Arizona Cardinals Select Blackstock and Brown in NFL Draft
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April 24, 2005
Charlottesville, Va. – The Arizona Cardinals used back-to-back selections to draft two former Virginia gridiron standouts in this year’s NFL Draft. They selected outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock in the third round (95th overall pick) and followed by picking guard Elton Brown in the fourth round (111th pick).
The pair are the first Cavaliers picked by the Cardinals since RB Thomas Jones was selected seventh overall in the 2000 draft. Their selection also marks the first time Cavalier teammates have been chosen by the same team since the New Orleans Saints picked T Jim Dombrowski (1st round) and RB Barry Word (3rd round) in 1986.
Blackstock is a dynamic pass rusher who excelled in Al Groh’s 3-4 defense at UVa. He finished his collegiate career second in school history with 27 quarterback sacks and third with 45 tackles for loss. His 27 sacks are second in ACC history by a linebacker, half a sack behind former Georgia Tech star Marco Coleman who had 27.5 sacks from 1989-91. Overall, nearly 20 percent of his career tackles occurred behind the line of scrimmage (45 of 237).
He was named National Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2002 after leading all freshmen in sacks (10) and tackles for loss (14). His 10 sacks are an ACC record for a freshman, while his 107 tackles that year were second-most by a rookie in school history. He made 11 sacks in 2004 to lead the nation’s linebackers.
Brown was one of the top offensive linemen in school history. He didn’t allow a sack as a senior and earned consensus first-team All-American to join Dombrowski (1985) and G Mark Dixon (1993) as the only consensus All-American linemen in school history.
A tremendous pulling guard who excels in getting out on the edge and clearing a path for the backs, Brown started 39 games in his career, one of the top figures by a guard in Virginia history. He was named the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the ACC’s top blocker in voting by the league’s head coaches following his junior and senior seasons, just the 10th player in league history to be a two-time recipient and the first guard to win it twice.