Source: BigTenNetwork.com
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 3:32:00 PM EST
Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 2:55:35 PM EST
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008 3:32:00 PM EST
Published: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 2:55:35 PM EST
The following Big Ten football players signed free agent contracts after the completion of the 2008 NFL Draft on Sunday.
ILLINOIS: Illinois linebacker J Leman, safeties Justin Harrison and Kevin Mitchell, defensive tackle Chris Norwell, placekicker Jason Reda, fullback Russ Weil and offensive tackle Akim Millington all signed free agent contracts with NFL teams following the 2008 NFL Draft.
Leman, Illinois' latest consensus All-American, signed with the Minnesota Vikings where he will compete with eight other linebackers for a roster spot. Leman, the leader of a defense that held five opponents under 100 yards rushing this season, was a finalist for the Ronnie Lott and Danny Weurrfel Award as well as a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection.
Also key members of the defense, Norwell (New England), Harrison (Cleveland) and Mitchell (Washington) will battle for spots with their respective teams. Norwell joins a defensive line in New England that averaged allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. Harrison's physical style could be a good fit for the Browns. Mitchell heads to Washington as one of three safeties competing for two openings.
Typically not a draft-heavy position, Illini placekicker Reda will join Harrison in Cleveland to compete for the starting job against a 10-year veteran Phil Dawson. Millington will join two other fellow Illini, Pierre Thomas and Steve Weatherford, in New Orleans.
Weil, Rashard Mendenhall's lead blocker, will battle for a position with St. Louis. In addition to helping Mendenhall set a school record for rushing yards in a season, Weil averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
IOWA: Former Iowa football players Bryan Mattison and Albert Young signed as NFL non-drafted free agents following the draft on Sunday.
Mattison, a defensive end, signed with the New York Jets and Young, a running back, signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Last season Mattison finished sixth on the team in tackles with 61. He had 11 ½ tackles for loss, nine quarterback sacks and four forced fumbles. Young led the Hawkeyes with 968 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Another former Hawkeye, Chad Greenway, plays for the Vikings.
Three Iowa players were selected Sunday in the NFL Draft: defensive back Charles Godfrey (third round, 67th overall pick by the Carolina Panthers), defensive end Kenny Iwebema (fourth round, 116th pick by the Arizona Cardinals) and linebacker Mike Humpal (sixth round, 188th pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers).
The selections of Godfrey, Iwebema and Humpal marks the 31st straight year that the University of Iowa has had a player selected in the annual NFL Draft.
NORTHWESTERN: Offensive tackle Dylan Thiry has signed a free-agent contract with the 2008 Super Bowl champion New York Giants on Sunday night. On Monday, linebacker Adam Kadela received an invitation to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' mini-camp, although he has yet to sign a deal with the club.
Thiry will be reunited with former teammate Barry Cofield, a starting defensive tackle for the Giants.
Thiry started 34 games in his Northwestern career, helping pave the way for a pair of 1,000-yard rushing years by Tyrell Sutton in 2005 and 2006. Last season, Thiry helped the Northwestern offense to the top of the Big Ten in passing with 307.9 yards through the air per game.
Thiry was an integral part of the 2005 club that became just the second Big Ten club in league history to average more than 500 yards of total offense per game. Last year, Thiry helped NU rank first in Big Ten total offense during the regular season.
Kadela, one of four team captains, led the 2007 Wildcats in tackles (10.4 per game) and ranked second among all Big Ten players and 21st nationally in tackles per game. He totaled a personal-high 17 tackles in Northwestern's season-ending game at Illinois. Named one of 11 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team honorees in 2007, Kadela closed his career with 296 tackles. He was named the Wildcats' defensive player of the game three times in 2007. Kadela was a consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.
MINNESOTA: Three Minnesota football players signed free agent NFL contracts the day following the league's annual player draft on Monday.
Linebacker Mike Sherels signed with the Minnesota Vikings, fullback Justin Valentine inked with the New York Jets and wide receiver Ernie Wheelwright signed with the Baltimore Ravens. The trio joins safety Dominique Barber, who was a sixth-round draft choice of the Houston Texans on Sunday. With the four new additions, Minnesota has 19 players currently on NFL rosters.
Sherels ranked fourth on the team with 55 tackles in 10 games played this past season. He had 37 solo tackles and a team-high two-and-a-half sacks. He ranked third on the team with seven-and-a-half tackles for loss. Sherels finished his career with 219 total tackles, including 140 solo stops. A two-time team captain, Sherels was the team's most outstanding defensive player in 2006 when he totaled a career-best 104 tackles.
