A couple days later and not much has changed.
I found it amusing that on the day before the draft, the Delaware paper wrote about how Otah’s family was hoping he might go with pick #19.
So, even though they know it probably won’t happen, the Otah family will dream about Jeff playing just a half-hour drive up Interstate 95.
“That would be such a thrill for all of us, to have Jeffrey play for the Eagles,” Patricia Otah said. “We’re not getting our hopes up, but if we could pick any place, it would be someplace close to home. And Philadelphia is as close to home as he can get.”
Well, they got it half right with Otah going #19.
The latest pride of Delaware is the 5th Delaware high schooler taken in the first round.
…joining Randy White of McKean High (by Dallas with the second pick in 1975), Joe Campbell of Salesianum (New Orleans, seventh in 1977), Luke Petitgout of Sussex Central (New York Giants, 19th in 1999) and Kwame Harris of Newark (San Francisco, 26th in 2003).
As the NFL is a well-oiled publicity machine, they had quick Q&As with all first round picks on the teams’ respective sites that night.
On playing for Dave Wannstedt at the University of Pittsburgh: He just told me to be a man, and it’s a job now. Everyone playing is a grown man and you have to take care of your family. That is how he treated me when I was there, like a man. He let you make your own decisions, and if you couldn’t abide by that then you wouldn’t be playing.
They also had Otah on a plane to Charlotte that evening to be introduced to the local media.
Otah was puzzled, not knowing Carolina had only minutes before traded up with the Eagles for that 19th pick — and had chosen him.
“I thought it was a prank call,” Otah said.
But it wasn’t, although Otah wasn’t fully convinced until another call came. This time it was Panthers coach John Fox, whose voice Otah recognized from a meeting they had at his workout day for NFL teams.
Otah, as it turned out, was heading where he hoped he would be.
“This is where I envisioned myself going,” Otah said Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, where he had just finished taking a tour of the facility with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.
Given that Carolina traded a good deal to get back into the first round to get Otah, there is probably more pressure on Otah to perform right away than on #13 Jonathan Stewart (who at least has DeAngelo Williams to share carries).
Despite the increase in the level of competition at the Division I level, Otah held his own. By the time he graduated Wannstedt was calling him “the best offensive lineman I’ve ever coached.”
Coach John Fox hopes he can say the same at some point down the road.
He’d better hope so.
The Panthers gave up a king’s ransom – a second- and a fourth-round pick this year and a first-round pick in 2009 – to get Otah with the 19th pick in the first round, so there will be plenty of inherent added pressure on him to play at a high level.
On the second day, Mike McGlynn and Kennard Cox got drafted.
McGlynn was a fourth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles as the 109th overall pick, while Cox was selected in the seventh round [251st] by the Buffalo Bills as a compensatory selection.
Cox was the third CB taken by the Bills in this draft. It’s a safe bet as the second last pick in the NFL draft that Cox’s survival on the roster will be dictated by how well he performs on special teams.
As for McGlynn, Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid likes his versatility.
“In the fourth round, we took Mike McGlynn. He’s an offensive tackle from Pittsburgh, however he did play some guard and also some center. That’s where my interest came in, that he can play all three. He’s very much of the same mode as [RT] Jon Runyan. He’s got a nasty streak to him and he’ll fit in nice with our group of guys here.”
McGlynn, of course, is just ready to play.
On whether he spoke to the Eagles coaches about what position he would be playing: “I think (offensive line) coach (Juan) Castillo likes me inside, playing guard or possibly even center. I really don’t know. We really have not gotten into that to see where they want me to play. I will play anywhere, tackle, guard or center. It doesn’t matter. I am excited.”
On the free agent signings. Chris McKillop, Jameel Brady, Mike Phillips and Lowell Robinson are unsigned.
Joe Clermond signed with the Bears. Darrell Strong with the Raiders. I’m mildly surprised neither got drafted. Strong’s physical characteristics and Clermond’s production just seemed like someone would take a 6th or 7th round flier on them.
