Mike Teel didn’t want to be distracted by the NFL Draft on Sunday, so he went out to play golf with his cousins on a beautiful afternoon instead.

That didn’t stop the former Rutgers quarterback from checking the draft updates on his phone at every chance.

“I was trying to keep my mind occupied but I was on the Internet updating the Web browser every five minutes,” Teel said by phone Monday morning.

Read the full story here.

And read here about the seven Jersey players taken in Saturday’s first round.

Radio City Music Hall, that is.

New Jersey guys made up seven of the 32 first-round picks in Saturday’s NFL Draft.

OT Eugene Monroe of Virginia went at No. 8 to Jacksonville; DT B.J. Raji of Boston College was picked No. 9 by Green Bay; RB Knowshon Moreno of Georgia went No. 12 to Denver; CB Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State went No. 14 to New Orleans; and LB Brian Cushing of Southern Cal was selected No. 15 by Houston.

Later, RB Donald Brown of UConn went No. 27 to New Orleans and WR Kenny Britt of Rutgers was chosen at No. 30 by Tennessee.

“It’s good to have a New Jersey crew out there in the draft,” Moreno said the other day. “Coaches need to start recruiting up here in New Jersey a little more.”

Steve Antonucci, Moreno’s high school coach at Middletown South, added shortly after Moreno was selected: “I think it says a lot. New Jersey football gets a little bit of a knock sometimes, but I think we’re showing them today what New Jersey football is all about.”

Some projected that Moreno would fall to No. 21 and go to the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Broncos gobbled up yet another Georgia tailback. Terrell Davis, another Georgia product, also played for Denver.

“You know, a lot of teams needed [running] backs, but I didn’t know what was going to happen. But once I got that call, got that idea and [Head Coach Josh McDaniels) told me about it, about that they [the Broncos] were going to take me, I was so excited about the situation and to be a part of the team now,” Moreno said

Said Antonucci: “Denver showed some interest. I had some early conversations with them. They worked him out two or three times. Everybody kept talking about the Eagles and the Jets but I was happy to see it go down with the Broncos.”

Cushing, who starred at Bergen Catholic in North Jersey and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated this past week, got the phone call from Houston just before he was picked.

“I’m thrilled to be there, too,” Cushing told Erin Andrews of ESPN. “I was waiting a little while in the back room, but I kind of  expected that. But it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, I’m more than happy to do this.”

Asked what the Texans saw in him, Cushing said:  “Just a versatile player. I can play any of the three linebacker positions. Just a hard-working guy, I feel no one will ever outwork me.”

Brown, who led the nation in rushing at 2,083 yards and 18 touchdowns, went No. 27 overall to the Colts. he played Pee Wee football with Moreno on the Atlantic Highland Tigers.

“I’m happy, I’m relieved, I’m excited,” Brown said, according to Colts.com.

Colts President Bill Polian called Brown, “A scintillating player.”

“He catches the ball, blocks . . .” Polian told Colts.com. “We lost [veteran running back] Dominic Rhodes [as an unrestricted free agent]. We replaced him with Donald Brown.”

He added: “He was, in our opinion, the best player left. Interestingly enough, everything went exactly as we thought it would.”

Britt became the sixth Scarlet Knight drafted in the last three years, following second-round picks Brian Leonard (2007) and Ray Rice (2008).

“The Tennessee Titans are getting a tremendous person and player in Kenny Britt,” said Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano. “Kenny proved to be one of the nation’s best college receivers and I’m sure he will have continued success as he makes the transition to the NFL. We are all very excited for Kenny and his family.”

The nation’s second-leading receiver in yards per game in 2008, Britt finished his career as the BIG EAST’s all-time leader in receiving yards (3,043) in 34 games.

“We knew as our program grew, this day would come,” added Schiano. “Having Kenny drafted in the first round is an exciting honor for both him and our entire program.”

Britt ended the season with school records in single-season receptions (87) and receiving yards (1,371) to help guide Rutgers to its third consecutive bowl victory.

(Photos courtesy SI, ESPN, NFL.com)

Eric Mangini

Mangini, now the coach of the Cleveland Browns, traded the No. 5 pick in the NFL Draft to the Jets, who used it to select USC quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Watching the proceedings from California, Sanchez received a phone call from Jets GM Mike Tanenbaum. He immediately put on a Jets baseball cap just before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the pick, and the Jets fans at Radio City Music Hall let out a mix of cheers and boos.

The 6-foot-2, 228-pound Sanchez makes perfect sense for the Jets, who are desperately in need of a marquee quarterback after Brett Favre retired in the wake of last season’s failure to make the playoffs.

