Big East produces two first-round picks, neither of them Brohm

By Darrell Laurant  |   Tuesday, April 29, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm hung around until the second round on Saturday, but the Big East still produced a couple of first-round picks on the opening day of the NFL draft.

Mountainous (6-foot-5, 340 pounds) former Pitt tackle Jeff Otah went to another set of Panthers -- Carolina -- with the 19th pick, while Dallas made South Florida cornerback Mike Jenkins the 25th player chosen.

Brohm was the 26th player picked in the second round, going to the Green Bay Packers. Most mock drafts had him as the second-most appealing QB in the draft, but that distinction went to Joe Flacco of Delaware, a first-round choice of the Ravens.

While the Packers insisted that the selections of Brohm and LSU quarterback Matt Flynn (in Round 7) was not a message to incumbent Aaron Rodgers (the longtime heir apparent to Brett Favre), Packer coach Mike McCarthy also insisted that the position was wide open.

Thanks in large part to a strong combine performance, Rutgers running back Ray Rice also went in the second round, to Baltimore.

Other Big East draftees included Rutgers OT Jeremy Zuttah (Tampa Bay), Louisville WR Harry Douglas (Atlanta) and West Virginia RB/WR Steve Slaton (Houston) in the third round; Connecticut DB Tyvon Branch (Oakland) and Pitt OG Mike McGlynn (Philadelphia) in the fourth; Louisville TE Gary Barnidge (Carolina), Louisville OT Breno Giacomini (Brohm's primary protector last season who now joins him in Green Bay), South Florida CB Trae Williams (Jacksonville) and West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt (Seattle) in the fifth; West Virginia S Ryan Mundy (Pittsburgh), Connecticut G Donald Thomas and Cincinnati S Haruki Nakamura in the sixth, and Cincinnati DE Angelo Craig (Cincinnati), Louisville WR Mario Urrutia (Cincinnati) and Pitt DB Kennard Cox (Buffalo) in the seventh.

Cox missed by one of being Mr. Irrelevant, winding up as the next-to-last player chosen. His selection was somewhat unexpected, as he was projected by most experts to be a free agent.

The biggest surprises among the non-draftees may have been South Florida LB Ben Moffitt (who has already signed a free-agent contract with Houston), Syracuse DE Jameel McClain (signed post-draft by Baltimore) and West Virginia WR Darius Reynaud, a game-breaker in college who is now a free agent Minnesota Viking.

Others who were given a chance of being selected but weren't included DT Johnny Dingle, LB Michael Magro, DT Keilen Dykes and DB Eric Wicks of West Virginia; TE Darrell Strong and DE Joe Clermond of Pitt; OT Pedro Sosa, PK Jeremy Ito, OG Mike Fladell and DB Ron Girault of Rutgers; PK Art Carmody and linebackers Malik Jackson and Lamar Myles of Louisville; WR Amarri Jackson and DE Richard Clebert of South Florida, QB Ben Mauk of Cincinnati and WR Taj Smith and DB Joe Fieldof Syracuse.

For the first time in more than 30 years, Syracuse did not have a player chosen (Smith and Fields later signed as free agents with Green Bay and Carolina, respectively).

Mauk was in an odd situation, considering he has lodged an appeal with the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility.

Meanwhile, Carmody and Ito had a lot of company on the sidelines. Only two kickers were picked in the seven rounds -- Taylor Mehlhaus of Wisconsin by New Orleans ion Round 6 and Brandon Coutu of Georgia by Seattle in Round 7.

(Realfootball365.com will offer more analysis of individual Big East players chosen and a wrap-up of free-agent signings later in the week).

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