Miami Hurricanes Rookies In The NFL: Where Are They Now?
When the most recent NFL draft came to an end, it appeared to Miami Hurricanes fans to be almost as big of a failure of a draft as the year prior, when the only drafted rookie was LB Spencer Adkins, who has still, to this day, has still not made any sort of an impact on the pro game. The 'Canes only produced four draftees: TE Jimmy Graham, OT Jason Fox, LB Darryl Sharpton, and TE Dedrick Epps. The earliest pick was Graham at the 96th overall pick to the Saints, a team that already had an elite TE in former Cane Jeremy Shockey (though word is that he played a role in drafting Graham). There were a few undrafted rookies, but the expectations were low once again for the second straight draft class to not feature a Miami 1st rounder, a streak that should end next year with as many as two 1st rounders for The U (Allen Bailey and Brandon Harris).
However, for a draft in which nobody came out with any real hype, the draft class that Miami produced has exceeded expectations to this point. While we won't see any Canes rookies in this year's Pro Bowl, it seems as though almost all of the former Miami players have made an impact on their teams in their limited time at the pro level.
So let's take a look at all the rookies to come out of NFL U this past draft and how they've shaped up. Naturally their grades will likely change as their pro careers continue (or end early), but let's see what sort of future we can expect from this draft class potentially.
The Unremarkables
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Let's start by listing the guys who have not made a name for themselves yet in the NFL. While their future doesn't look bright at this point, history has shown that guys like them (such as undrafted rookies like Tony Romo and Wes Welker) could still make a rebound in the future.
RB Tervaris Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs (undrafted)
I've gotta be honest. Until just now I didn't even realize he was in the NFL. But this RB who really had an unremarkable tenure as a TE with the Hurricanes got picked up to help as depth to the Chiefs' RB roster. Unfortunately for both parties, Johnson was placed on IR before he ever got a chance to get any play time, and has still yet to see the ball to this day.
TE Dedrick Epps, Miami Dolphins (7th round, 235th pick [by the San Diego Chargers])
It was pretty clear right off the bat that former Canes TE Dedrick Epps would not have a fruitful tenure with the Chargers, who already boasted arguably the greatest TE in the league, Antonio Gates. He made no notable contribution to the Chargers and was cut early. Picked up by the Dolphins, he currently sits on the practice squad, yet to even take the field in an NFL game. And unlike Tervaris Johnson, he doesn't have injuries to blame.
OT Jason Fox, Detroit Lions (4th round, 128th pick)
One of the best OTs to come out of Miami since Bryant McKinnie, Fox was expected to contribute to a Lions team whose O-line was so bad they probably would be no worse off playing without it. Instead, he has also yet to play a snap of meaningful football. He's on the depth chart, but has not been able to even slide in for an injured or exhausted lineman for as much as a down. Not a good sign.
RB Javarris James, Indianapolis Colts (undrafted)
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I'll admit that I personally am not a fan of the Colts, but I thought it was nice to see this former Cane go to the team where his cousin, former Miami legend Edgerrin James, became an elite RB.
After being picked up by Indy, he rotated through a number of teams before finally settling down with the team that gave him a chance in the first place. At first, things didn't look good for him. Being the #4 RB on a team that passes the ball almost exclusively is a bad position to be in. But a plague of injuries that saw Joseph Addai go out for the season and both Mike Hart and Donald Brown miss some time turned advantageous for the Canes RB who only really saw himself go undrafted due to a rash of injuries that limited his play time. So I guess it's a bit of irony that injuries are now the reason he's getting play time.
Overall, his yardage numbers are unremarkable, borderline bad. He's got 46 carries for 112 yards, an average of only 2.4 yards per carry. But his success has come in the short yardage game, and it's shown. He's got 6 TDs on the season, as many as the other three aforementioned backs combined. He also had a brief period in the middle of the season where he showed his ability to catch the ball, with all 9 of his receptions coming in a three game stretch from weeks 11 to 13.
It's appeared so far that his numbers will drop off now with the signing of Dominic Rhodes, but even if he doesn't end up having a future in Indianapolis, he's now got a resume that may help him gain a position on another team that needs RB or FB help. Perhaps Arizona, where his cousin Edgerrin also went after leaving the Colts.
