As always, there were plenty of surprises during the NFL Draft and several of them happened to involve the schools we follow here at Stars & Slights.
The biggest news was certainly Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen falling all the way to the Carolina Panthers who selected him with the 48th overall pick.
This will be viewed by many as a bad thing, but I see some positives in the fall for Jimmy. The biggest knock on him is his perceived "cockiness" and this will certainly take him down a peg or two. It's important to be humbled (though the many sacks he took in college certainly helped) and there's no doubt Mr. Clausen now has a very different perspective from which to learn and work.
Also, Carolina is a very talented team. The big problem for them was an oft-injured Jake Delhomme. With the Rajun' Cajun' now in Cleveland, Clausen has a shot to be the guy in Charlotte once he's ready.
For me, the most exciting moment of the draft came four picks later when Brian's Pittsburgh Steelers selected Virginia Tech defensive end Jason Worilds, who will move to outside linebacker in Pittsburgh's 3-4 defensive set.
Worilds was the first Hokie drafted and will take his relentless motor and strong work ethic to an organization that values those things perhaps more than any other team in the NFL.
Some other surprises included Irish wide receiver Golden Tate slipping to the 60th overall pick (far lower than I would have taken him) and former Hokie walk-on Cody Grimm was selected in the 7th round.
Grimm is an undersized linebacker who has worked extremely hard and made himself into one of the Hokies' leading tacklers and an NFL safety prospect picked up by Tampa Bay. Truly inspiring.
Here is the complete list of players drafted from both schools. Best of luck to all of those drafted and to everyone signing free agent deals as we speak (type).
Notre Dame
QB Jimmy Clausen- Carolina, Round 2
WR Golden Tate- Seattle, Round 2
OT Sam Young- Dallas, Round 6
C Eric Olsen- Denver, Round 6
Virginia Tech
LB Jason Worilds- Pittsburgh, Round 2
S Kam Chancellor- Seattle, Round 5
OT Ed Wang- Buffalo- Round 5
P Brent Bowden- Tampa Bay, Round 6
S Cody Grimm- Tampa Bay, Round 7
2 comments:
Not a bad recap though the Jimmy zings could have been fewer. Outside of ND and VT here are the biggest surprises in my mind:
- Tim Tebow to Denver with the 25th overall pick. Is Tebow really a first round talent? Who knows. Everyone from the media to fans is going crazy over this pick. Probably one of the more puzzling selections of all time. The Broncos don't really need a lot of help at the QB position immediately but are clearly thinking they need to have several viable options at backup (Brady Quinn and now Tebow) to fill in once Kyle Orton begins to wither. I honestly think Tebow will be a bust along the lines of Tim Couch, Eric Crouch, Ryan Leaf, et. all.
- Colt McCoy to Cleveland with the 85th overall pick. I know he was injured late in the season but this was a pretty deep fall for a guy who was in contention to win the Heisman the past two seasons and was an inspiring leader for the 'Horns from 2006-2009. Odds are in his favor to have a much more successful NFL career than Tebow. If anyone is taking bets I would place one on that right now.
- Terrence Cody to Baltimore with the 57th overall pick. Though Cody is a mountainous behemoth whose overall health is questionable I did not imagine him falling this far in the 2nd round. With a few years of NFL conditioning he will be a force in the league. What a steal and pickup for the Ravens.
Haha I'd hardly consider those zings, that was being polite. I've heard (and given) far worse descriptions of the guy. Like I said though, he's in a good situation and I could see him being successful there.
I really like Tebow, and while I was shocked he got picked so high it's a very interesting situation for him to go to. Kyle Orton isn't exactly a world-beater and there isn't too much pressure on T-squared at the moment so we'll see what happens.
I agree on Colt, he's a good player though he and Tebow both lack arm strength, they are leaders and know how to win.
And finally yes, the Ravens draft as well as anyone. Sergio Kindle AND Mount Cody? That's scary considering the defense they already have.
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