Last-Round Players

All this talk about my latest favorite last-round player reminds me that we've had a whole gaggle of solid players that we've culled from the steaming wreckage of the draft's final round. Observe:

1995 -Chad Cota- Probably our best 7th-rounder, he was a hard-hitting playmaker from the safety position who spent several years making Carolina the envy of professional expansion franchises before bolting for the greener pastures of Indy. Sorely missed when he left, too.

1997 -Kris Mangum- Ahh, the man I affectionately call Hands. Whenever he made a catch, you'd hear a whole group of my friends scream in unison, 'HANDS!!!' He was a glorified blocker who knew his role on offense, but when he'd get that brief shot at glory he always came through. Sort of like a football version of Samwise Gamgee. Retired this year, and he'll be missed.

2000 -Lester Towns- As a rookie, he was inserted into the starting Mike linebacker role, and he stayed there until John Fox came along and re-made the defense in his own image. Stout hitter, traditional run-stuffing linebacker lacking sideline-to-sideline speed (hello, Dan Morgan). Responsible for the most impressive hit I've ever seen in person when he went straight through Brad Hoover on his way to the quarterback in LB-RB blitz-pickup drills during the 2002 training camp.

2004 -Michael Gaines- Okay, less impressive here, but he started a number of games at TE, was the only significant receiving threat at that position last year (sorry, Hands), but is losing ground to Jeff King and might not even make the active roster much this season. The guy's got boatloads of raw talent that he can't seem to refine. One thing he should stop doing: producing unfunny comedy shows.

2006 -Will Montgomery- One of the three(!) Hokies we drafted last year, he provided solid depth for an offensive line that had otherwise been mugged, shanked and left for dead in a back alley in Phnom Penh. But with the additions we've made, can he even find a roster spot of his own this year? Hard to say, but he's certainly been worth his slot in the draft thus far.

2006 -Stanley McClover- Last year's second last-round guy, he didn't play much in his rookie season, only managing spot duty in the last couple of games, but he's running with the ones in camp and I like him a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing him in action in the pre-season.

2007 -CJ Wilson- Obviously, he's not one of the stars of the defense (ya know, since we just drafted him), but I felt obliged to give you someone to watch, since he's got a chance to get some playing time at safety this year. I mean, with our safety situation what it is, I think a blind grandmother would have a shot at playing time if she could just get on the roster. Well, CJ's already accomplished more than any blind grandmother I know by doing that, and he ran with the ones at Saturday's scrimmage (through no fault of his own), so he's someone you can keep an eye on this pre-season to see how our most recent last-round guy is doing.

As a side note on CJ Wilson, my initial feeling about him was decidedly not good, especially following on all the Pacman Jones silliness. (Draft party for a guy that's not even a lock to be drafted, and on the first day of the draft? With an afterparty until 2am?) I don't know what this Furious Studios is, but it's clear he's affiliated with them in some way, and I don't like any group that has a "Glamour Network". But, that said, nobody's yet hired me to run their life, I don't think I made the short list of people vying to run his, and since he's a grown man he gets to do what he likes.

I just hope this cornerback-turned-safety from Baylor pans out for us. One very smart thing he did was to hire another former safety from Baylor as his agent. Vann McElroy spent nine seasons in the NFL, made the Pro Bowl twice, and collected a Super Bowl ring with the '84 Raiders. Smart move on CJ's part to hire a well-respected guy who's good at his job and can act as a resource since they have so much in common. Oh, and you probably want to listen to "the best interview on the Panthers". I did, and I feel much better about the kid, now.

Likely nickname for CJ: Waterboy.