2015 NFL Draft: Arizona Wildcats Free Agent Signings

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Dec 31, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; A giant American flag is displayed on the field during the national anthem to start the game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Boise State Broncos in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl at Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

According to Arizona Wildcats Football (@ArizonaFBall) four former Arizona Wildcats were signed after seven rounds of the NFL Draft in the Free Agency market, one was invited to a mini-camp.

There is still no mention of Tra’Mayne Bondurant, Jonathan McKnight, Jared Tevis or Terris Jones-Grisby post draft which is shocking to most Arizona Wildcats fans.

In all 39 Pac-12 players were drafted in the seven rounds this last weekend.  A summary of the Pac-12 experience in the NFL Draft according to the Pac-12 website follows:

“Fourteen Pac-12 players were selected in the final four rounds of the NFL draft Saturday, bringing the conference’s total to 39 draftees in 2015. That total is third-most of any conference in college football, trailing the SEC’s 54 and ACC’s 47. USC and Stanford led the Pac-12 with six draft picks apiece, while Oregon and Oregon State each had five alums selected. In all, nine Pac-12 teams had at least two players drafted.”

Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Wildcats

Arizona Wildcats

Three Pac-12 teams did not have any players drafted: Arizona, Cal and Colorado.  Arizona did win the Pac-12 south as I recall, that didn’t have any affect on the NFL Scouts!  In related news, the Philadelphia Eagles fired three of their scouts today.  I am starting to think maybe the same old way of drafting players by scouts who have been doing this for years and years may be slowing down, time to look at this whole draft differently?

It seems to work for baseball. In the movie “Moneyball”, a poster I have hanging in my office, the older baseball scouts are let go in favor of a more stat based approach.

Maybe NFL scouts should start taking a page out of the Coach Rich Rodriguez recruiting philosophy book and draft their kind of guys, not necessarily looking at whom everyone says is the best player, try to add the intangibles and stats others are not looking at.

In any case, Arizona did have five players who saw action post draft in the Free Agent market.

Next: Who was the first to sign a Free Agent deal?

Schedule

Schedule