It was a big past two days for six former Michigan Wolverines. With ten Wolverines listing themselves as eligible for the draft, six of them have been chosen in the seven round draft. Out of 252 newly drafted NFL players, six of them played for Michigan last year. The ten who applied for the draft were Jamar Adams, Adrian Arrington, Shawn Crable, Brandent Englemon, Chris Graham, Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Adam Kraus, Jake Long and Mario Manningham.
The first pick of the NFL draft went to Jake Long. Long was the first man to join a newly reformed Miami Dolphins team. The 6 ft 7, 313 lbs. Offensive Tackle was announced as the first pick of the draft four days before the draft officially began, so his selection was no big surprise. It was the rest of the Wolverines who would have to wait a surprisingly long time to find out who would be the second to go that were chosen by unpredictable teams.
While Jake Long wasn’t viewed as the best overall pick of the draft, he is filling in a position the Dolphins, the worst team of the 2007 NFL season, needed filled. Long is a competent offensive blocker and seeing as he has experience playing with the Dolphins’ newest quarterback, he’ll know exactly how to cover him in order to be successful on the field.
Speaking of QBs, the second Wolverine to go also went to the Dolphins. The choice of Chad Henne as a QB was to be expected after Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco and Brian Brohm went to Atlanta, Baltimore and Green Bay. I have to say that if Henne went to one of the four teams I’m glad he went to the Dolphins. They can use a dependable QB with a strong arm and the confidence Henne possesses that led him to the Rose Bowl in his freshman year at Michigan.
Henne was the 57th pick of the draft and the 26th pick of the second round. It was expected that Flacco, Brohm and Henne would go much sooner, but none of them seemed overly affected with having to wait. I guess as long as they were drafted that was what was most important.
After the festivities ended on Saturday, the rest of the Wolverines had to wait until Sunday to see if they would be drafted. The first to go was in the third round. Offensive Linebacker, Shawn Crable, went to the New England Patriots where he’ll be joining another Michigan alumnus, Tom Brady. Crable was selected in the 78th spot. While the Patriots feel Crable has some work to do to turn into the OLB they’ll need, he has a lot of promise and the Patriots’ program can develop him into the player they know he is.
Another third round pick, in the 95th pick of the draft was Wide Receiver, Mario Manningham. Manningham was one of Henne’s primary go to guys and when he’s on, he’s amazing. Still, with Henne and Hart out with injuries, Manningham struggled in his last year at Michigan. Manningham chose to leave Michigan after his junior year, in the wake of coach, Lloyd Carr’s retirement. Manningham was chosen by the New York Giants.
One of the players I was the most afraid wouldn’t get chosen was RB Mike Hart. The small but sturdy former Wolverine has more than just heart. He’s a solid player in the right environment and despite not doing so well in preparation for the NFL draft his record at Michigan should show he deserves to be in the NFL. Though I’m not overly pleased he’s going to play for the Indianapolis Colts, I think Hart, the 202th pick and sixth round drafted player will do well once he finds his place on the team.
The last Michigan player to be drafted was Adrian Arrington. Arrington goes to one of my teams, the New Orleans Saints. He’ll make a great addition as he joins Drew Brees and Reggie Bush on the field for NO. Chosen in the 7th round as the 237th pick, Arrington was the very last pick for the Saints. He joins a team that’s still rebuilding, much like the city it calls home.
While I’m going to miss these guys at Michigan, I can’t wait to see what they bring at the next level.
Technorati Tags: NFL Draft, 2008, Michigan Wolverines, Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mario Manningham, Shawn Crable, Mike Hart, Football, Adrian Arrington
Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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