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."
Teams like Kansas City, St. Louis, Arizona, Atlanta and others have all paid visits to Ogden to meet with Paul McQuistan and evaluate him. According to the draft gurus at Sports Illustrated, he's most likely to be drafted in the fifth round but could go a round or two earlier if he made a strong impression on one particular team.
McQuistan "blocks with good lean and jolts opponents at the point of attack," SI.com said. "Works to play with leverage, displays good awareness on the field and works well with teammates. Has a nasty streak and gives effort finishing blocks."
That "nasty streak," McQuistan said, has never gotten him in trouble but has helped him send messages to defensive linemen who think they can outmuscle him.
"The game is so intense that sometimes you have to have a little of that," he said. "But I've never gotten a penalty because of it. (NFL coaches ) want to see if I can play to that edge all the time without causing my team any penalties."
SI.com rates McQuistan as the 13th best offensive tackle. He's also the top-rated prospect from the Big Sky Conference and the state of Utah, according to the magazine's rating system.
ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said McQuistan is one of the "sleepers" of this year's draft and could be selected in the second or third rounds.
But as good as McQuistan is, there is room for improvement for the expert run blocker during passing plays.
"When he has to move his feet a lot in pass protection, he struggles and gets beaten," NFL.com said. "He does not punch the defensive tackle aggressively in pass protection, he can be driven back into the quarterback's lap too easily."
Still, McQuistan's mean streak and competitive nature should get him a mid-round draft status.
"On the most important plays, McQuistan consistently eliminated his man from the play," NFL.com said. "He is, without question, a team player whose all-out effort and competitive playing spirit not only make him a productive offensive lineman, but his intensity raises the level of competitiveness and production of all the other linemen's production."
That's pretty strong praise for a kid who didn't even fantasize of playing football on Sundays as he was growing up.
"I can honestly say when we grew up that we never said we were going to be playing on Sundays," Pat McQuistan said. "That's just not the way we thought. But now, it's knocking on the door. And that's pretty cool."
Depending on which team drafts him, McQuistan will play either tackle or guard. The position, he said, isn't important.
"I'll play wherever they want me to play," McQuistan said. "Just being on a team is all I'm really worried about right now."
And, with a little more reason to do so, the McQuistan family just might find themselves watching football on Sundays.
E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com