Valentine was a lead blocker in the Gophers' offensive attack and finished the season with 14 carries for 42 yards and one touchdown. Over his four seasons, Valentine rushed 73 times for 225 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also caught a career-high eight passes for 54 yards this past season and posted career totals of 17 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Valentine and Sherels shared the team's Neil Fredenburg Award for courage and love of the game.
Wheelwright turned in one of the most productive receiving seasons 66 catches, which is the second-highest total in school history. He ranked seventh in the Big Ten at 5.5 receiving yards per game and was third in single-season school history with nine touchdowns. Wheelwright, who played in the 2008 Hula Bowl, ranks third in school history with 49 career receptions and 2,434 receiving yards. His 26 receiving touchdowns rank second in school history and his seven-game streak with a touchdown catch over the 2006 and 2007 seasons ties for the longest in school annals.
MICHIGAN: The Seattle Seahawks announced early Monday morning the free agent signing of Michigan safety Jamar Adams. Adams is the first of the Wolverines' undrafted players to reach an agreement with an NFL team.
Adams, a two-time All-Big Ten second team selection, was one of three safeties to reach a free agent deal with the Seahawks. He led the team in tackles and ranked third among Big Ten defensive backs with a career-best 92 stops last season.
Adams started at safety in 32 straight games to finish his career, making starting assignments in 34 of his 47 career games played. He contributed 172 career tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and four interceptions. Adams finished 11th on Michigan's career pass breakup list with 22.
PENN STATE: A quartet of Nittany Lions, headlined by quarterback Anthony Morelli, signed free agent contracts following the NFL Draft. Morelli went to Arizona, while Terrell Golden (Philadelphia), Matt Hahn (Oakland) and Austin Scott (Cleveland) all also inked contracts Monday.
PURDUE: Following the conclusion of the 2008 NFL Draft on Sunday, two former Purdue players agreed to free-agent deals.
Wide receiver Dorien Bryant hooked on with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while center Robbie Powell joined the Cleveland Browns.
The 5-foot-10, 169-pound Bryant led the Big Ten Conference in receptions in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Last season, he had 87 catches for 936 yards (10.8 average) and eight touchdowns. Bryant ranked 20th in the country with an average of 28.0 yards per kickoff return (36 returns for a school-record 1,007 yards) and was tied for third with two returns for touchdowns (also eight other players).
Arguably the most-gifted player at Purdue under head coach Joe Tiller, Bryant is the school record-holder with 6,219 all-purpose yards, a total that ranks fourth in Big Ten history. Bryant is the Boilermakers' all-time kickoff return yards leader (2,125), and he ranks second with 292 receptions, third with 3,548 receiving yards and tied for fifth with 21 receiving touchdowns (also Taylor Stubblefield). Bryant caught at least one pass in 49 of 50 career games (all but at Iowa on Nov. 6, 2004). He is tied for seventh on the school career touchdowns list with 30 (also Vinny Sutherland) and tied for ninth with 182 points (also Sutherland).
WISCONSIN: Punter Ken DeBauche and receiver Luke Swan have signed free agent contracts with NFL teams following the conclusion of the 2008 Draft.
DeBauche was signed by Green Bay while Swan signed a free agent contract with Kansas City. Both players will report to their respective teams at the end of this week for the start of minicamp.
"I'm really excited to be going to Green Bay," DeBauche said. "It's a great to get rid of all the stress of waiting and waiting to hear if a team wants you or not. I'm really excited to be going to Green Bay, the team I grew up watching and that is so close to home."
DeBauche finished his career at Wisconsin as one of the top punters in school history. His 42.4-yard per punt average was second all-time in Wisconsin history while his 9,815 yards and 231 punts were good enough for third all-time. Ken was a four-year starter for the Badgers after redshirting in 2003. He was named to the first, second and honorable mention All-Big Ten teams and was the Conference Player of the Week on three occasions.
Swan suffered a career-ending hamstring injury at Illinois on Oct. 6, 2007. Since then he has been rehabbing after a successful surgery and has done a lot to impress coaches and scouts alike with his rapid recovery. Swan finished his career with 60 receptions for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns.
