NFL Draft Day 3: Jets Grab QB Petty in Trade

Florida State All-America TE Nick O'Leary, the grandson of Jack Nicklaus, wound up with Buffalo in the sixth, and, fittingly on Saturday, A.J. Derby, tight end from Arkansas, went to New England.

Quarterbacks Bryce Petty and Brett Hundley found their way into the NFL on Day 3 of the draft Saturday — heading to entirely different circumstances.

Baylor's Petty went to the New York Jets, who've had inconsistency at the position for years. UCLA's Hundley will journey to Green Bay, where hardly anyone can remember the last time the Packers had questions behind center.

The Jets made an early splash in the fourth round after a night of contemplating who remained on the board. New York moved up one spot in a deal with Jacksonville to get the prolific passer who operated a spread offense in college.

Petty will have plenty to learn in the pros, and will have Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Simms ahead on the depth chart.

But the Jets have not truly been set at quarterback since the days of Chad Pennington, and new coach Todd Bowles has no ties to the other QBs.

As for the big transition, Petty was confident he can do it smoothly.

"What I was asked to do in college, it was different, but it's not because I couldn't do a pro-style offense or West Coast offense or whatever," he said. It's what I was told to do, and I did it."

Hundley, who went in the first round of some mock drafts, instead had to wait until No. 147 overall. His next stop is Lambeau Field, hardly a quarterbacking abyss.

"I think Green Bay is the perfect organization to learn as much as possible, and they have the best coaches to help me do that," Hundley said. "And Aaron Rodgers."

Another quarterback went in the fourth round — well a former QB, Blake Bell of Oklahoma. The "Belldozer" is now a tight end and wound up San Francisco.

"In your eyes, you're kind of just, 'Hey, I played quarterback before. So, it's I can see the coverage, man, zone, what the corner's doing, linebackers, D-ends, stuff like that,' " he said. "It obviously helped."

Tennessee began the fourth round by taking defensive tackle Angelo Blackson of Auburn. His partner at the position with the Tigers, Gabe Wright, went to Detroit soon after.

Cincinnati chose cornerback Josh Shaw of Southern California, who had a 10-game suspension when he lied to school officials about how he sprained his ankles in a preseason fall. Shaw jumped 20 feet from a balcony following an argument with his girlfriend in late August. He then made up an elaborate story about saving his nephew from drowning in a swimming pool.

"I know that I'm selected in the fourth round primarily because of that incident and me lying," he said. "The most important thing I learned is to not even put myself in that position and always be truthful."

The first player drafted from Navy in 20 years, long snapper Joe Cardona, went 186th to New England. He was the only player at that position at the combine in February.

"Right now I'm prepared to be the best football player I can be for the New England Patriots, and the best naval officer I can be," Cardona said. "Whatever duty I'm doing at the time I'm doing it, I'm just prepared to do my best. "

The last Middie selected was tight end Kevin Hickman by Detroit in the sixth round.

One spot earlier, the first kicker was chosen, punter Bradley Pinion of Clemson going to San Francisco. He will try to unseat veteran Andy Lee.

"Andy's been in the league a long time and he's a great punter," Pinion said. "There's a reason he's been in the league 10 years. They said it's an open competition and let the best person win."

UAB, which has disbanded its football program, had two players selected: WR J.J. Nelson to Arizona in the fifth round, TE Kennard Backman to Green Bay in Round 6.

Florida State All-America TE Nick O'Leary, the grandson of Jack Nicklaus, wound up with Buffalo in the sixth, and, fittingly on Saturday, A.J. Derby, tight end from Arkansas, went to New England.

The final pick of the shortest seven-round draft at 13 hours, 45 minutes, is dubbed "Mr. Irrelevant." The, uh, honor went to Louisville tight end Gerald Christian, who was selected by Arizona.

In all, 24 trades were made, including two transactions involving the last tradable pick, No. 249. That wound up with Atlanta, which grabbed San Jose State safety Akeem King before the compensatory picks began.

ACC schools Florida State (11) and Louisville (10) led the way in total picks. Florida was next with eight. The three big Florida schools had 26 players chosen, with Miami adding in seven.

But the SEC had the most players taken with 54, followed by the ACC with 47.

Among the major schools with no selections were North Carolina, North Carolina State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Colorado, Arizona and California.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us