{"id":44791,"date":"2022-05-01T12:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=44791"},"modified":"2022-05-01T11:14:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T15:14:00","slug":"four-gophers-selected-in-the-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2022\/05\/01\/four-gophers-selected-in-the-nfl-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Gophers Selected in the NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were four Gophers selected in the NFL Draft this weekend. That marks the fifth time this century that at least four Minnesota players were taken.<\/p>\n

Boye Mafe<\/a>, Round 2, Seattle Seahawks<\/h2>\n

Seattle took Mafe<\/a>, a defensive end, with the eighth pick of the second round and 40th overall. Here’s what Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told Yahoo<\/a> about how he sees Mafe contributing in Seattle:<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s a very versatile football player… I like him particularly coming forward and getting after the quarterback, which we\u2019d like to emphasize that as we get started, but he\u2019ll be an outside backer in the system and outside rusher in the in the 4-3 stuff so he\u2019ll get a really good chance to see where he fits in with that”.<\/p>\n

Mafe’s stock rose considerably after his the Senior Bowl, and again at the NFL Combine. (Some experts even thought he could sneak into the late first round). He ran a 4.53 40-yard dash and provided a 38-inch vertical jump, both very impressive for a guy who’s 6’4″ and 260 pounds. He led the Gophers this year with seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Like nearly all college players, Mafe will need to work on technique, but he has the athleticism in spades. This is a guy who goes from zero to full speed really quickly- a fantastic trait for an edge rusher.<\/p>\n

Daniel Fa’alele<\/a>, Round 4, Baltimore Ravens<\/h3>\n

As Gopher fans know, Fa’alele<\/a> has a really interesting background. An Australia native and rugby player, he arrived at the IMG academy in Florida having never played a down of American football. He spent his junior year learning the game and played ONE season as a senior. A four-star recruit (after ONE SEASON OF PLAYING FOOTBALL), he started eight games as a freshman at Minnesota and never looked back.<\/p>\n

Also, he’s 6’8″ and 384 pounds.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, Fa’alele is a bit of a project. Even at the FBS level, his sheer size and strength meant that defenders did not move him, or go through him. This definitely mitigated some of the weaknesses in his game. However, his limited experience means his ceiling is extremely high. We can’t emphasize this enough- he’s played five years<\/em> of football. Most NFLers have played for five years before they start high school, if not middle school.<\/p>\n