Some notes about the draft

Interesting note about Reagan. He's been drafted to be their "FB of the future." Miami signed a 13-year vet (he was the FB at Detroit last year) and want Reagan to take over the starting job eventually. So, they have big plans for Reagan!

Quote from Reagan:
"I played nose guard before I went to fullback," said Mauia. "I was big back then, about 351 [pounds]. I ended up converting to fullback and played last year at 290, 300. I recently decided to make the move to lose more weight so I could be more effective on the next level." (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)


By the way, Samson and Mauia will probably someday be protecting Miami's "QB of the future" that they took in the 2nd round...the QB from BYU. Having UH linemen picked to protect a BYU QB is interesting to me, because I grew up hoping that every BYU QB would be knocked around by the defense. See: Detmer after he won the Heisman and got really "congratulated" by the UH D.



The LA Times has short mentions of each draft pick.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-spw-roundtwo29apr29,1,3035688.story?page=6&coll=la-headlines-sports-nfl

About Ikaika:


Francis is the son of former Green Bay quarterback Joe Francis, who played behind Bart Starr in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Jerry Glanville, Hawaii's defensive coordinator, called Francis "the most talented defensive lineman I've ever coached."


About Samson:


Satele holds the school record with 53 consecutive starts. That streak was the longest among all active players in the NCAA Division I-A ranks in 2006.



Nice bio of Samson in the Miami Herald.

http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=miami2&page=nfl/draft/2007/bio.aspx?p=6525


Moved to center as a senior because of a team need at the position...One of the premier interior pass protectors at the collegiate level...2005 & 2006 First Team All-WAC performer...Held his main assignment to zero tackles in seven of the 14 games that Hawaii played in '06...Started all 53 games that he played at UH...177 career knockdown blocks, including 65 as a senior...As steady a performer as there is in this draft...Thick build with low center of gravity makes it difficult to be pushed backward...Great balance and quickness for a big man...Plays with the type of mean streak that coaches love...An emotional leader who works exceptionally hard...One of the most underrated players in this draft...Could be a true steal.



It looks like the Dolphins shuffled their starting offensive line after they picked Samson, replacing their starting LT (with their starting RT) and possibly moving their starting RG to RT. That seems to possibly open a starting RG spot for Samson. Of particular interest to me is that the Dolphins didn't shuffle their OL around until after they picked Samson.


Cameron woke up the weary media when in his first-day draft wrap-up he announced that incumbent starting right tackle Vernon Carey is now the left tackle. Does that mean L.J. Shelton moves from right guard to right tackle? Or possibly newcomer Mike Rosenthal?

Samson, who by the way has shoulder-length hair and laughed at the suggestion that one should never cut Samson's hair, could step in and give Joe Toledo a tussle for a guard spot.


If we compare UH's draft with the Pac-10, WAC and MWC results, things are very impressive right now. It looks like UH had more draft picks in the first 2 rounds than 9 of the 10 teams in the Pac-10 and ALL of the teams in the MWC and WAC.

When you consider that Colt would have definitely been drafted in the 1st 2 rounds and Rivers might have been also, UH's total could have been even more impressive. Next year with Colt, Rivers, and maybe another player or two, UH will have another impressive top of the draft.



If ESPN is correct, Detroit sure wanted to get Ikaika. To get New Orleans' 58th pick, Detroit gave up their 66th pick and a 5th round pick.

So, to move up 8 spots in the draft, they gave up a 5th round pick. If they hadn't wanted Ikaika so much they would have just kept their pick and hoped he was still there at #66.