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Draft recap: Good money on WVU

 

Hey, his knee looks good, no? Karl Joseph, the now former West Virginia safety, was the 14th overall pick Thursday. Four other Mountaineers followed during the seven-round event, making it the school’s best draft since 1999, and those five are going to sign contracts worth a little more than $23 million.

Five more undrafted free agents picked their new homes after the draft, and though their paths are trickier, they at least chose their teams based in large part on the likelihood of making the roster or the practice squad.

Let’s have a look, beginning with what’s probably the surprise of the event as it relates to the Mountaineers.

Now, maybe this wasn’t a surprise. The Panthers did their homework on Worley and had him in for a visit. But Worley, it seemed, was lower on a lot of boards, and it seemed he’d made an error in judgment by giving up his senior season in favor of the 2016 draft. The evaluations he received said he was no better than a fourth-round pick, that he could go undrafted and he should stay in school.

That’s what made his pro day such a big deal.

Then the Panthers, who have a need at that position after cutting Josh Norman loose, took a cornerback in the second round.

But Worley was there in the third, and Carolina traded up 16 spots to pick him, and to be fair, Worley made up for an iffy NFL combine with a strong pro day. Yet, the Panthers were not done and picked Oklahoma’s Zack Sanchez in the fifth, and that made people,  including me, wonder who was moving to another position.

For now, that honor should fall to Sanchez. The general manager envisions him inside as a nickel back while Worley and second-round pick James Bradberry will begin on the outside.

The second day ended and the Bears spent their time between the third and fourth rounds coming up with a way to jump up and get Nick Kwiatkoski, and Chicago was pretty pleased about this one. This one just feels right, from the name and the city to the player and the tradition of the team and its linebackers. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it works, doesn’t it? Figure he’ll stand out on special teams and give the defense some depth right away and then replace a starter in free agency some time in the future.

The Eagles waited until the fifth round to draft Smallwood, which, to me, seemed late, but he’s a niche pick. He was the quickest running back at the combine, but he wasn’t the fastest. He led the nation in yards before contact and runs of 10-plus yards, but he didn’t turn in a lot of long runs and he didn’t score a lot of touchdowns. He can return kicks, but he didn’t the past two years. He can help in the passing game, but his statistics dipped last year.

Smallwood grew up about a half hour or so from the Eagles stadium. He rooted for the Eagles, and he’d pick them as his team when he was playing video games just so he could be Duce Staley, who happens to be the team’s running backs coach.

There was another part of Smallwood’s past that had to be addressed, though, and that’s where Twitter came into play and when Smallwood earned positive reviews for handling his errors.

We saved the best for last, of course, and not just because it’s K.J. Dillon, who will be missed in these parts. The Texans scooped him up, which is cool because he mastered … spur … the past two years, and it happened not far from the point where you could argue a player is better served going undrafted.

The best part is that Dillon opened eyes at the Senior Bowl, where practices are more important than the game. One day, when the players were wearing shorts, Dillon whacked a running back. His name is Tyler Ervin, and Ervin was Houston’s fourth-round pick.

After the draft, Kyle Rose signed with Cleveland, Terrell Chestnut and Shaq Petteway signed with San Diego, Marquis Lucas signed with Buffalo and John DePalma signed with Philadelphia. According to reports, only six  players signed a larger contract than DePalma and only four were guaranteed more money.