*** JOHN MACKEY AWARD CANDIDATE ***
The 2011 Scouting Report: One of the Big Ten's top returning tight ends and one of the league's most dynamic multi-skill players ... Named to the John Mackey Award preseason watch list for a second consecutive year ... Named to the Big Ten preseason second-team by Athlon Sports and Phil Steele's ... Possesses a terrific skill set: good route runner, great hands, excellent ball skills, and with his added strength and weight, a solid blocker ... Talented all-around athlete ... Sat out the past two spring seasons to rehab from injuries ... Adds another dimension to NU's passing game.
2011: Starting superback who played in 50 career games with 29 starts ... Tabbed the Big Ten's Kwalick-Clark Tight End of the Year ... Consensus first-team All-Big Ten selection (coaches and media) ... Named a John Mackey Award semifinalist (one of eight) on Nov. 14 ... Also named to the Pony Express Award watch list (honors nation's top top two- or three-player tandems) ... Closed career with 14 TD receptions, which ranks fourth on NU's career receiving TD list, and 1,425 receiving yards ... ... Team's second-leading receiver with 45 catches and 522 yards ... Ranked among the nation's top tight ends with six TD receptions ... Had one of his top career performances at Indiana: seven catches for 112 yards and a school-record four TD receptions ... Also tied IU's Memorial Stadium record with his four TD catches ... Named the John Mackey Tight End of the Week and the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week, as well as NU's offensive player of the week, for his Indiana performance ... In that game, became NU's receiving yardage leader for a tight end (he secured the record on his 10-yard TD grab in the second quarter) ... Caught two passes (for 10 yards) at Boston College, which gave him an even 100 receptions for his career ... Shared team's offensive big playmaker of the game vs. Boston College, largely for his outstanding downfield blocking ... Two receptions for 26 yards vs. Eastern Illinois ... Caught two passes for 14 yards at Army ... Totaled three receptions for 26 yards and his season's first TD at Illinois ... Snared a season-high seven receptions for 73 yards vs. Michigan ... Caught three passes for 29 yards, which included an 18-yard TD grab from Kain Colter ... Three catches for 38 yards vs. Penn State ... Caught four passes for 39 yards vs. Nebraska ... Finished with seven receptions for 59 yards against Rice ... Two catches for 14 yards vs. Minnesota ... Had just one reception vs. Michigan State, but it went for a career-long 69 yards ... Caught two passes for 13 yards vs. Texas A&M ... Caught 40 or more passes in his final three seasons (2009, 2010, 2011) ... Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
2010: Starting superback who played in all 13 games with nine official starts ... Tabbed honorable mention All-Big Ten by coaches and media ... Academic All-Big Ten ... Averaged 3.1 catches per game (40 total) ... Caught five touchdown passes in 2010, bringing his career total to eight ... One reception for three yards in TicketCity Bowl ... Two catches for 25 yards at Wisconsin, including a 20-yard TD reception ... Caught one pass for 14 yards against Illinois ... NU's leading receiver vs. Iowa with eight catches for 65 yards, surpassing 1,000 career receiving yards in the process ... At Penn State, made a spectacular one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown and finished with 14 yards receiving ... Four receptions for 29 yards at Indiana ... Compiled 50 yards on four receptions against Purdue ... Caught two passes for 17 yards at Minnesota ... Three catches for 34 yards vs. Central Michigan ... Led NU with 87 receiving yards on six catches at Rice, including a 47-yard catch-and-run ... Two touchdown receptions (four and five yards, respectively) vs. Illinois State, finishing with five catches for 30 yards ... Named the team's Offensive Big Playmaker vs. ISU ... Caught two passes for 13 yards at Vanderbilt, including a 9-yard third-quarter TD reception.
2009: Starting superback ... Officially, started 7 of team's 13 games ... Finished third on team's receptions list with 47 catches ... Ranked second in receptions among Big Ten tight ends (behind Wisconsin's Garrett Graham) ... Closed season with a carer-best performance in the Outback Bowl: nine catches for 120 yards, which included a spectacular 66-yard tackle-breaking TD run ... That 66-yard TD play was tabbed the 10th-best play among all 34 bowl games in 2009-10 ... Three catches for 45 yards vs. Wisconsin ... Caught one pass for 14 yards at Illinois ... Scored the go-ahead touchdown in NU's victory at No. 4 Iowa, a 4-yard pass from Dan Persa in the second quarter ... Finished with 19 yards receiving yards on three catches vs. the Hawkeyes and was named team's offensive big playmaker ... Caught three passes for 28 yards against Penn State ... One grab for 11 yards against Indiana ... Posted two catches for 16 yards at Michigan State ... Four catches for 38 yards in a 16-6 win over Miami ... At Purdue, totaled four receptions for 42 yards ... Caught four passes for 37 yards against Minnesota ... Savored one of his season's top games at Syracuse in which he led NU with nine catches for 81 yards and his first career touchdown -- a 22-yard second-quarter reception -- earning him team offensive player of the game honors ... Two catches for a team-best 48 yards against Eastern Michigan ... Named team's offensive big playmaker vs. Eastern Michigan ... Hauled in two passes -- both on NU's opening scoring drive -- for 24 yards vs. Towson ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2008: Suffered a season-ending knee injury on the fifth day of preseason practice ... Was slated to play a major offensive role.
2007: Named to The Sporting News' Freshman All-Big Ten team ... One of two true freshmen to play in 2007 ... Reserve superback and special teams performer ... Had a pair of catches for 70 yards (two 35-yard receptions) against Duke ... Two more receptions (for 8 yards) against Michigan ... Six-yard catch at Michigan State ... Couple of receptions for 16 yards vs. Minnesota ... Two catches for 20 yards vs. Eastern Michigan ... Two catches (21 yds.) vs. Purdue ... Notched six special teams hits.
High School: Rivals.com All-Region and Velocity/PrepStar All-Region tight end ... Ranked 15th among all players (second among tight ends) in Rivals.com Kansas player ranking ... Ranked 21st-best tight end nationally by ESPN/Scouts, Inc. ... Two-time first-team all-state honoree ... Two-time team MVP and first-team All-Eastern Kansas League selection ... 2006 first-team All-Sun ... Named to 810 Sports Radio all-star team ... As a junior, caught 41 passes for 586 yards and 8 TD's ... Totaled 56 receptions for 841 yards and 9 TD's his senior season ... Finished career with 105 receptions and 19 TD's ... Helped lead St. Thomas Aquinas to a two-year (2005-06) mark of 19-4, including a 10-2 mark his senior year ... Finished as sub-state runners-up both years ... Team captain ... Also lettered in track (three years) and basketball (two years) ... Coached by Kevin Kopecky.
Personal: Born Drake C. Dunsmore ... Son of Pat and Blanca Dunsmore ... Father, Pat, who played college football at Drake, played tight end two years (1983-84) with the Chicago Bears ... Communication studies major.
| RECEIVING | ||||||||
| Season | Games | Rec | Yards | TD | Long | Rec/G | Avg/C | Avg/G |
| 2007 | 11 | 11 | 141 | 0 | 35 | 1.0 | 12.8 | 12.8 |
| 2009 | 13 | 47 | 523 | 3 | 66 | 3.6 | 11.1 | 40.2 |
| 2010 | 13 | 40 | 381 | 5 | 47 | 3.1 | 9.5 | 29.3 |
| 2011 | 13 | 45 | 522 | 6 | 69 | 3.5 | 11.6 | 40.2 |
| Career | 50 | 143 | 1567 | 14 | 69 | 2.9 | 11.0 | 31.3 |