2005 NFL DRAFT WRAPUP: Peterson and DV

[DaKCMan AP]

2005 NFL DRAFT WRAPUP
Apr 24, 2005, 6:48:43 PM


Carl Peterson/Dick Vermeil

CARL PETERSON: “It’s been a busy second day with us selecting seven players. We also included two other players we acquired that we would consider part of this draft in Patrick Surtain, as a second round draft choice, and Carlos Hall, as a fifth round draft choice – our second of three fifth round draft choices that we had.

“Overall, I think it was a very productive weekend. From my view and in the past looking back to 2003, we had seven of our eight draft choices make it and the one that didn’t was picked up on our practice squad and then actually made our 53-man roster this year.

“In ‘04 we had six of our seven draft choices make it and the one that didn’t is now playing in Europe for us and is doing well: Jeris McIntyre, a wide receiver.

“In the nine draft choices in the last two days, my hope would be that five of those nine would make it and make us better. Then you add in Patrick Surtain and Carlos Hall. You can say it was very productive.

DICK VERMEIL: “Craphonso Thorpe was a guy who broke his leg at the end of his junior year. Prior to that he had been the 100-meter sprint champion. This guy can run. He ran on their conference winning 400-meter relay team as well. He can fly. He didn’t have the kind of year his senior year as he had his junior year, but by the end of the year he was healthy and ran a very, very fast 40, so we think he’s back to full speed. He’s a vertical field guy with very good hands. He’s a very solid fourth round pick. Had he not broken his leg at the end of his junior year he would have been a much higher pick, if you examine the polls at that time.

“James Grigsby is a very athletic, high energy linebacker who in his division played outstanding football. He’s sort of a charismatic kid, athletic guy who will bounce all over the field. We look to him to come in and possibly play a backup role and be an outstanding special teams player.

“Alphonso Hodge is a corner with great coverage skills, very highly rated as far as coverage skills. A lot of other attributes have to be improved if he is to be a starter. But just going into one-on-one coverage he thrives in that environment.”

“Will Svitek, the defensive lineman from Stanford, we brought in here and worked him out and converted him to an offensive tackle. It’s a project. It’s a project. It’ll be a challenge to have him ready to play within an offensive line by the time training camp ends. But we’re always looking to develop young offensive linemen and at his size at 6'6" and 300 pounds he is a man. He looks the part.

“Khari Long is a pass rushing talent type kid who still has all his football in front of him. His college football coach, Guy Morris, played for me for seven years in Philadelphia. He has a chance with his athleticism to develop into a pass rusher.

“James Kilian is a quarterback that Terry Shea worked out and we studied him on game tape and we liked him. We think of him as a practice squad guy to come here and learn the offense and develop. Then, heaven forbid, if there was an injury we would have someone prepared to be the third quarterback at that time on our roster. We haven’t done that in the past.

“Jeremy Parquet is a great big offensive tackle that played in the Super Bowl. He has some problems fundamentally and a ways to go, but he has great big long arms and great big hands and can run for a big man. He’s a great project and Mike Solari has had very good luck in his career developing these big guys. For a seventh round pick we thought it was a good try.”

[Deberg_1990]

DICK VERMEIL: “Craphonso Thorpe was a guy who broke his leg at the end of his junior year. Prior to that he had been the 100-meter sprint champion. This guy can run. He ran on their conference winning 400-meter relay team as well. He can fly. He didn’t have the kind of year his senior year as he had his junior year, but by the end of the year he was healthy and ran a very, very fast 40, so we think he’s back to full speed. He’s a vertical field guy with very good hands. He’s a very solid fourth round pick. Had he not broken his leg at the end of his junior year he would have been a much higher pick, if you examine the polls at that time.



The more i read about Thorpe, the more I like. This guy sounds like he has big time upside. He reminds me alot of Derrick Alexander. His body and the way he runs. He is NOT another Snoop.

[jcroft]

<strong>“Jeremy Parquet is a great big offensive tackle that played in the Super Bowl.</strong> He has some problems fundamentally and a ways to go, but he has great big long arms and great big hands and can run for a big man. He’s a great project and Mike Solari has had very good luck in his career developing these big guys. For a seventh round pick we thought it was a good try.”

Hmm, cool. What Super Bowl team was he on? I didn't know you could pick up ex-Super Bowlers in the draft.

In that case, we should have drafted Terrell Owens.

[ct]

Why the he!! would we spend a 6th round pick on an undrafted level talent at DE, then start a conversion project to OT?

