Nelson's stock climbs to possible 2nd round
Mark Janssen
mjanssen@themercury.com
In the midst of all the uncertainty of any professional draft, Jordy Nelson admits, "There's more of a feeling that it's real. It's a feeling that it's going to happen, and not hoping it will happen. It's pretty dang close to being for sure."
The 2008 National Football League Draft will take place on Saturday, April 26, with the first two rounds, followed by the remaining five rounds on Sunday, the 27th.
"I'm hearing second round, or maybe the third round," Nelson said. "My agent has been looking into that quite a bit, and that's what he's hearing ... second round."
Nelson's only on-site NFL visit came this past week when the Washington Redskins wined and dined the former Wildcat wide receiver on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"They just said they were interested and wanted to see how I might fit in with their team," said Nelson, who is ranked as the 8th best receiver entering the draft after entering the NFL Combine in February ranked between 11th to 15th. "I went out to eat with the owner, head coach and position coach, toured the facility, and met some of the players. They just wanted to find out what kind of person I am."
The Cleveland Browns were going to have Nelson come in for a visit, but cancelled.
"They didn't have a pick until the fourth round, so they called and said they weren't going to go to the trouble to fly me in because I wasn't going to be available in the fourth round," Nelson said.
The seven receivers ranking ahead of Nelson in the draft are: Malcolm Kelly of Oklahoma, Devin Thomas of Michigan State, Limus Sweed of Texas, DeSean Jackson of California, Mario Manningham of Michigan, James Hardy of Indiana, and Early Doucet of LSU.
Of those eight receivers, only Nelson and Thomas have not been "flagged" by the NFL for issues of character, durability, or size for the position.
Nelson's draft score of 84 translates into a potential second-round pick and a player who ranks among the Top 10 at his particular position. Overall, ESPN ranks Nelson as the 49th best player in the draft.
Washington just happens to have the 20th selection in the second round, which is the 51st overall pick in the draft.
In summarizing Nelson's abilities, ESPN's report says, "While he lacks elite speed and athleticism, Nelson is quicker than people seem to think and he simply knows how to separate and make plays. It wouldn't shock us if Nelson spends 10-plus productive seasons in the NFL as a possession No. 2 or No. 3 receiver."
ESPN reports that Nelson is a "... big, strong receiver with extremely reliable hands. Most impressive is his ability to get in and out of breaks so quickly, especially for a bigger receiver."
On the flip side, ESPN says, "(Nelson) lacks ideal top-end speed ... not overly elusive and doesn't display the second-gear necessary to run away from NFL defenders."
For the most part, Nelson has spent his days since the Combine working out at Kansas State.
Now he says, "All the work I can do has been done. Now you just wait for your name to be called."
While the 6-foot-2 5/8, 217-pound Nelson has been working out, he's let his agent do the phone work with NFL teams trying to get a feel for where, and when, he might be drafted.
That agent is Ben McElroy of Houston, who has developed an "in" with the Kansas State family. He's also the agent of former Wildcats Jon McGraw, Yamon Figurs, Ben Leber and Mark Simoneau.
Nelson posted single-season record numbers of 122 catches for 1,606 yards with 11 touchdowns last year, which upped his career totals to 206 receptions for 1,822 yards and 20 touchdowns.
As for Saturday, Nelson says he'll be with his wife, Emily, plus family members for the draft day festivities that begin at 2 in the afternoon.
"I'll watch early to see who the top picks are just because I'm a sports fan, but I'm not going to watch it all day," said Nelson. "I'll be off doing something until the start of the second round, then I might tune in again. I really haven't thought where I might go (in the draft) because I have no control over it. I just want to go (be drafted)."
Laughing he added, "I can tell you this, I'll be somewhere where there's cell phone service."
And when the call comes, "My wife and I have talked about that. We're not sure how we're going to react. I'm sure it will take a while to sink in. When I get drilled at my first practice, that's when the reality will set in."
With fingers crossed
There's a cast of five other Wildcats with hopes of at least signing free agent contracts if not drafted in next Saturday and Sunday's seven-round draft.
Tim Reyer is ranked as the fifth best punter, Justin McKinney as the 33rd best cornerback, Alphonso Moran as the 34th best defensive tackle, Rob Jackson as the 41st best defensive end, Marcus Watts as the 45th best safety, and, James Johnson as the 58th best running back.