Six Wolfpackers Drafted

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It was a nice weekend for NC State to receive some positive PR!!! Six Wolfpackers were selected in the two-day NFL Draft over the weekend, and two others signed free agency contracts on Sunday. The Wolfpacker’s Draft Tracker highlights State’s six draft picks over the weekend. Heck, even Torry Holt got into the swing of things with analysis in ESPN’s studios.

* Prior to the 2006 draft, NC State had produced twelve first round picks. On Saturday, State grew that number by 25% when three players were chosen in the first round. NC State had never had three players selected in the first round in a single season.

* Mario Williams became the first player in both NC State and Atlantic Coast Conference history to be taken with the #1 overall selection in the NFL.

I think that we should highlight some of the information from choppack’s comments:

* 2 of State’s 3 first rounders were lightly-recruited kids who were developed into 1st rounders (McCargo & Lawson)

* 3 of the kids were from NC

* 4 of the kids weren’t big time recruits

State’s first round selections were as follows:

Mario Williams made history when the Houston Texans made him NC State’s and the ACC’s first ever #1 overall selection.

Manny Lawson went #22 overall to San Francisco.

John McCargo went #26 overall to Buffalo.

Other Notes:

* The biggest mistake of the weekend seems to have been Derek Morris’ decision to enter the NFL Draft a year early. Of course, I could have written that exact sentence BEFORE the draft and known it to be true.

* CBS Sportsline Alumni Tracker lists twenty former NC State players on current NFL rosters. That number may be a little high as some of those former Wolfpackers may no longer be in the league. After today’s second round, it looks like NC State will have approximately 25 players on NFL rosters next season.

* Michael Smith had some great comments about Mario being the right pick for the Texans in this piece.

* The ACC was pretty impressive on Saturday, generating 7 of the first 15 selections and leading all conferences for the day with 25 of the 97 total picks on the day. The ACC sent 12 in the first round, 7 in the second round, and 6 in the third round. The conference’s dominance was not lost on many in the national media. ESPN Radio personalities were touting the ACC’s prominence on Sunday morning shows.

* Clemson’s Charlie Whitehurst was drafted in the middle of the third round by the San Diego Chargers to back up Philip Rivers.

* If you plan on following the Texans a little closer, allow me to offer my opinion that they compelted an excellent draft. The Texans needed help everywhere – but some needs were a little more strategic than others. They succeeded in alleviating some pressure from former Pro Bowl wideout, Andre Johnson, when they picked up veteran Eric Moulds in free agency. So, Saturday’s draft yielded two great defensive players (Williams & Demeco Ryans) and two much needed offensive linemen to protect David Carr. Sunday’s picks filled in some more holes for the Texans by diversifying their offensive firepower with the addition of an H-Back (remember Gary Kubiak’s success with Shannon Sharpe in Denver) and Virginia, Wali Lundy (a potential late round steal).

* I also followed the Chargers draft a little closely because of Philip Rivers. Although they failed to land a needed wide receiver to add to their aging corp, they did draft heavily for offensive line help.

* I wonder if any high school recruits out there noticed that other than Duke and Wake Forest, North Carolina was the only other ACC school to not have a player drafted on Saturday? The Tarheels “broke through” when defensive lineman, Chase Page was drafted in the last round by San Diego. Surely the name “Chase Page” will strike fear in the hearts of NFL offensivel linemen all over the country.

* State lost four underclassmen starters to this year’s NFL Draft. There is a lot of good…and a lot of bad in that.

* Sunday’s piece in the News & Observer highlighted the historical day for NC State’s program.

But with three of his players leading the way, Pack coach Chuck Amato said the first-round selections of his former players show that State’s football program is on the right track and should also help in recruiting.

“It shows these young men we’re recruiting that we can make you a first-round draft pick,” said Amato.

Amato had dinner Friday night with another former State player drafted in the first round — Hall of Fame quarterback Roman Gabriel, the second pick of the 1962 NFL draft.

Amato said he handed his cell phone to Gabriel so the former Wolfpack great could speak to Williams and Lawson.

“Roman was proud and happy to wish them luck and congratulations,” Amato said of the pre-draft conversation. “I just wanted them to hear his voice.”

Amato also said he was elated that it was Williams who broke the top-pick barrier for the conference. “The ACC has been going on for 52 years,” Amato said. “I’m glad it was one of our guys to do do it.”

* This link will take you to a guy’s blog who deserves a gold medal for detailing every single day one pick during a live blog on Saturday. He did as well or better than these two guys at FoxSports.com They should be good resources if you want to check on any individual players.

Alums General NCS Football

43 Responses to Six Wolfpackers Drafted

  1. PalmettoWolf 04/29/2006 at 11:52 PM #

    Why is nobody mentioning Brian Clark as a candidate for the draft???

