2010 NFL Draft: Hokies and Irish Have Big Weeks

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

Ice, Ice Jimmy

Just like 'Ice Man' in the classic 1986 Tom Cruise movie Top Gun, aspiring NFL quarterback and former Notre Dame player Jimmy Clausen is ice cold, especially when under duress. He makes few mistakes when under pressure and waits for unsuspecting DBs to slip up or miss a step before capitalizing on their mishaps.

Clausen, who decided to forgo his senior season at Notre Dame for an opportunity at achieving his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL, has faced scrutiny about his personality for years.

Some thought he was too cocky, like Taylor Mays. The former USC star said he thought Clausen was "a little bitch" before he played the Irish QB this past season. This judgement was passed after Mays watched the 2008 Hawaii Bowl highlights where Clausen made an aloha sign after throwing a touchdown pass to Golden Tate. That perception changed after Mays began working out with Clausen while training for the NFL combine.

Others thought he was a poor leader. Todd McShay, self-proclaimed football guru and inexplicably employed by ESPN, has not been shy about his feelings on Clausen's leadership skills. He and Mel Kiper Jr., an actual football guru, debated the subject at length in a segment aired on ESPN before the NFL combine. But former teammates along with Kiper, Jr. have defended Clausen as a strong leader.

No one questions his mechanics, though. As you will see in the ESPN article featured here Clausen meticulously practiced and perfected his throwing mechanics with veritable quarterback genius Steve Clarkson, who has tutored the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Leinart, J.P. Losman, and Matt Barkley. This will also be a feature article in April 19 issue of ESPN the Magazine.

One question remains - where will Clausen be locked and loaded in the 2010 NFL draft? As ice cold as he is, Clausen likely does not care where he winds up just so long as he gets a chance to play in the pros unlike his brothers.