Typically, in previous years, all of the players invited to Radio City Music Hall come off the board in the first round. This year, however, after a record 25 players were invited to New York, five players remain undrafted, still waiting to hear their name called.
Four of those players will likely come off the board in tonight's NFL Draft second round. UCLA's Akeem Ayers and Rahim Moore, Kentucky's Randall Cobb and Virginia Tech's Ryan Williams will all likely be gone after Round 2, and certainly by the end of the night. The fifth player might not, but really, that's cool ... that's cool.
"The fifth, Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich, may not be selected tonight. But Herzlich was invited to the draft more because of his inspiring personal story as a cancer survivor than because he was projected as a high pick. The NFL scheduled Herzlich's draft experience with the expectation that he wouldn't go in the first round."
Herzlich probably doesn't get selected tonight. But I suppose there's a chance he goes late in tonight's third round, too.
Final mock draft projections for Herzlich varied wildly. SportingNews had one of the most optimistic final mock drafts for Mark, projecting Herzlich to the Patriots with the 28th pick of the third round. At the other end of the spectrum is Walterfootball.com, which now has #94 getting drafted in the seventh round, going to Green Bay in the seventh round (233rd overall).
Others are relying mere crazy hunches that Mark comes off the board tonight. Could he hook up with a certain former BC teammate?
Regardless of when Herzlich gets drafted this weekend, it will be a great moment for him, his family, friends, the entire Boston College community and cancer survivors everywhere.