Potentially Historic Draft In Store For UO Football Program
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
Not for the first time, the UO coaching staff recently heard from a couple of prospective recruits who reported that other programs raised doubts about Oregon’s ability to mold pro prospects at certain positions.
After Thursday night, those doubters may have a little less ammunition. The Ducks are projected to have as many as three picks in Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft, including a potential No. 1 overall selection in reigning Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.
According to many recent projections, Arik Armstead could become the Ducks’ first defensive lineman selected in the first round since Haloti Ngata went No. 12 overall in 2006. And Jake Fisher could become the second Oregon offensive lineman in three years drafted in the first round.
“Times have changed, hopefully,” UO head coach Mark Helfrich said. “Again, that’s a byproduct of the culture, and what all those (assistant) coaches have worked really hard to do in developing these guys, and a bunch of great teammates.”
The NFL draft begins Thursday with the first round at 5 p.m. PT. The second and third rounds will be held Friday beginning at 4 p.m., and the remaining four rounds will be conducted Saturday.
Mariota is almost universally projected to be the No. 2 overall pick, either to the Tennessee Titans or a team that trades with them for the pick. The team that drafts first, Tampa Bay, travelled to Eugene to work out Mariota after the NFL Scouting Combine and Oregon’s Pro Day, but the Buccaneers are believed to be leaning toward quarterback Jameis Winston of Florida State.
At No. 2 overall, Mariota would be the highest pick from Oregon since the program’s lone No. 1 overall pick, quarterback George Shaw in 1955. “I feel like I’m more nervous than he is,” said UO junior Jeff Lockie, Mariota’s close friend and backup the last three years. “I kind of had to adjust my schedule around it, but I’ll be there watching at 5 p.m.”
Many draft projections have reached consensus on Armstead, too, as the No. 15 overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers. Ngata is the only UO defensive lineman in the last 10 years drafted in the top four rounds, but DeForest Buckner figures to give the Ducks another top D line draft pick on Armstead’s heels next year.
Fisher has rocketed up draft boards since the NFL Scouting Combine. Projections are mixed, but he has a chance to be the first UO offensive lineman to go in the first round since Kyle Long in 2013, and the first offensive lineman recruited and developed by the Ducks to go in the first round since Tom Drougas in 1972. Again, he may have company next year, when Tyler Johnstone will be in the draft pool.
Oregon might have had yet another first-round prospect, prior to cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu’s knee injury following the 2014 regular season. He still projects as a Friday selection, as does center Hroniss Grasu. The Ducks have never had as many as five players selected in the first three rounds.
The school record for draft picks in a single year is six, in both 2002 and 2009. This year’s class should threaten that, with Mariota, Armstead, Fisher, Ekpre-Olomu and Grasu potentially joined by the likes of Troy Hill, Erick Dargan and Tony Washington.
“You’re kind of beyond the bittersweet phase, to a degree, of seeing all those guys leave – just a long list of great guys you’ve been around every single day for several years,” Helfrich said. “It’s tough and emotional, and now it turns to the next stage: You hope they end up in the right situation, organizationally, schematically, all those things. It’ll be an exciting night.”
