NFL Draft : All posts

Video: A look inside former Michigan football star Mike Martin's NFL draft party

Former Michigan defensive tackle -- and now, current Tennessee Titan -- Mike Martin produced a video series last year that chronicled his senior season.

Now, he's produced a follow-up that provides an intriguing look into his intimate draft party Friday night at Connor O'Neil's in Ann Arbor.

Martin was selected in the third round that night by the Titans. He goes on to cover the full gamut of emotions -- from jubilant, as he offered a pair of toasts promising to "do it big, like we always do," to sentimental, after shedding a tear as he embraced his mother, Theresa O'Hara, who raised him as a single parent.

Good stuff.

Mark Huyge, Steve Watson heading to Redskins' rookie minicamp

The Washington Redskins turned a lot of heads Saturday when they selected Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins in the fourth round of the NFL Draft -- after taking Baylor's Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick.

Now, Steve Watson will be catching passes from both of them as he tries to latch onto an NFL team.

The former Michigan tight end was invited to participate in the Redskins' rookie minicamp this weekend. Offensive tackle Mark Huyge also was invited to the workout, which begins with physicals Thursday.

Former Michigan football players Junior Hemingway and David Molk were late-round steals, says Mel Kiper Jr.

The Michigan football program didn't have a whole lot of quantity in the 2012 NFL draft.

That doesn't mean there was a lack of quality.

During a conference call with reporters Monday, ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. tabbed ex-Michigan receiver Junior Hemingway and former Wolverine center David Molk as a pair of seventh-round steals.

"I was really surprised Hemingway went as late as he did, he went in the seventh round and he was gaining a lot of momentum," Kiper said. "I think Junior Hemingway is going to be a real good pick for the Kansas City Chiefs.

"I thought (Molk) would be a fifth-round pick, and (San Diego) got him later than that. When you're talking about the seventh round, the 226th player taken, a kid who was a dominant player at times. He was a neutralizer. ... I think he'll be a nice fit."

Updated: Free agents: Troy Woolfolk to hometown Cowboys, Mike Shaw to Redskins

This story was updated at 9:25 p.m.

Troy Woolfolk is headed home.

The former Michigan cornerback and safety has agreed to a deal with the Dallas Cowboys, his agent, Ken Sarnoff of Gaylord Sports Management, announced via Twitter.

Ryan Van Bergen agrees to join Carolina Panthers as free agent minutes after draft ends

Ryan Van Bergen was told he wouldn't last past the sixth round of the NFL Draft. As the dust began to settle on the day's final rounds, though, the Michigan defensive lineman was left without a team.

But he had an ace up his sleeve.

Carolina Panthers college scout Mike Szabo called Van Bergen midway through the final four rounds Saturday and told him he was the club's top free agent target.

When the Indianapolis Colts concluded the draft by making Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish the 253rd and final selection -- Mr. Irrelevant -- Van Bergen quickly pulled the trigger on joining Carolina.

He has yet to sign a contract, but has agreed in principle to join the Panthers.

Junior Hemingway, once a fringe draft prospect, selected by Chiefs in final round of NFL Draft

Junior Hemingway remembers sitting on a trainer's table early in his Michigan football career. He had undergone ankle surgery, and couldn't escape one thought.

"I just remember sitting there, waiting for the guy to come back, and thinking, 'I probably won't come back from this, and be (as) explosive again," Hemingway said by phone Thursday, just hours from the start of the NFL Draft. "And then I had mono and all that, and I thought no positives were going to come out of that.

"Just stayed positive through it all, kept fighting kept fighting, and now I’m here."

Here, meaning the NFL.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Hemingway on Saturday with its final pick of the draft (31st in the seventh round, No. 238 overall). He is the third player off the board for Michigan, joining defensive tackle Mike Martin (third round, Titans) and center David Molk (seventh round, Chargers).

Molk was taken just minutes before Hemingway. Now, they will see each other at least twice per year as AFC West rivals.

Updated: Michigan center David Molk falls to Chargers in final round of NFL Draft

This story was updated at 7:20 p.m.

David Molk was a first-team All-American last year, and won the Rimington Trophy as the top center in the country.

But that didn't make him the best pro candidate in the country. Size and injury issues led analysts to project the former Michigan football captain to land in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft -- and he fell even later than that.

Molk's wait finally ended Saturday when the San Diego Chargers selected him with the 19th pick of the draft's seventh and final round.

Michigan defensive tackle Mike Martin selected by Titans in 3rd round of NFL Draft

This story was updated at 11:52 p.m.

