Draft Recap

The NFL draft has come and gone and for the second straight year Iowa led the Big Ten in players drafted and third nationally with 12 players drafted over the last two years.  Here are the players that were drafted and where they went:

Adrian Clayborn
Tampa Bay
#20 - Round 1

This was about the perfect spot for Clayborn to be drafted and team to play for. Did he lose money by coming back for his senior year, probably, but he is also going to a team much closer to winning rather than going to one that isn't very close.  He was one of two defensive ends selected by Tampa Bay and should have an oppertunity to step in and start from day one.  Pairing Clayborn with fellow rookie in Da'Quan Bowers at the ends with second year defensive tackle Gerald McCoy will give the Bucs a young and talanted front.

Christian Ballard
Minnesota
#106 - Round 4

Ballard made a huge personal and financial mistake by testing positive for marijuana at the combine, dropping him from a probably second round selection to the fourth.  However he was drafted into a great position in Minnesota.  They have a great defense already and the head coach, Leslie Frasher is the former defensive coordinator.  They have two aging defensive tackles and one of them is suspended for the first four games, leaving the door open for Christian to step in and play immediatley. 
Ricky Stanzi
Kansas City
#135 - Round 5

Stanzi to the Chiefs makes a lot of sense...I just thought it'd happen earlier.  KC's general manager is Scott Pioli who is a friend of Coach Ferentz. He is also the man who drafted Tom Brady (just another Stanzi-Brady similarity). Stanzi will be in a good position in KC learning the system behind Matt Cassel.

Karl Klug
Tennessee
#142 - Round 5

This was a surprising pick to me. Klug is somewhat undersized for the defensive line so I didn't expect him to go this high. Tennessee, though, was kind of desperate on defense and looking for some versatile players.  They also had a lot of success with another former undersized defensive lineman from Iowa in Jarred Clauss.

Julian Vandervelde
Philadelphia
#162 - Round 5

This was another kind of surprising pick. Vandervelde was always a good player, but never blew me away. He is known for being smart though, and I think learning zone blocking from Ferentz at Iowa boosted his draftability greatly. The Eagles took 3 O-linemen in the draft (all 3 are likely interior guys too), so there will plenty of competition for Vandervelde. In a pinch he could also slide over to play center and provide depth that way.
Tyler Sash
New York
#198 - Round 6

Sash really fell in the draft and the Giants walked away with a motivated player. I thought he'd go around the 4th round or so, but he finally had his named called in the 6th. It looks like the Giants will be running the Tampa 2 on defense, so Sash should be a good fit.  They have three safties on the roster already, but Sash should be able to step in either safety position and play special teams immediatly.

Free Agents-
Ryan Donahue
Allen Reisner
Jermiah Hunter
Jeff Tarpinian
DJK
Brett Greenwood