  2. beowolf 04/29/2006 at 11:53 PM #

    A poster on PackPride said that Mario was the ACC’s first No. 1 draft pick overall. That seems unbelievable to me. He’s NC State’s, I know.

    Were it not for San Diego’s shenanigans with Eli Manning and NY, Mario would have been Chuck Amato and NC State’s SECOND No. 1 draft pick overall.

    Is three players in the first round also a record for NC State? Does anyone know?

  3. Jeff 04/30/2006 at 12:11 AM #

    Beo…you must not have looked at the comments in my Super Mario entry

    First in ACC History

  4. gf8ce 04/30/2006 at 12:13 AM #

    yes three is a record.

  5. wayofthemaster 04/30/2006 at 1:54 AM #

    Michael Irvin: “Mel, help me figure this out. They got three defensive
    lineman drafted in the first round. What was their record
    last year?”

    Tom Jackson: “It’s a good question.”

    Mel Kiper Jr.: “Six and Five.”

    Michael Irvin & Tom Jackson: “HA! HA! HA! HA!”

    Do you think the coaching staff at the University of North Carolina State (instead of feeling pride for having three players drafted in the first 26 picks) felt a little embarrassed at this point in the draft. If they didn’t… they certainly should have.

    SFN – State finished the year 7-5. State didn’t lose games because of our defense. We lost games because of our inability to score and penchant for turnovers early in the year. Guess our defense should have found more ways to score when our offense had the ball.

  6. cornellpackfan 04/30/2006 at 2:18 AM #

    you would think that they would put something in the Lawson bio on the NFL site about how Lawson played linebacker quite succesfully his first 3 years…

    instead they spend the entire time saying how he is going to have a tough learning curve and all of that.

    also you would think that ESPN would realize that these three players were instrumental on a defense that was one of the best in the nation the last year or so…

    i love how these “pundits” love to only use stats that they want and never look at all sides to a story…

    anyways our players are going to get the job done in the NFL it is only a matter of time.

    i hope the recruiting is a little easier for our coaches now that you can point to the next level so blatantly

    GO PACK

  7. graywolf 04/30/2006 at 6:37 AM #

    I guess we are a football school now. Three first round picks on of which is #1 and no basketball coach in sight.

  8. class of 74 04/30/2006 at 8:14 AM #

    I was very happy for these guys as they certainly deserved it but as great as this is you have to wonder how many first rounders must it take for Chuck to make it to the ACC championship game?

  9. test4eko 04/30/2006 at 8:25 AM #

    Are we seriously offended about what a convicted coke head like Michael Irvin and mediocre LB like Tom Jackson have to say about our players, let alone our team?? These clowns are talking heads who somehow seem to forget that our DEFENSE the last two years was either #1 or darn near the top. And that’s forgetting that Chuck Amato’s players at FSU were perennial first rounders.

    Six years, $54 million for Mario and all Irvin is thinking is, “dayummm, that would buy a lotta blow baby!!”

  10. jamesjoyce 04/30/2006 at 8:39 AM #

    Great to see the three go in the first round; good for the Pack and good for the ACC. I would like to drop kick Irvin on the ESPN crew for some of his comments.

  11. BoKnowsNCS71 04/30/2006 at 9:07 AM #

    Correction to: “Mario Williams made history when the Houston Texans made him NC State’s and the ACC’s first ever #1 overall selection.”

    SFN: Click the link about Mario and you will see the exact detail of which you speak. We said that exact thing yesterday in our Mario piece. Even linked up Roman Gabriel’s 1962 AFL and NFL draft. Mario Williams is NC State and the ACC’s first ever NFL overall #1 selection. Thanks!

    Actually, Roman Gabriel was the Pack’s first ever First Round Draft pick on 1962 to the AFL Rams. Source is N&O Saturday 4/29/06.

    Still very pleased that Mario represents. It has been a long road since 1962 in FB. Just hope we can get back to the Final 4 in BB before another 40+ years.

  12. wolfpacker420 04/30/2006 at 9:25 AM #

    I guess they didn’t want to count our bowl game. we finished 7-5 for those so called analyst

  13. jamesjoyce 04/30/2006 at 9:32 AM #

    Bo…since the merger of the AFL into the NFL, no ACC player has ever been drafted number one. In other words, the NFL as we know it today. Yes Gabriel was selected number one in a league that does not exist anymore.

    I think this is where they are going with their story, which is accurate.

  14. TNCSU 04/30/2006 at 10:04 AM #

    Although, the first #1 in ACC history, I believe Vick (VT) was a number one and Miami has had a #1 prior to joining the ACC — Not sure, but it was a great day for Wolfpack Football regardless! I do believe we should be praising Amato and Wolfpack Football — especially his recruiting — rather than criticizing him for not doing better. We did end the season on a good note, after a tough start! That says alot!

