NFL Draft weekend has come and gone, and Your 2010 Big East Football Champion And BCS Representative UConn Huskies(TM) had a total of four players selected. All four were picked on Day 3 of the increasingly padded-out annual selection meeting.
Fullback Anthony Sherman was the first one off the board, going with the 136th overall pick - the fifth pick of the fifth round - to the Arizona Cardinals.
Sherman is the second recent UConn fullback to be drafted, kind of weird when you consider the general phasing out of fullbacks in the more prevalent one-back/empty backfield NFL offensive sets. Deon Anderson, who was the man in front of Terry Caulley and Donald Brown for four seasons, was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in 2007 and spent three-plus seasons there as a regular contributor.
Not having watched the Cardinals much last year, I will take Sherman's word that Arizona is one of the remaining teams who regularly use a fullback.
Linebacker Lawrence Wilson was picked by the Carolina Panthers with the first pick of the 6th round (166th overall), and drew plaudits from ESPN's Draft crew. The athletic, versatile Wilson - who bounced between MLB and OLB, and was the best of UConn's deep linebacking corps over the last 2-3 seasons - will have his chances to fit in in a defense that was ranked in the middle of the NFL road last year.
Scouting reports have Wilson as a likely backup, although on the ESPN broadcast, Todd McShay said he believed Wilson could be a starter in the future.
SBNation's Carolina blog, Cat Scratch Reader, graded the pick as an A.
UConn's most decorated player from the 2010 season, Jordan Todman, dropped all the way to the middle of the 6th round, falling to the San Diego Chargers at pick 182.
Though many teams were likely concerned about Todman's size (he's 5-9), the running back's measurables at the NFL Combine were all extremely solid. And if you don't want to run Todman into the line of scrimmage 40 times a game like a certain deceitful current Maryland head coach, the 203-pounder can be very useful as a scat back/kick returner type.
SBNation's Bolts From The Blue seems optimistic about Todman's fit in their offense.
Greg Lloyd rounded out the draft for UConn, being picked by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 237th pick.
Congrats to all four, and our best wishes as they join the ever-growing fraternity of Huskies in the NFL. Keep an eye out for guys like Scott Lutrus and Zach Hurd, who should be able to find their way onto teams' summer rosters (if there is a training camp). I was actually very surprised a guy with Hurd's strength, size and ability wasn't picked by anyone...apparently, so was he.
The four selections ties a school record (the 2009 Draft included Donald Brown, Darius Butler, Will Beatty and Cody Brown, all of whom were taken in the first two rounds). There were 10 former Huskies on NFL rosters, all of whom (except for Dan Orlovsky) played for the Huskies in 2006 or later.