Grade: B-
TE JImmy Graham, New Orleans Saints (Third Round, 95th Pick)
3 of 6The first Cane to come off the board in the 2010 NFL Draft, Jimmy Graham was the only Miami player to be in any real pre-draft discussions, with some mock drafts having him go as early as the 2nd round. The reasons usually focused around his freakish traits for a TE, including amazing arm span and height, as well as solid speed agility, and jumping, traits that helped him be a stand out player on the Hurricanes basketball team prior to his stint on the gridiron.
It would appear that Jimmy Graham is the heir apparent to former Miami great Jeremy Shockey, whose 9 years in the league have worn down his body to the point where he won't be around much longer. And if Jimmy Graham continues to play as he has thus far, he'll do a fantastic job carrying the torch. Despite being the #2 TE behind Shockey, he's put up 315 yards and 3 TDs. He's averaging a fantastic 12.6 YPC and had an unbelievably one-handed TD against the Ravens, seen in the video above, one of two on the day.
While the majority of the praise in the rookie TE class is going to the Bengals' Jermaine Gresham and the duo of Patriots TEs, Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham is quietly having a great season, and the hype machine is starting to build up with his great play so far. He's got the potential to end up the best TE to come out of the 2010 draft. But I'd like to see more over the remaining two regular season games and their playoff game(s) before I'm truly convinced.
Grade: A-
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LB Darryl Sharpton, Houston Texans (Fourth Round, 102nd Pick)
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Don't let the lack of a picture in his Texans uniform deceive you. Darryl Sharpton, nephew of famous preacher Al Sharpton, has played a fair bit for the Texans this season. Drafted due to questions in the Texans LB corp, Sharpton has had his chance to see play time thanks to a rash of injuries.
Sharpton has come on much more as of late, racking up 20 of his 29 total tackles on the season in his last 4 games. He's 12th on the team in total tackles, which isn't bad for a guy who started the season buried on the depth chart. If his pace over the last 4 games was his season pace, he'd have 70 tackles, which would put him at 4th on the team, so clearly he's starting to make a name for himself on the team.
Perhaps his best effort came in the loss to the Baltimore Ravens. He finished with 6 tackles, one shy of the career high he set against the Jets, but also came out with his 1st career sack.
With the Texans' season effectively over, I expect to see Darryl Sharpton get more play time over the next two games, and hopefully get to see more of what this guy is made of. But without more than 4 games worth of serious play time, I can't give him a high grade just yet
Grade: C+
CB Sam Shields, Green Bay Packers (undrafted)
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Vying with Javarris James for the title of "Most Pleasant Surprise" out of the Miami products this year is CB Sam Shields. The former WR-turned-CB did not have the senior season people expected and went undrafted. But he got picked up by the Packers early on, and he's been proving his worth.
After an uneventful first two preseason games, he really started to emerge late in the preseason, having a team-high 3 pass deflections in the 59-24 blowout win over the Colts and an impressive 6 total tackles the following week against the Chiefs. Since then he started to mellow out a bit, but he's picked it up lately, with 5 pass deflections in a 3 game span from week 9 to week 13 (there was a bye week in the middle in case you were wondering). He recorded his 1st interception of his career in week 9 against the Cowboys, and has picked up his game ever since. In his last two games alone, he's had 9 total tackles, including 6 against the Patriots, something you just generally don't see from CBs. But a lot of his worth has come outside of his abilities as a CB. He's also an adept return man. His 23.7 yards per return is the most on the team.
He's still got a lot of work to do if he wants to become like his teammate Charles Woodson, but he's off to a good start to his career. He hasn't made any unbelievable plays yet, but he's doing his job silently and getting better with each passing week.
Grade: B-
Overall
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Out of the numerous Hurricanes that graduated following the 2009 season, 7 have made it into the National Football League. Not a horrible number, but less than Canes fans are used to (remember that Miami once had 6 players in just the 1st round). Out of those 4, three have yet to really do anything in this league, whether because of injury or just underperforming.
But the 4 who have made a name for themselves have exceeded expectations thus far this season. Even if some of them have only been seeing play time due to injuries to other players, they are getting noticed, and should be seeing some more playing time before too long.
For an overall grade, I can't go too high because none have emerged as real superstars yet, a la a Devin McCourty, Sam Bradford, or Ndamukong Suh. But to produce 4 picks from the late 3rd round or later that have seen extensive play time this season is definitely not bad for a team that many claim cannot produce NFL talent anymore. Kinda makes you wonder what Allen Bailey or Brandon Harris will be like when they come into the NFL
Overall Grade: B
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