I wanted to wait until the end of the NFL Draft to post my entry, hoping that I would have more than Mike Neal tonight, Unfortunately for Purdue, the draft after Neal was chosen 46th overall was as disappointing as the previews before "Date Night" that I saw tonight with Mrs. T-Mill. Those previews included a trailer for Sex and the City 2, which like Jimmy Montana's draft experience, is a long national nightmare that received way too much coverage. Although I would rather watch Sex and the City 2 on repeat than see any Notre Dame football when they are not losing or playing Purdue.
Back to the Draft though. It was a disappointing day. I knew we didn't have many early round guys outside of Neal, but I expected someone to take a flyer on Joey Elliott or David Pender in the later rounds. In the end, Neal is the only one who had his name called. I did manage to find some information on the other undrafted guys that inked some free agent deals today. Bear in mind, this is of 11pm on Saturday night, so this list will likely change.
Jared Zwilling - Zwilling will get a chance to make it with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is joining undrafted big name Jevan Snead from Mississippi on their list.
Joey Elliott - This is the player that I thought would get drafted but didn't. As I reported last week, the Dolphins were very interested in him. J Money thought he would end up in Houston, instead, he will jump into the QB mess in Philadelphia with Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb. If he can get on as the #3 guy you never know. Eagles fans automatically think he deserves a chance because he's not Donovan McNabb.
Sadly, those two were the only guys I could find tonight that had inked a deal with anyone. While I loved all of our seniors from last season, I think it is a sign of the difficult transition and loss of talent when only three guys ink NFL deals after we're used to having about five times that many via the draft or free agency. This list can change, however. I'll post updates as I can find them.
UPDATE: We have two more guys to add to the list. The Colts have picked up Brandon King. With all the injuries in the secondary last year he might have a decent shot of making a practice quad, too. Since he has safety experience he can also compete to make the roster when Bob Sanders inevitably gets hurt. David Pender will be joining Joey Elliott in Philadelphia. At this point I would be surprised if anyone else got a look except for maybe Jaycen Taylor.