ILLINOIS: Illinois linebacker J Leman, safeties Justin Harrison and Kevin Mitchell, defensive tackle Chris Norwell, placekicker Jason Reda, fullback Russ Weil and offensive tackle Akim Millington all signed free agent contracts with NFL teams following the 2008 NFL Draft.
Leman, Illinois' latest consensus All-American, signed with the Minnesota Vikings where he will compete with eight other linebackers for a roster spot. Leman, the leader of a defense that held five opponents under 100 yards rushing this season, was a finalist for the Ronnie Lott and Danny Weurrfel Award as well as a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection.
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Notable names
ILL: J Leman, Vikings ILL: Jason Reda, Packers IU: Leslie Majors, Bears IOWA: Bryan Mattison, Jets IOWA: Albert Young, Vikings MICH: Jamar Adams, Seahawks PSU: Anthony Morelli, Cardinals PUR: Dorien Bryant, Steelers WIS: Luke Swan, Chiefs |
Also key members of the defense, Norwell (New England), Harrison (Cleveland) and Mitchell (Washington) will battle for spots with their respective teams. Norwell joins a defensive line in New England that averaged allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing per game. Harrison's physical style could be a good fit for the Browns. Mitchell heads to Washington as one of three safeties competing for two openings.
Typically not a draft-heavy position, Illini placekicker Reda will join Harrison in Cleveland to compete for the starting job against a 10-year veteran Phil Dawson. Millington will join two other fellow Illini, Pierre Thomas and Steve Weatherford, in New Orleans.
Weil, Rashard Mendenhall's lead blocker, will battle for a position with St. Louis. In addition to helping Mendenhall set a school record for rushing yards in a season, Weil averaged 4.1 yards per carry.
IOWA: Former Iowa football players Bryan Mattison and Albert Young signed as NFL non-drafted free agents following the draft on Sunday.
Mattison, a defensive end, signed with the New York Jets and Young, a running back, signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Last season Mattison finished sixth on the team in tackles with 61. He had 11 ½ tackles for loss, nine quarterback sacks and four forced fumbles. Young led the Hawkeyes with 968 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Another former Hawkeye, Chad Greenway, plays for the Vikings.
Three Iowa players were selected Sunday in the NFL Draft: defensive back Charles Godfrey (third round, 67th overall pick by the Carolina Panthers), defensive end Kenny Iwebema (fourth round, 116th pick by the Arizona Cardinals) and linebacker Mike Humpal (sixth round, 188th pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers).
The selections of Godfrey, Iwebema and Humpal marks the 31st straight year that the University of Iowa has had a player selected in the annual NFL Draft.
NORTHWESTERN: Offensive tackle Dylan Thiry has signed a free-agent contract with the 2008 Super Bowl champion New York Giants on Sunday night. On Monday, linebacker Adam Kadela received an invitation to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' mini-camp, although he has yet to sign a deal with the club.
Thiry will be reunited with former teammate Barry Cofield, a starting defensive tackle for the Giants.
Thiry started 34 games in his Northwestern career, helping pave the way for a pair of 1,000-yard rushing years by Tyrell Sutton in 2005 and 2006. Last season, Thiry helped the Northwestern offense to the top of the Big Ten in passing with 307.9 yards through the air per game.
Thiry was an integral part of the 2005 club that became just the second Big Ten club in league history to average more than 500 yards of total offense per game. Last year, Thiry helped NU rank first in Big Ten total offense during the regular season.
Kadela, one of four team captains, led the 2007 Wildcats in tackles (10.4 per game) and ranked second among all Big Ten players and 21st nationally in tackles per game. He totaled a personal-high 17 tackles in Northwestern's season-ending game at Illinois. Named one of 11 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team honorees in 2007, Kadela closed his career with 296 tackles. He was named the Wildcats' defensive player of the game three times in 2007. Kadela was a consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection.
MINNESOTA: Three Minnesota football players signed free agent NFL contracts the day following the league's annual player draft on Monday.
Linebacker Mike Sherels signed with the Minnesota Vikings, fullback Justin Valentine inked with the New York Jets and wide receiver Ernie Wheelwright signed with the Baltimore Ravens. The trio joins safety Dominique Barber, who was a sixth-round draft choice of the Houston Texans on Sunday. With the four new additions, Minnesota has 19 players currently on NFL rosters.
