Regarded as one of the nation's premier place-kickers, Ito was called upon to handle the full brunt of the kicking load in 2007. He struggled with his kickoffs and punts, but went on to set a school single-season record and tied a league mark with 23 field goals during his final campaign.

Ito became the seventh player in major college football history to score at least 400 points in his career. The Scarlet Knights' kicker also set Big East Conference records by attempting 111 field goals and making 80 for Rutgers.

Ito did not begin competing in football until his sophomore year at Redlands High School. He went on to earn All-Citrus Belt League honors in each of his three seasons, as he handled kickoff, field goal, extra point and punting duties. He connected on three field goals and converted 14 extra points as a senior. He also averaged 40.3 yards per punt. He was rated the school's top golfer.

In 2004, Ito enrolled at Rutgers, as he was one of a recruiting class that was rated as one of the best in the country. He earned third-team Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News. He handled field goal and placement duties, also punting once for 29 yards. He led the team in scoring with 73 points, connecting on 15-of-24 field goals and 28-of-29 PATs.

As a sophomore, Ito led the Big East Conference and ranked 12th in the nation with an average of 1.67 field goals made per game. He ranked second on the squad with 100 points scored, hitting on 20-of-27 field goals, including a long of 50 yards. He also made all 40 of his extra point tries.

Ito was a semifinalist for the 2006 Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's top kicker. He added All-Big East Conference second-team and All-American honorable mention, as he again finished second on the team in scoring with 107 points. He was successful on 22 of 29 field goals, including a 53-yarder, and hit on 41 of 42 PATs. He kicked off 77 times, as 29 sailed out of the end zone for touchbacks and he had an average distance of 61.5 yards.

As a senior, Ito was selected All-Big East first-team, as he scored a career-high 120 points, ranking second in the league and tied for 14th in the nation with an average of 9.23 points scored per game. He finished tied for ninth nationally with 1.77 field goals per game, tying the Big East season record with 23 field goals on 31 tries.

He added 51 PATs and had a distance average of 62.7 yards on 87 kickoff returns, but only three of his kickoffs went for touchbacks. Ito also took on punting duties, as he had 50 attempts for a 35.7-yard average with 14 kicks that were downed inside the 20-yard line, but Rutgers ranked 117th in the country with a net-yard average of 30.73 yards.

Ito closed out his career by scoring 400 points, as he connected on 80-of-111 field goals (72.1 percent) and 160-of-162 extra point attempts. He kicked off 164 times for 10,188 yards, a distance average of 62.1 yards. He had 32 touchbacks and three kickoffs that went out of bounds, as the opposition returned 127 kicks for 2,894 yards (22.8 avg) and touchdowns of 97 and 100 yards.

Ito punted 51 times for 1,816 yards (35.6 avg) with one attempt blocked, four that went for touchbacks and 15 that were downed inside the 20-yard line. The opposition called for 10 fair catches and returned 23 of his punts for 140 yards (6.1 avg) and a long of 24. He added two solo tackles and completed his only pass attempt for 36 yards.

Positives: Has marginal upper body muscle mass, but does have thick thighs and calves, showing good (but inconsistent) leg strength … Generally shows good composure in pressure situations … Shows good hands and adjustment agility to handle bad snaps from punt formation … Puts in a lot of extra hours training and has attended kicking camps every summer … Was very erratic in 2007, but does display good explosion behind his kicks … His kicks display good height on intermediate attempts (was also good from long distances before 2007, but those attempts resulted in the ball fading some towards the outside in 2007) … Has adequate quickness and snap-to-kick timing, showing no problem getting the ball off (will have problems when the ball comes off the side of his foot though, resulting in five blocked kicks at Rutgers) … Gets much better rise on field goals and placements than on kickoffs … The ball can jump off his foot and elevate with good explosion … Has had good success kicking in rainy conditions, but last year, when kicking into the wind, the ball would drift … Not considered a pro prospect as a punter, but did show decent accuracy with his directional attempts (only 23 of 50 punts were returned, as 10 resulted in fair catches and 14 were downed inside the 20-yard line).

Negatives: Has marginal muscle mass and poor upper body frame definition … Saw his mechanics become very inconsistent in 2007 in all phases of his game, as he simply handled too many assignments … Not a pro-style punter, evident by his 117th ranking with a net-yard average of 30.73 yards … Had an alarming drop-off in distance and consistency on his kickoffs, as 29 resulted in touchbacks in 2006, compared to just two in 2007 … Does not have the timed speed to get down field in a hurry, nor the strength and tackling ability to lend any support to the kick coverage units … Struggles with his running stride … Must show that he has regained his leg strength in training camp after his sub par senior season showing, especially with his long range field goal ability (made just 4-of-10 field goals from 40 yards out in 2007, compared to a 4-of-6 rate in 2006 and 8-of-12 in 2005) … Has problems kicking into the wind, which causes his field goal attempts to fade outside the 35-yard range … Seemed to be rushing his approach on field goal tries as a senior, making just 74% of his three-point tries as a senior … Must improve the height of his kickoffs, as he hit too many line drives, which resulted in the coverage team not having enough time to set up and cover (had 47-of-77 kickoffs returned in 2006, but 80-of-87 kickoffs were returned in 2007) … Also needs to improve his kickoff angles to prevent them from going out of bounds.

Compares To: MATT STOVER-Baltimore … Like Stover, Ito ran too hot and cold the last two years. Perhaps it was due to work overload, but all areas of his kicking game suffered as a senior. He will not handle punting chores in the NFL, but the biggest concern is his inaccuracy on long-range field goals and his inability to drive his kickoffs into the end zone in 2007, especially after you match those numbers up against his impressive junior campaign. By handling all those assignments with inconsistency, he might have forced himself out of the draft picture.

No injuries reported.

Campus: 4.94 in the 40-yard dash … 308-pound bench press … 345-pound squat … 245-pound power clean … 29 ¼-inch arm length … 8 ½-inch hands … Right-handed.

Combine: Did not receive an invitation.

Attended Redlands (Calif.) High School, playing football for head coach Jim Walker … Did not begin competing in football until his sophomore year, but went on to earn All-Citrus Belt League honors in each of his three seasons on the gridiron … Handled kickoff, field goal, extra point and punting duties … Connected on three field goals and converted 14 extra points as a senior … Also averaged 40.3 yards per punt … Rated the school's top golfer.

Management major … Born 3/04/86 … Resides in Loma Linda, California.