  15. Texpack 04/30/2006 at 10:20 AM #

    If you want to keep up with how the Texans are doing and how Mario williams is doing during the season, I would suggest listening to sportsradio610.com. The morning show is very good and features one host whose dad is a long time NFL assistant. On Mondays, they have John McClain from the Houston Chronicle as a guest. He is a past president of the NFL writers association and very well connected within the NFL. Be prepared for a very critical view of Mario from the fans in Houston. People are very upset here about passing up Bush. I would agree that the draft so far for the Texans has been very good. 6-8 wins next year is not unreasonable.

  16. Jeff 04/30/2006 at 10:36 AM #

    ^ Absolutely not unreasonable when you consider how the franchise was progressing prior to last year’s debacle. With Kubiak’s new (Denver) run scheme and obvious improvements (Moulds + this draft), then the Texans can make very nice strides next year. They lead off today’s draft and there are some very solid names available that can help them.

  17. Packattack 04/30/2006 at 11:56 AM #

    It is pathetic … three first rounders and an average 7-5 record

  18. BJD95 04/30/2006 at 12:21 PM #

    Tulloch to the Titans in Round 4. That’s much higher than the projections I had seen. Congrats to Stephen!

    It is amazing that we didn’t accomplish more as a team with these athletes. Hopefully we use the publicity to aid recruiting and do better the next go around.

  19. choppack1 04/30/2006 at 12:51 PM #

    “you would think that they would put something in the Lawson bio on the NFL site about how Lawson played linebacker quite succesfully his first 3 years…”

    Actually – I think that it was his first 2 years.

    I didn’t like a lot of the State bashing. There wasn’t much FSU bashing and we beat them (again.)

  20. wayofthemaster 04/30/2006 at 2:05 PM #

    I wasn’t blaming the defense. Obviously the defense was as productive and as talented as any in the nation. I was placing the blame where it belongs… the coaching staff. If you have the type of defense that State had last year there is no excuse for finishing the regular season at 6-5. Turnovers, lack of discipline, and penalties were the reason for 6-5, and a team’s record is a reflection of its coaching staff. As “the Tuna,” says so often, “you are what you are.” State, for the last two years has been an underachieving ball club.

  21. youchuck 04/30/2006 at 2:24 PM #

    A friend and I last summer joked that we should mail Chuck a DVD of the Raven’s 2000 Superbowl run, “Hand off and Punt”, was what we were hoping for in 2005. If State could have beaten Wake and Carolina, they would have tied for the Division title with BC and FSU. I don’t know how a 3 way tie-break were to shake out, but a 5-3 conference mark was well within grasp. Chuck finally woke up late in the year and tried the “Hand off and punt” formula and ended up winning games down the stretch. If only he had adopted it sooner. Fortunatley, it looks like State has an easy enough non-conference schedule to finish again with 6-7 wins. I just can’t believe a school that had Philip Rivers has such abysmal QB talent. Chuck I’m giving you two years, win something except a freaking NIT caliber bowl game for a change!!

  22. redfred2 04/30/2006 at 3:01 PM #

    The sports media is hurling potshots at the NCSU sports programs at every opportunity these days. Who can blame them, it’s easy laughs on a defenseless target. We are constantly perpetuating the notion that we are second rate, and no one at the university has the balls to stand up and say, “STOP, hold it right there….

    If anyone wants to talk BB, the “Tale of Lee Fowler” thread is still open to comments.

  23. dweedle 04/30/2006 at 4:03 PM #

    TJ Williams to the Bucs at #202

  24. vtpackfan 04/30/2006 at 6:58 PM #

    It was great to see Williams shoot to the top of this draft, and I actually thought Lawson could have gone higher if the LB/DE positions were not so deep this year. A little concerned about the status of #1 pick overall since I think there are some character issues that go along with this group. We all know how frustrating its been since Phillip has left to watch the offence underachieve so much of the time. I can only imagine the feeling is multiplied greatly if you were a defensive player on one of these teams. That said, I heard nothing but negative things about how guys like Williams handled the situation. A lot of trash talking about your own teamates, and thats just what got out to the public. I would have to put alot of blame on the coaches for this, but I hope they learned something from all of this, because that kinda crap stays with you in the NFL. Just go ask T.O.

  25. Pack Strength 90 04/30/2006 at 10:57 PM #

    If you look at the national press, they make the Texans decision seem crazy. Our athletic program receives no respect outside of our home area. I’m in Tn. right now and the Chattanooga Times Free Press has a picture of Reggie Bush on the front page with only one sentence mentioning Mario Williams. The public perception of NC State Athletics is the responsibility of the AD. We Pack fans are now known nationally as the Lunitic Fringe, Rabid fan base, unappreciative – I could go on and on. These labels were placed on the fans by our own AD instead of embracing the WPN and using our passion as a positive. If Fowler stays on the job, recent history shows we will always be considered nationally in this light.

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