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2008 NFL Draft Day Notes
04/26/2008
2008 NFL DRAFT DAY NOTES

MEDIA COVERS THE DRAFT!
NEARLY 450 MEDIA – not including ESPN and NFL Network – are on site at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to cover the 2008 NFL Draft.

That includes 13 of the top 20 newspapers; media from 12 states plus the District of Columbia; television outlets such as ABC News, CBS News and CNN; international media from England and Japan; and non-sports media such as Forbes, the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal.

JAKE LONG NOTES

REDSKINS’ JANSEN KNEW IT WOULD BE LONG ALL ALONG!: He’s an NFL player – and a draftnik!

Washington Redskins nine-year right tackle JON JANSEN is an NFL Draft devotee, has appeared on ESPN covering the draft, and in this week’s issue of the Sporting News (which went to press last Sunday), writes a four-page article detailing his predictions for this year’s draft. Under the headline “Don’t Knock My Mock,” Jansen – who began studying the draft as a youngster in Michigan so he could learn what scouts looked for as he developed as a player – presents his mock draft covering the first round’s 31 picks.

His prediction for No. 1 overall by the Miami Dolphins? JAKE LONG! Of course, last Tuesday, the Dolphins “followed” Jon’s advice and took Long as the top pick in the draft. Jansen’s capsule on Long: “Plug Jake into your team and forget about that position for the next 10 to 12 years.”

He went on to describe the importance of molding a team through the offensive line. “OK, I’m biased, but if you are going to build a team and want immediate production, you start with an offensive lineman,” wrote Jensen, a Wolverine alum like Long who has the Michigan “M” tattooed on his upper left arm. “Quarterbacks take time to develop, but linemen can produce now…Jake Long has proved to be a dominant run blocker and, by remaining in college for his senior year, greatly improved his pass blocking.”

JAY & JAKE: The first and newest No. 1 overall NFL Draft choices come from the Big Ten – JAY BERWANGER of Chicago in 1936 and JAKE LONG of Michigan in 2008. The 13 Big Ten No 1 NFL selections:

BIG TEN’s BIG ONES

YEAR
PLAYER/COLLEGE
TEAM

1936
RB Jay Berwanger, Chicago
Phila.

1990
QB Jeff George, Illinois
Ind.

1938
RB Corbett Davis, Indiana
Cleveland

1994
DT Dan Wilkinson, Ohio St.
Cinn.

1941
RB Tom Harmon, Michigan
Chicago

1995
RB Ki-Jana Carter, Penn St.
Cinn.

1959
QB Randy Duncan, Iowa
Green Bay

1997
T Orlando Pace, Ohio State
St. Louis

1966
RB Jim Grabowski, Illinois
Mia. (AFL)

2000
DE Courtney Brown, Penn. St.
Cleveland

1967
DT Bubba Smith, Mich. St.
Baltimore

2008
T Jake Long, Michigan
Miami

1979
LB Tom Cousineau, Ohio St.
Buffalo

NFL Draft Day Notes, Page 2

HEY, POP!: With his selection by the St. Louis Rams with the second overall pick in today’s draft, Virginia DE CHRIS LONG becomes part of an exclusive NFL club.

Long becomes the sixth son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame player/coach to be drafted into the league. Chris follows his father HOWIE (HOF, 2000). Howie Long, a defensive tackle, was drafted out of Villanova by the Oakland Raiders in the second round (No. 48 overall) in 1981. The Hall of Fame father/drafted son rundown:

SELECTED DAD/SELECTED SON
HALL OF FAME FATHER (Year Inducted)
DRAFTED SON (Team, Year)

LB Bobby Bell (1983)
LB Bobby Bell, Jr. (NY Jets, 1984)

RB Tony Dorsett (1994)
CB Anthony Dorsett (Houston, 1996)

QB Bob Griese (1990)
QB Brian Griese (Denver, 1998)

DT Howie Long (2000)
DE Chris Long (St. Louis, 2008)

RB-DB/Coach Don Shula (1997)
QB Mike Shula (Tampa Bay, 1987)

TE Kellen Winslow (1995)
TE Kellen Winslow (Cleveland, 2004)

LONG, THEN LONG: The back-to-back selections to start today’s draft of players with the surname of “Long” marks the fifth time since 2000 that players with the same last name were taken consecutively. The surname rundown:

BACK-TO-BACKS

YEAR
ROUND
NAMES

2000
6
WR Emanuel Smith (Jacksonville/No. 196) & DE Robaire Smith (Tennessee/No. 197)

2004
7
CB Nathan Jones (Dallas/No. 205) & WR Mark Jones (Tampa Bay/No. 206)

2006
1
G Davin Joseph (Tampa Bay/No. 23) & DB Johnathan Joseph (Cincinnati/No. 24)


4
LB Leon Williams (Cleveland/No. 110) & WR Demetrius Williams (Baltimore/#111)

2008
1
T Jake Long (Miami/No. 1) & DE Chris Long (St. Louis/No. 2)

-- NFL DRAFT ’08 --

STREAMLINED DRAFT/FAST FIRST ROUND: Today’s first round was completed in three hours and 30 minutes, roughly half the time of last year’s first round, which took six hours and eight minutes.

It was the shortest first round since 1990 – which took three hours and 24 minutes. The shortest first round since 1970 was in 1972 – two hours flat.

First-round durations since 2000:

YEAR
FIRST ROUND

2000
5:30

2005
5:47

2001
4:18

2006
4:48

2002
5:48

2007
6:08

2003
4:58

2008
3:30

2004
5:24


NFL Draft Day Notes, Page 3


SOME FIRSTS– AND RARITIES – IN TODAY’S FIRST ROUND


THERE WERE eight offensive tackles taken in the first round – a record for the position in the round.

CORNERBACK MIKE JENKINS (No. 25 overall by Dallas) is the first South Florida player to be selected in the first round.

DELAWARE had a player taken for the first time in its history in the round – QB JOE FLACCO.


IT WAS THE SECOND TIME in its history that Boston College had two players taken in the round – QB MATT RYAN (No. 3, Atlanta -- the highest a BC player has gone in the draft) and T GOSDER CHERILUS (No. 17, Detroit).

In 2002, BC RB WILLIAM GREEN was taken by Cleveland 16th overall and T MARC COLOMBO by Chicago 29th.


TENNESSEE STATE had its first player picked in the round since 1974 when CB DOMINIQUE RODGERS-CROMARTIE was picked 16th overall by Arizona.

In ’74, Dallas chose DE ED “TOO TALL” JONES from Tennessee State first overall and State LB WAYMOND BRYANT was selected fourth by Chicago.

TROY had the second player in its history chosen in the first round – CB LEODIS MC KELVIN, No. 11 overall by Buffalo. The first Troy player taken in the round was DE MARCUS WARE by Dallas in 2005 – also 11th overall.



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