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In times of crisis, some people help out by writing checks. Some become volunteers. Others choose the activist route - showing up at rallies, making speeches, doing public-service spots. But what Vladimir Ducasse is doing to help is brilliant in its simplicity: He’s going to forge ahead and make himself the best football player he can be, hoping that it will pay off in his being a high pick in the NFL draft.

A week from today, Ducasse will play in the Senior Bowl at Mobile, Ala. Next will come the scouting combine in Indianapolis, followed by the draft. He has been scouted by every team in the NFL, with our old pal Scott Pioli, who now runs the Kansas City Chiefs, taking in a UMass game to watch Ducasse for himself. A lot of the people who make it their business to rate college prospects have him going in the second or third round, but one poll touts him as a late first-round pick, the idea being that he’d be shifted to guard.