As a freshman, Mike Martin played on the worst team in the 132-year history of Michigan football. Two seasons later, he started on the worst defense in program history.

Then he won 11 games as a senior, leaving school a Sugar Bowl champion.

And on Friday night, during a small party at an Ann Arbor bar with close friends and family, he officially entered the NFL ranks after the Tennessee Titans selected him with the 19th pick of the third round (82nd overall).

His emotions came to the fore as he embraced his mother, Theresa O'Hara, who raised Martin as a single parent in nearby Redford.

"I hugged her, and I started crying," Martin said by phone about 30 minutes after his selection. "I didn’t think I would, but I started crying and I just didn't stop.

"After all the shit I've been through, there was a time when I thought this wouldn't happen. But here we are. I just cried, and I told her, 'We did it, Ma. We did it.'"

Former Michigan DL Ryan Van Bergen told he'll be selected in 6th round

Ryan Van Bergen celebrates a sack during the Michigan football team's win against Ohio State in November. On Saturday, the defensive end may celebrate being selected in the NFL Draft.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Ryan Van Bergen was one of the most productive defensive linemen in the Big Ten the past four seasons. He also hurt himself in the Sugar Bowl this year, wasn't invited to the combine and couldn't run until two weeks before his pro day.

No matter.

The former Michigan football player still posted a time of 4.90 seconds in his 40-yard dash at the pro day. More than 40 scouts from 29 teams attended the workout -- and that, apparently, was all they needed to see.

Van Bergen says he has been told by the Houston Texans they intend to select him in the sixth round, if he's still on the board. Other teams have expressed similar intentions.

With 1st round drought expected to continue, here are Michigan's most likely NFL draft choices

It has been four years since Jake Long became the second No. 1 overall NFL draft pick in Michigan football history.

Since then, the Wolverines have landed only one player, Brandon Graham, in the opening round -- and that rut will not end Thursday night, when this year's draft kicks off with first-round selections.

Michigan's Brandon Graham was the 13th pick overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2010 NFL draft. With no Wolverines projected to be selected Thursday night, Graham would remain the program's lone first-round selection over the past four years. That hasn't happened since 1987-90.

Associated Press

Defensive tackle Mike Martin is Michigan's top pro prospect, but isn't projected to be taken until the second or third rounds. Those air Friday, with the fourth through seventh rounds scheduled for Saturday.

The Wolverines have several strong draft candidates, a class headed by Martin. Center David Molk and receiver Junior Hemingway are pegged for the middle rounds, with tight end Kevin Koger a possible late-round selection.

As the pageantry of the draft gets under way Thursday in New York City, Michigan, once a leviathan in this event, will be noticeably absent from the opening round for the third time in four years.

That hasn't happened in 22 years, when quarterback Jim Harbaugh was the lone first-rounder from 1987-90.

This class of Michigan draftees finished their careers with a flourish. They went from posting the worst season in school history as freshmen to going 11-2 and winning the Sugar Bowl in their final acts as collegians.

But their pro stock is hurt by an inch here, or a second there, in the fiercely competitive NFL Draft pool.

A look at where these players are expected to go, and why:

Former Michigan WR Junior Hemingway rises into middle-round projections of NFL Draft

Junior Hemingway celebrates one of his two touchdown receptions during Michigan's win over Virginia Tech at the Sugar Bowl.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com

Junior Hemingway concluded a trying five-year Michigan football career on a Superdome podium, where he accepted his Sugar Bowl MVP trophy before a national TV audience.

With tears welling in his eyes, his two touchdowns the difference in the Wolverines' overtime victory, he exclaimed to the word that "Man, I'm telling you, it feels too good, man. Too good."

And yet, things have gotten even better for the Wolverines' top receiver.

With draft looming, Michigan's Kevin Koger sidelined 6 to 8 months with injury

Former Michigan tight end Kevin Koger suffered a partially torn Achilles tendon last month during a workout for the NFL Draft. How it impacts his pro stock remains to be seen.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Kevin Koger was a terrific tight end for the Michigan football team. He started 31 career games and became a captain as a senior.

But his chances of being selected in this week's NFL Draft took a hit last month when he partially tore his left Achilles tendon during a low-intensity training exercise at BarwisMethods. He has trained there with former Michigan strength coach Mike Barwis since the conclusion of the season.

Koger's agent, Chicago-based Rick Smith of Priority Sports, said Koger had surgery March 27 to repair the tear and will be sidelined for six-to-eight months. That confirms an earlier report by draftinsider.net.

