| Draft Gaithering |
| By Chris Steuber |
Published
06/30/2007
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Featured Columns
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Jared Gaither's supple entry
 | | Maryland’s star offensive tackle, Jared Gaither, announced that he
will apply for the supplemental draft. |
Draft Gaithering
By Chris Steuber
Posted: Friday, June 29, 2007
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Maryland OT Jared Gaither is the latest prospect to enter the
2007 NFL Supplemental Draft. |
The NFL Supplemental Draft, which will be held on July 12th, is
starting to get a little interesting with the quality of players available to
teams.
Maryland’s star offensive tackle, Jared Gaither, announced that he
will apply for the supplemental draft. Gaither was declared academically
ineligible two weeks ago, and after much consideration, he decided the NFL was
his best career option.
The decision to enter the supplemental draft was
an easy decision, due to his poor academics, but Gaither plans to pursue his
degree at a later time.
"The plan is still to return [to school] and earn
my degree," Gaither said. "But after going over all the academic stuff as it
affected me right now, and where I stood, this is the best
thing."
Gaither is a highly touted prospect that had a chance to be a
first round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft. But with the circumstances as they
are in this case, teams get a head start on a future star at the tackle
position.
The 6-foot-9, 350-pound Gaither figures to draw a lot of
attention in the supplemental draft. There is a chance a team may select him
within the first three rounds. If a team chooses a player in the supplemental
draft, the team must forfeit its corresponding pick in the NFL Draft in April
2008.
Gaither joins Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver, Nebraska offensive
lineman Chris Patrick, and Morgan State defensive tackle Robert Armstrong as
players in the supplemental draft.
The supplemental draft is conducted
for players who were not eligible for the regular draft in April. This happens
when players have left their schools for a variety of reasons and are successful
in petitioning the league for entry. They still must meet the requirement of
having been at least three years removed from their senior year of high school
or their 18th birthday.
It’s possible that Gaither will work out for
scouts to review him as a potential high supplemental selection, but nothing has
been confirmed. Teams understand what’s at stake for a player selected in this
draft. If a team feels a player is worth giving up a high selection in the NFL
Draft to select a prospect in the supplemental draft, they will do
so.
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Virginia’s Ahmad Brooks in the third
round of the supplemental draft. The Bengals forfeited their third round pick in
this past April’s NFL Draft for the rights to Brooks. Brooks played in 11 games
last season for the Bengals and figures to be a key contributor this
season.The supplemental draft is starting to take shape
and there are some promising prospects available to the NFL.
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