NFL DRAFT
Undrafted Kudla feeling left out
Two teammates get call on second day
Monday, May 01, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The fact that the NFL deemed 255 players more worthy than him devastated Mike Kudla.
The Ohio State defensive end watched seven of his teammates get picked Saturday and two more early yesterday as the draft concluded.
By 5:30 p.m., the draft was over. Nobody took Kudla, despite a stellar senior season and the fact that he tied the NFL combine record in February by benching 225 pounds 45 times.
Last night, his father, Paul, said Mike was too upset to talk.
"He’s very disappointed," Paul said from the family’s Medina home. "We’re in uncharted waters here. It’s not a good place to be right now."
Kudla had hoped to be picked as high as the second round.
Kudla’s problem may be that the NFL views him as a "tweener," caught between being a defensive end or an outside linebacker. He is 6 feet 3, 265 pounds.
He was first-team All-Big Ten last year, when he had 9.5 sacks, including three in a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame.
Kudla likely will sign as a free agent soon. Three other Buckeyes signed deals after the draft last night, agent Jeff Chilcoat said: kicker Josh Huston with Chicago, tight end Ryan Hamby with Cincinnati and defensive tackle Marcus Green with the New York Giants.
Also, former OSU cornerback E.J. Underwood, who played for Pikeville (Ky.) College last season, signed with the Giants, along with Miami University center Todd Londot, who became the first player out of Utica High School to enter the NFL.
The draft began wonderfully for OSU, with a school-record five players selected in the first round Saturday and two others in the third round.
Yesterday, safety Nate Salley went to Carolina and guard Rob Sims to Seattle, both in the fourth round.
That brought the total to nine, all in the first half of the draft.
The biggest winners were safety Donte Whitner, picked eighth overall by Buffalo, about 10 positions higher than expected, and linebacker Anthony Schlegel, picked in the third round by the New York Jets, also higher than projected.
A milder disappointment than Kudla was cornerback Ashton Youboty, like Whitner an early-entry junior. He slipped to the third round when most thought he would be picked in the late first or early second.
"He was the 70 th guy picked," Tressel said Saturday night. "To be one of the top 70 guys in the country, I think that’s a good reason to go out."
While fielding calls from NFL coaches and scouts after the combine, Tressel said he received an inkling that this might be a good draft for OSU.
"I heard NFL guys talk a lot about (OSU players) not only performing well physically, but they were so impressive in interviews and with their knowledge of the game and their maturity," Tressel said. "That usually helps. People don’t want to spend first-round draft choices on people who have question marks."
The Bills caught some heat from their fans for selecting Whitner so early, but assistant general manager Tom Modrak said he was the clear consensus in the draft room.
"Part of our decision was based on his physical ability as well as his approach to the game," Modrak said. "We want more players with both qualities. He studies the game and plays the game hard. It’s important to him. It is hard to get your arms around a player with those things, but they are there with him."
Whitner credited former OSU defensive backs coach Mel Tucker, now an assistant with the Cleveland Browns, for teaching him how to prepare.
"He showed me how to watch film and what tendencies to look for," Whitner said. "What I see on film, I just take it to the football field, because football is a mental game."
Tressel said, "He’s a tremendous student of the game. Donte’s stock kept rising the more people met with him and sat down and watched film with him and saw his intellect."
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