12	87.1	807	140	11	23	2	0	95% vs. Kansas St.
2000	11	88.2	799	145	17	30	1	0	98% vs. Baylor

2000 SEASON

All-American first-team selection by the Football Writers Association, Walter Camp, Associated Press and American Football Coaches Association...Rated the best offensive lineman in the country by The NFL Draft Report...Finalist for both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award, given to the nation's top lineman ....Consensus All-Big Twelve Conference first-team and earned Academic All-Big Twelve second-team honors...Totally dominated the action in the trenches, registering a career-high 145 knockdown blocks (13.2 per game)...Led a superb blocking effort by the front wall as the Husker quarterbacks were sacked only ten times during the course of the season...The offense generated 5059 yards, an average of 459.3 yards per game...Had at least ten knockdowns in every game, except vs. Kansas State (eight).

San Jose State...Opened the season with 14 knockdowns, including one that let QB Eric Crouch score the team's first touchdown for the season on a 6-yard run as Nebraska amassed 505 yards on the ground, it's best single-game effort in five seasons.

Notre Dame...Cut blocked linebacker Anthony Denman to spring I-back Dan Alexander for a 28-yard scoring run, finishing with 11 knockdowns for an offense that gained 274 yards rushing. Iowa...Picked up a stunt by defensive end Anthony Herron, flattening the Hawkeye to give Crouch time to connect with tight end Tracey Wistrom on a 12-yard touchdown pass, making 17 knock-downs to help the team collect 490 yards, including 331 on the ground.

Missouri...Registered 12 knockdowns as the Huskers piled up 484 yards. Iowa State...Followed with 13 knockdowns, clearing a rush lane used by by tailback Correll Buckhalter for a 9-yard scoring scamper as Nebraska totaled 500 yards.

Texas Tech...Had another 13 knockdowns to pave the way for a 540-yard day by the offense. Baylor...Played just a little bit over two quarters, Dominic put on a blocking clinic with 17 knockdowns, opening a huge hole for Alexander's 2-yard touchdown run and later made a key block upfield to clear away the final obstacle on Burkhalter's 36-yard scoring run.

Oklahoma...Delivered ten knockdowns.

Kansas...Simply dominated the action in the trenches, making 11 knockdowns in the first quarter alone while finishing with a total of 18...Three of those blocks led to touchdown runs of 1, 1 & 3 yards by Crouch as the team accounted for 493 of its 562 yards on the ground.

Colorado...Posted 12 knockdowns, including three on the team's final scoring drive (five-play drive) that set up Josh Brown's game-winning 29-yard field goal as time expired in a 34-32 decision.

Northwestern (Alamo Bowl)...In his final game as a husker, he led a strong blocking upfront as the line did not allow a sack while the offense generated 636 yards...Finished with 15 knock- downs, including one that leveled defensive tackle Dwayne Missouri on a 15-yard touchdown run by Alexander.

1999 SEASON

Consensus All-Big Twelve Conference first-team selection, the first sophomore to earn such post-season honors since Dave Rimington in 1980...Member of Sports Illustrated's All-Bowl Team...First-team Academic All-Big Twelve choice...Finalist for Nebraska Lifter of the Year honors...Set a school season-record (since broken by Russ Hochstein in 2000) with 140 knock- down blocks, an average of 11.7 per game, topping the previous record of 135 by Aaron Taylor in 1997...Called blocking assignments upfront that resulted in a stellar performance by the line as Husker quarterbacks were sacked only 17 times and the offense averaged 392.2 yards per game... Had at least ten knockdowns in seven contests.

Iowa...Opened the season with ten knockdowns, cut blocking linebacker LaVar Woods on Eric Crouch's 28-yard touchdown run as Nebraska collected 543 yards.

California...Shoved middle linebacker Keith Miller to the ground as wingback Bobby Newcombe hauled in a 60-yard touchdown bomb from Crouch...Delivered 17 knockdowns for an offense that posted 301 yards passing.

Southern Mississippi...Facing one of the toughest run defenses in college football, Dominic proved that these Eagles would not soar into the Husker backfield, registering a season-high 18 knockdowns, including one that took down defensive tackle Daleroy Stewart on fullback Willie Miller's 8-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown.

Kansas...Cleared a rush lane used by Crouch for an 8-yard touchdown run as the Husker center made 11 knockdowns.

Texas A&M...Followed with 15 knockdowns, upending linebacker Roylin Bradley upfield as the center led the way on Dan Alexander's 6-yard touchdown run. Kansas State...Took down defensive end Darren Howard as Crouch turned the corner for an 18-yard scoring scamper and later executed a roll block on linebacker Mark Simoneau to clear the way for Miller's 4-yard touchdown run as the Huskers gained 325 yards on the ground.

Colorado...Introduced linebacker Greg Jones to the ground with a crunching cut block as Alexander blasted his way up the middle for a 1-yard score...Finished the day with 11 knockdown blocks.

Tennessee (Fiesta Bowl)...Registered 15 knockdowns, leveling linebacker Eric Westmoreland on a 7-yard touchdown run by Alexander and later contained defensive tackles Darwin Walker and John Henderson long enough for Crouch to throw a 13-yard scoring strike to Aaron Golliday as the team amassed 311 yards.

1998 SEASON Played in every game, starting vs. Colorado at left guard in the season finale and vs. Arizona in the Holiday Bowl...Handled deep snapping duties and also saw action on special teams, making four tackles...Despite playing mostly in a reserve role all year, he ranked fourth on the team with 76 knockdown blocks...Helped the team average 384.9 yards per game in total offense.

Louisiana Tech...Began his career in explosive fashion, collecting a season-high 14 knockdowns, including one that took down defensive end Keith Washington upfield on a 43-yard scoring run by Correll Buckhalter.

Alabama-Birmingham...Followed with ten knockdowns as the team gained 444 yards.

Oklahoma State, Texas and Kansas State...Made one tackle in each game.

Kansas...Cleared a rush lane up the middle for Buckhalter's 3-yard touchdown run, making 11 knockdowns for the day.

Missouri...Took down defensive tackle Steve Erickson on a 1-yard scoring run by QB Monte Cristo as Nebraska amassed 256 yards on the ground...Made 10 knockdowns.

Colorado...Started his first game as a Husker, linining up at left guard, delivering 10 knockdowns and posting a solo tackle.

Arizona (Holiday Bowl)...Collected a pair of tackles and had ten knockdowns, including one that took down linebacker DaShon Polk on Eric Crouch's 4-yard touchdown pass to Tracey Wistrom.

1997 SEASON

Redshirted as a freshman.

Raiola did very well at the combine in Indy. He did 29 reps of 225Lbs and had a very good shuttle time of 4.35. Look for Raiola to go somewhere near the end of round one and the middle of round two. He is gonna be a steal no matter where he goes.

Goto this excellent site for more on Raiola< Draftbook-the open 2001 draft project>