Sherels ranked fourth on the team with 55 tackles in 10 games played this past season. He had 37 solo tackles and a team-high two-and-a-half sacks. He ranked third on the team with seven-and-a-half tackles for loss. Sherels finished his career with 219 total tackles, including 140 solo stops. A two-time team captain, Sherels was the team's most outstanding defensive player in 2006 when he totaled a career-best 104 tackles.
Valentine was a lead blocker in the Gophers' offensive attack and finished the season with 14 carries for 42 yards and one touchdown. Over his four seasons, Valentine rushed 73 times for 225 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also caught a career-high eight passes for 54 yards this past season and posted career totals of 17 catches for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Valentine and Sherels shared the team's Neil Fredenburg Award for courage and love of the game.
Wheelwright turned in one of the most productive receiving seasons 66 catches, which is the second-highest total in school history. He ranked seventh in the Big Ten at 5.5 receiving yards per game and was third in single-season school history with nine touchdowns. Wheelwright, who played in the 2008 Hula Bowl, ranks third in school history with 49 career receptions and 2,434 receiving yards. His 26 receiving touchdowns rank second in school history and his seven-game streak with a touchdown catch over the 2006 and 2007 seasons ties for the longest in school annals.
MICHIGAN: The Seattle Seahawks announced early Monday morning the free agent signing of Michigan safety Jamar Adams. Adams is the first of the Wolverines' undrafted players to reach an agreement with an NFL team.
Adams, a two-time All-Big Ten second team selection, was one of three safeties to reach a free agent deal with the Seahawks. He led the team in tackles and ranked third among Big Ten defensive backs with a career-best 92 stops last season.
Adams started at safety in 32 straight games to finish his career, making starting assignments in 34 of his 47 career games played. He contributed 172 career tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and four interceptions. Adams finished 11th on Michigan's career pass breakup list with 22.
PENN STATE: A quartet of Nittany Lions, headlined by quarterback Anthony Morelli, signed free agent contracts following the NFL Draft. Morelli went to Arizona, while Terrell Golden (Philadelphia), Matt Hahn (Oakland) and Austin Scott (Cleveland) all also inked contracts Monday.
PURDUE: Following the conclusion of the 2008 NFL Draft on Sunday, two former Purdue players agreed to free-agent deals.
Wide receiver Dorien Bryant hooked on with the Pittsburgh Steelers, while center Robbie Powell joined the Cleveland Browns.
The 5-foot-10, 169-pound Bryant led the Big Ten Conference in receptions in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Last season, he had 87 catches for 936 yards (10.8 average) and eight touchdowns. Bryant ranked 20th in the country with an average of 28.0 yards per kickoff return (36 returns for a school-record 1,007 yards) and was tied for third with two returns for touchdowns (also eight other players).
Arguably the most-gifted player at Purdue under head coach Joe Tiller, Bryant is the school record-holder with 6,219 all-purpose yards, a total that ranks fourth in Big Ten history. Bryant is the Boilermakers' all-time kickoff return yards leader (2,125), and he ranks second with 292 receptions, third with 3,548 receiving yards and tied for fifth with 21 receiving touchdowns (also Taylor Stubblefield). Bryant caught at least one pass in 49 of 50 career games (all but at Iowa on Nov. 6, 2004). He is tied for seventh on the school career touchdowns list with 30 (also Vinny Sutherland) and tied for ninth with 182 points (also Sutherland).
WISCONSIN: Punter Ken DeBauche and receiver Luke Swan have signed free agent contracts with NFL teams following the conclusion of the 2008 Draft.
DeBauche was signed by Green Bay while Swan signed a free agent contract with Kansas City. Both players will report to their respective teams at the end of this week for the start of minicamp.
"I'm really excited to be going to Green Bay," DeBauche said. "It's a great to get rid of all the stress of waiting and waiting to hear if a team wants you or not. I'm really excited to be going to Green Bay, the team I grew up watching and that is so close to home."
DeBauche finished his career at Wisconsin as one of the top punters in school history. His 42.4-yard per punt average was second all-time in Wisconsin history while his 9,815 yards and 231 punts were good enough for third all-time. Ken was a four-year starter for the Badgers after redshirting in 2003. He was named to the first, second and honorable mention All-Big Ten teams and was the Conference Player of the Week on three occasions.
Swan suffered a career-ending hamstring injury at Illinois on Oct. 6, 2007. Since then he has been rehabbing after a successful surgery and has done a lot to impress coaches and scouts alike with his rapid recovery. Swan finished his career with 60 receptions for 1,046 yards and seven touchdowns.