I do like the Thorpe potential, love the Grigsby and Hodge picks. Not so sure about Long and Kilian, really seem like 2 more UFA level prospects. Big man Parkay sounds like a decent final pick project, I'm cool with that one. Although now we have 2 active big man 7th round OT projects going? How many OLineman can we really carry?

[Coach]

Hmm, cool. What Super Bowl team was he on? I didn't know you could pick up ex-Super Bowlers in the draft.

In that case, we should have drafted Terrell Owens.

Heh. I think he meant to say Senior Bowl, or whoever typed that up made a typo.

[Spicy McHaggis]

The more i read about Thorpe, the more I like. This guy sounds like he has big time upside. He reminds me alot of Derrick Alexander. His body and the way he runs. He is NOT another Snoop.

I'd still like to see him add a little bulk. That way I don't wince involuntarily every time I see him take a shot.

[jcroft]

How many OLineman can we really carry?

I can't carry any, but I'm a 155 pound white guy. Maybe some of you guys will have better luck.

[whoman69]

Why the he!! would we spend a 6th round pick on an undrafted level talent at DE, then start a conversion project to OT?

I do like the Thorpe potential, love the Grigsby and Hodge picks. Not so sure about Long and Kilian, really seem like 2 more UFA level prospects. Big man Parkay sounds like a decent final pick project, I'm cool with that one. Although now we have 2 active big man 7th round OT projects going? How many OLineman can we really carry?
We will probably carry a couple on the practice squad. The 6th and 7th rounds are there mostly for projects. Very few of those players are ever slated to make a roster straight off.

[FloridaMan88]

2005 NFL DRAFT WRAPUP
Apr 24, 2005, 6:48:43 PM

“Khari Long is a pass rushing talent type kid who still has all his football in front of him. His college football coach, Guy Morris, played for me for seven years in Philadelphia. He has a chance with his athleticism to develop into a pass rusher.


I guess we know why the Chiefs drafted this guy now :shake:

[siberian khatru]

I guess we know why the Chiefs drafted this guy now :shake:

I can't wait to see what players Louie Giammona recommended DV take.

[Coach]

I guess we know why the Chiefs drafted this guy now :shake:

Understandable, but Robinson was the DC for the Longhorns when we got Derrick Johnson. So, I guess it evens out in a way. :shrug:

[BigChiefFan]

Craphonso Thorpe

Position:
WR

College:
Florida State

Projected Selection:
Round3


MEASUREMENTS
HEIGHT
WEIGHT
40 TIME
6'2"
195
4.37

ATTRIBUTE SCORE
SIZE
SPEED
STRENGTH
ATHLETICISM
XFACTOR
8
8
7
7
5
out of 10
out of 10
out of 10
out of 10
out of 10

EXCHANGE VALUE
59.0

Pros: He's the sort who might be a workout warrior and climb the charts. Has great speed and has produced consistently at a top school.
Cons: Broke his leg in the recent past, that slowed him down a bit this year.
Draft Exchange Analysis:
At Florida State: An All-America and Biletnikoff Award candidate as senior in 2004...the Seminoles' big-play receiver a year ago as he led the team with 994 yards and 11 touchdowns on 51 catches despite missing the final two games...listed as the starter at flanker entering fall practice...enters his senior season as the team's leading receiver for the third consecutive season...currently 15 th all-time in career receiving yards and tied for 14 th all-time with 16 career TDs...will be counted on to lead a young receiving corps...83 career receptions are 46% of the total career receptions for the entire group of wide receivers entering the 2004 campaign...has 2,515 yards of total offense in his 36-game career, which averages almost 70 yards per game...returned 39 career kickoffs for 845 yards and a 21.7 yards per return average...regarded as one of the country's fastest wide receivers, Thorpe won the 100 and 200 at the ACC Outdoor Track Championships in the spring of 2003 to lead FSU to the men's title and was named ACC Outdoor Track Performer of the Year ...was held out of spring drills after breaking his leg in overtime against NC State last November.

