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Connor, King Slip in Draft |
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Written by David DeIulis
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
Although its top six picks played out as anticipated, this weekend’s NFL Draft was full of surprises – and trades. After the New York Jets made Vernon Gholston of Ohio State the sixth pick, nearly half of the remaining selections were swapped, much to the dismay of mock drafters and Commissioner Roger Goodell, who shortened the internal between picks to 10 minutes in futile hopes of curtailing the practice. To Penn State fans, even more baffling than tracking the twisting tangle of trades was the fact that neither of its All-Big Ten performers and projected first round selections, defensive back Justin King and linebacker Dan Connor, were picked in the first, or second, rounds.
Connor, who holds “Linebacker U.’s” all-time tackling record with 419, was projected as a late first-round pick after finishing atop the Big Ten and seventh nationally with 145 tackles last season, 69 of them solo. Instead, Connor was the sixth linebacker selected when he was picked in the third round, 74th overall, by the Carolina Panthers. In Carolina he will replace oft-injured Dan Morgan and join Jon Beason to form one of the NFL’s potentially preeminent linebacker duos.
King, after running a 4.3 40-yard-dash in an eye-opening workout at the NFL Combine in February, was also projected as a late first to early second round selection, and received enough of a confirmation from scouts to forego his senior season in Happy Valley. Despite struggling against tall, rangy receivers like Indiana’s James Hardy, the 6 foot, 186 pound King finished 2007 with 49 tackles, 15 pass deflections and two interceptions. In St. Louis, King will join fellow former Nittany Lion cornerback David Macklin, and will be afforded the time to adjust to physical NFL receivers.
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Penn State 