By the time the third and final day of the NFL Draft rolls around, who besides the paid professionals can muster enthusiasm anymore?
The New England Patriots made their final three selections today and as you'll see by their random resumes, they will be all long shots to make the 53-man roster in the regular season let alone do anything memorable. The Pats only had one pick, that is before they flipped it (5th round, 163 overall) to the Packers for three later picks.
Without further ado, say hello to Ohio State safety Nate Ebner (6th round, 197 overall), Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (7th round, 224 overall) and Northwestern wide receiver Jeremy Ebert (7th round, 235 overall).
I'll sum up those three guys in a few sentences. Ebner was a former rugby player and walk-on for the Buckeyes that potentially could make it based on special teams. Dennard is pretty talented but he got arrested (assaulting an officer and resisting arrest) last week and also was ejected from a Bowl game in 2011 for fighting South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey. Clearly, he's a bozo but Bill Belichick must think he's worth the risk (not that a seventh-round pick is much of a risk). Finally, Ebert was the leading receiver for the Wildcats the last two seasons and he's a white slot receiver that converted from quarterback in high school. In other words, he's Julian Edelman 2.0.
All seven members of the Patriots' Draft Class of 2012 are on Twitter so do yourselves a favor and give them a follow, that is if you're on Twitter yourself. Chandler Jones-@chanjones99; Dont'a Hightower-@zeus30hightower; Tavon Wilson-@TavonWilson3; Jake Bequette-@JakeBequette91; Nate Ebner-@Natebner34; Jeremy Ebert-@Jebes11.
It is dorky but definitely one of the best aspects of when the Celtics/Patriots/Red Sox/Bruins acquire a new player is to see if they are on Twitter. Most of these days, a majority from the NFL and NBA are on it. MLB is getting there but sadly NHL is still in the dark ages (only 1 Bruin-Tyler Seguin). It's the best way to connect to guys on your favorite teams.
UPDATE 4/29: The Patriots also signed rookie free agent Brad Herman, a tight end out of Iowa. The only shot he has to make the team is on the practice squad since New England has Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Daniel Fells all way ahead of him on the depth chart.
UPDATE 4/30: Kentucky wide receiver Matt Roark will join the Pats. He is yet another converted quarterback who also plays special teams and blocked seven kicks for the Wildcats (6 extra points, 1 field goal). I guarantee this scrub won't make it out of mini-camps or August. No chance.