Junior Year (2003): A first team All-ACC selection and a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist...started the first 11 games of the season at flanker before breaking his leg in overtime against NC State...missed the Florida game and Orange Bowl rematch with Miami...finished 19 th in the nation in receiving yards per game...his receiving yardage total of 994 yards ranks 11 th all-time at FSU while his 11 touchdowns tied for the sixth-highest in school history...set new career-highs for receptions, touchdowns and yards and topped his career totals in each category in just one season as a starter...seven of the 11 touchdown grabs were on plays of at least 25 yards...led the conference with 11 receiving TDs and was third in the ACC with an average of 90.4 receiving yards per game...had a pair of 200- yard receiving games...top returning receiver in the ACC for career yards per catch (20.0)...only Xavier Beitia scored more points in 2003 than Thorpe...caught eight passes for 205 yards and scored two touchdowns against Colorado...hauled in seven passes for a career-high 217 yards and two TDs at Notre Dame (the most receiving yards ever recorded against the Fighting Irish)...went over the century mark at Virginia with three receptions for 104 yards...caught six passes for 66 yards and scored two touchdowns against Wake Forest...had five receptions for 76 yards and two touchdowns in the win over NC State...returned two kickoffs for 62 yards, including a 43-yarder vs. Georgia Tech.

Sophomore Year (2002): Played in all 14 of Florida State's games including the Sugar Bowl against Georgia...led the Seminoles in yards per catch with a career-high 22.2 yard average... ranked third on the team with four touchdown catches, fourth on the team with 377 receiving yards, tied four fourth with 17 receptions and fourth with 26.9 receiving yards per game average...had the offense's longest play of the season when he hauled in a 72-yard pass against Georgia Tech...finished the Georgia Tech game with two catches for a single-game 75 yards...also reached the 70-yard receiving mark with three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown in Florida State's victory over Duke and with three catches for 74 yards against North Carolina...multiple catches in five of 13 games and at least one reception in nine of 13 games...his touchdown grab against Georgia was a 40-yard strike from Anquan Boldin...ranked third on the team in kickoff returns with 11 returns for 222 yards and a 20.2 yards per return average...ranked among the team's top three in kickoff returns in 2002 after leading the team as a freshman.

Freshman Year (2001): Played in all 12 games including the Gator Bowl victory over Virginia Tech...led the team with 561 kickoff return yards, finished second on the team with 852 all-purpose yards, was fourth on the team with 286 receiving yards and fifth on the team with 15 receptions...ranked seventh in the ACC with a 21.2 yards per kickoff average...caught passes in eight of 11 regular season games and had at least one catch in each of the last five games...established his season-high for receptions in a game with five in his first career game against Duke...his five receptions went for his season-high of 68 yards...gained his first career touchdown reception on his second career catch on a 33-yard pass from Chris Rix...had seventh in the ACC and led the team with a 21.6 yard average on 26 kickoff returns...fell just three returns short of the school record for kickoff returns in a single season...fell only 23 yards short of breaking the school-record of 583 kickoff return yards...ranked second on the team in all-purpose yards with a 77.5 yards per game average...career-high 155 all-purpose yards came at North Carolina with 38 yards receiving and 117 yards on kickoff returns...his longest kickoff return of 41 yards came against Clemson and was the longest kickoff return of the season for the Seminoles...more than 100 yards of all-purpose yards against North Carolina, Maryland, Clemson and NC State.

High School: Graduated from Tallahassee's Lincoln High School in 2001...a USA Today Second Team All-USA second-team selection his senior season...named to the Super Southern team by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the All-Southern Team by the Orlando Sentinel...named to Max Emfinger's na-tional Nifty 150 list and Rivals.com's Top 100 list...one of the nation's top receivers and the state of Florida's top cornerbacks... caught 64 passes for 1,025 yards and eight touchdowns and returned two kickoffs and two punts for touchdowns his senior season ...recorded 24 tackles, three interceptions, 14 pass break-ups and recovered two fumbles at the cornerback position...helped lead Lincoln to the Class 6A state championship his senior season... selected Florida State over Florida, Tennessee, Miami, Georgia Tech and Alabama.

Personal: Born June 27, 1983...major is sport management.

[Uncle_Ted]

“James Kilian is a quarterback that Terry Shea worked out and we studied him on game tape and we liked him. We think of him as a practice squad guy to come here and learn the offense and develop. Then, heaven forbid, if there was an injury we would have someone prepared to be the third quarterback at that time on our roster. We haven’t done that in the past.


Is DV saying that we are only going to carry 2 QB's on the regular roster (with Kilian, our #3, on the PS), or does he mean that Kilian would move up to #3 from the PS if Green, Collins, or Huard were to be injured?

[jcroft]

Considering the phrase "at that time," I think he means that he projects Kilian to the PS squard, only to move up if there is an injury.