Steve Watson sets Michigan football record for positions played, looking for just 1 in NFL

Steve Watson (84) is congratulated by Taylor Lewan after a touchdown reception at Northwestern last season. It was the only catch of the year for Watson, who was recruited as a tight end but played four different positions before moving back for his senior season.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Steve Watson's friends cut grass to earn spending money when they were kids growing up in Denver. Others babysat at the neighbor's, or got a paper route.

Not Watson.

He was a ball boy for the Denver Broncos, who employed his father, Steve Watson Sr., as an assistant coach. He patrolled the sidelines on game days, sometimes holding the cords to the coaches' headsets. When Ed McCaffery got a new pair of cleats, Watson would grab them and run laps to break them in.

He even was the door guy for the craps games in Shannon Sharpe's room during training camp.

"It was like a dream, man," Watson said recently. "You see it in movies, or whatever, but I lived it. Shannon was my idol growing up, a Hall of Famer, and then there he was. Eddie Mac, him and I were close. I remember getting weightlifting tips from Bill Romanowski."

Michigan's David Molk trying to buck trend of small centers slipping in NFL Draft

At 6-foot-1, former Michigan center David Molk (50) is one inch taller than quarterback Denard Robinson (16), and smaller than all but six of the 61 centers in the NFL last season.

Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com

David Molk was a four-year starter for the Michigan football team, and became a consensus All-American as a senior. He won the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center.

Yet, he's projected as a mid- to late-round pick in this week's NFL Draft, which begins Thursday.

Why?

"It's because of one reason, and one reason only," Molk said during a recent interview. "I'm short."

After 3 years on a 'supplemental' defense, Mike Martin's NFL stock has risen thanks to Greg Mattison

Spending his senior season working with Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison has helped Mike Martin (68) improve his NFL Draft stock.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Mike Martin arrived at Schembechler Hall recently for a private workout with the New England Patriots.

The former Michigan defensive lineman was prepared to answer the usual questions. What are your strengths? Weaknesses? What kind of system best fits you?

But he also got this: "Where's Coach Mattison at? I'd love to see him again."

Turns out, the person assigned to work out Martin had been a graduate assistant for Michigan defensive coordinator Greg Mattison, way back when.

Small world, eh?

Well, it gets a lot smaller when your coordinator is Mattison, who has coached college football for 31 seasons and in the NFL for three. He's been around a lot of people.

Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton picked in 2nd round by San Diego Chargers

Last year, Michigan cornerback Donovan Warren expected to be a second-round selection in the NFL Draft and was never chosen. This time around, scouts considered Michigan linebacker Jonas Mouton a late-round wildcard.

The San Diego Chargers made him their second-round pick Friday night.

1620 AM: Thoughts on the NFL Draft and the talent gap between the Big Ten and top football conferences

Who is the last Big Ten quarterback selected in the first round of the NFL Draft?

That was the question posed to me this morning during a radio spot with Matt Schick and Nick Bahe on Omaha's "The Zone." on 1620 AM. I'll confess that I drew a blank at first. Then stammered. Then thought, "Could it be ..."

It was a shot in the dark, but I gave it my best guess. As it turns out, I was right. Who holds the distinction of being the last Big Ten QB chosen in the first round?

Opinion: NFL teams still see Big Ten as fertile ground for smash-mouth football players

On Sunday, I wrote about the Big Ten’s recent struggles in placing its talent among the elite picks in the NFL Draft and the SEC’s comparative rise in the race to hone college football’s best players.

It’s a grim picture.

Among the more dire statistics: No Big Ten players have been selected in the past 24 top-10 picks, a figure that’s expected to grow to 34 tonight when the NFL Draft begins today at 8 p.m.

Palm Beach Post: Why did the Dolphins draft Michigan's Jake Long and Chad Henne? Talent and the price was right

The Miami Dolphins made Michigan star Jake Long the No. 1 pick in the 2007 draft. In the next round, they chose Michigan quarterback Chad Henne with the 57th pick.

Former Dolphins executive vice president Bill Parcells talked about why those picks made sense for Miami on ESPN.

The answer: The right talent and the right price.

Sacramento Bee: Ex-Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh says he has no trouble spotting NFL-level QBs

Former Michigan quarterback and current first-year San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh knows a high-level quarterback when he sees one.

Sacramento Bee reporter Matt Barrows has a question-and-answer blog post with Harbaugh in advance of the NFL Draft.