Amidst three days of Prime Time Hilarity, the Cats leave a mark.
This year’s NFL Draft has been wildly entertaining, largely due to the spectacle of ESPN’s anointed top-10 selection sliding all the way down to the fifth round. Shedeur Sanders, beneficiary of one of the most ridiculous PR campaigns ever, sat in his own green room for two whole days without hearing his name called — even suffering the indignity of having Cleveland, the team everyone assumed would take him, passing him by five times before selecting an entirely different quarterback — Oregon/Oklahoma/Hawai’i signal caller Dillon Gabriel.
And then, two rounds later, the Browns went ahead and took Sanders anyway, which is even more hilarious.
But before any of this happened, Kansas State got on the board. Jacob Parrish, star cornerback, was lifted off the board with the 85th in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Parrish showed his speed at the combine, and can help a team which was 26th in the league in interceptions last season.
On the board seven picks after Sanders was finally taken, the Indianapolis Colts were not in need of a running back with Jonathan Taylor coming off a 1400-yard season. But more legs never hurt, so in the fifth round they took DJ Giddens with the 151st pick. Giddens slid a bit from where he was expected to go, indicating the draft media put a little too much gravy on a relatively impressive combine outing.
Nine picks later, the reverse happened. Marques Sigle was a longshot to have his name called, with most folks expecting him to be a high-end UDFA. Instead, with the 160th pick the San Francisco 49ers snapped up the Wildcat safety, making JT very happy. The 49ers have had a minor cottage industry in utilizing former Wildcat defenders, so Sigle should get a few years out of this.
Meanwhile, a former Wildcat had to bide his time longer than expected as well. But Pennsylvania’s own Will Howard was finally rescued in the sixth round with pick 185 by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The fascinating aspect of this selection is that right now, Pittsburgh has no starting quarterback. They’re trying to sign Aaron Rodgers, but if that doesn’t happen Howard will be competing with Mason Rudolph… and another former Wildcat, Skylar Thompson, who came over from Miami in the post-season.