“It’s the right place and it’s pretty special. I’m glad the family’s around,” Sanchez told ESPN. “I just felt so comfortable with their coaching staff. I love what Coach [Rex] Ryan’s doing on the defensive end and that’s what I’m used to, coming from SC with Coach [Pete] Carroll being a defensive-minded coach. A good defense and a solid running game like they have, that’s a quarterback’s best friend. And then that front offensive line look’s great already, so I can’t wait to meet that team.”

Sanchez threw for 3,965 passing yards and 41 TDs in 16 starts at Southern Cal. He will compete with Kellen Clemens, who shares the same agent as Sanchez.

“I met him before and he’s a great guy,” Sanchez said. “It’s going to be a competition and it’s going to be fun for both of us. In a quarterback competition only one guy can play. It’s different than other positions. But we’re used to that kind of stuff and we’re pros so we’ll handle it like that.”

In return for the pick, the Browns got a 2009 1st round pick (17th overall); a 2009 2nd-round pick; DE Kenyon Coleman; QB Brett Ratliff; and DB Abram Elam.

“Definitely. My brother [Devin McCourty] and Courtney Greene, they were all standing by the  scouts. They came up to me and said they all did a double take at their watches because nobody expected me to run that fast,” McCourty said by phone. “I kind of expected it because I had done a 4.28 in training.”

A 5-foot-10, 190-pound cornerback who starred at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, N.J., McCourty expects to be drafted somewhere in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft, which begins today at Radio City Music Hall.

“I’ve been told around the fifth [round] and I’ve also been told free agency,” McCourty said.

McCourty has visited the Giants, Houston, Jacksonville, Green Bay, Atlanta, Baltimore and Cleveland. He and several Rutgers teammates also worked out for Cleveland scouts this past Thursday at Rutgers.

“I really do believe he will be drafted,” said Ken Sarnoff, McCourty’s agent. “I know a bunch of teams that have expressed interest that didn’t work him out.”

Sarnoff added that McCourty had a 3.4 GPA and was a high-character person who should be attractive to NFL franchises.

“He’s just a great kid,” Sarnoff said. “You couple that with the athletic talent and you know what you’re getting. A player who’s going to come in and do his work.”

McCourty says he can play a variety of positions and just wants to contribute. Last season he had two interceptions for 30 yards, returned 17 kicks for 438 yards and made 52 tackles.

“I believe I’m a smart player and I’m a competitor,” he said. “I’m a player that’s going to contribute anywhere a team needs me. Special teams, I can return kicks and anything else they else they need me to do.”

McCourty says he planned to watch the draft from his home in Nanuet, N.Y. with family and friends.

“I’ll definitely watch the first two rounds,” he said. “I’ll be watching anything else that comes on as well.

“I’m a little nervous. I kind of just take it as wherever I end up is where I end up. I’m going to have the same mindset and just go. Wherever I end up is where I end up.”

MORE NFL DRAFT COVERAGE

**Read the features on three other Jersey players, Rutgers WR Kenny Britt, Georgia RB Knowshon Moreno and UConn RB Donald Brown.

]]> http://zagsblog.com/nfl-draft/rutgers-mccourty-awaits-draft-day/feed/ 0 adamzags http://zagsblog.com/nfl-draft/six-jersey-players-could-go-in-first-round/ http://zagsblog.com/nfl-draft/six-jersey-players-could-go-in-first-round/#comments Fri, 24 Apr 2009 16:17:34 +0000 Adam Zagoria http://www.zagsblog.com/?p=15557 ]]> HOLMDEL, N.J. — During his time at Middletown South High School, Knowshon Moreno worked after school stocking shelves at a Modell’s Sporting Goods in this Jersey Shore town.

Now those same shelves are stocked with his red No. 24 University of Georgia jersey and will soon feature the jersey of whichever NFL franchise picks Moreno in Saturday’s NFL Draft.

On Thursday, Moreno spoke to more than a hundred fans, many of them children and teenagers from Middletown South, at the same Modell’s where he once worked. His Georgia jersey — priced at $60 — filled one wall opposite those of NFL stars Tony Romo, Eli Manning and Justin Tuck.

Read the full story here.

And read the feature on Moreno’s old buddy Donald Brown here.

Twenty-four hours before the NFL Draft begins Saturday in Manhattan, Donald Brown won’t be sitting at home worrying about which team might pick him.

He won’t be partaking in a grueling, sweat-stained workout.

And he won’t be planning how to his spend soon-to-be newfound riches, either.

Brown, a 5-foot-10., 210-pound running back from Atlantic Highlands, N.J. who starred at UConn, will host the inaugural Donald Brown Player-to-Player Leadership Conference Thursday night in Red Bank.

Read the full story here.