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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VAFour Cavaliers were selected in the annual National Football League Draft this past weekend, the most Virginia has had since five Cavaliers were picked in the 2006 draft.
Offensive tackle Eugene Monroe led the way among UVa’s draftees. He was taken with the eighth overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, becoming the third UVa offensive lineman selected in the first round in the last four years. Branden Albert was chosen by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 15th selection last year, while D’Brickashaw Ferguson was the fourth overall selection by the New York Jets in 2006. Monroe will be joined in Jacksonville by former UVa tailback Alvin Pearman as well as former assistant coach Andy Heck. Heck, who was UVa’s tight ends coach in 2003, is the Jaguars’ offensive line coach.
Monroe was a three-year starter at left tackle for Virginia and earned All-American honors as a senior this past season. He received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the best blocker in the Atlantic Coast Conference as voted on by the league’s head coaches. He was named first-team All-ACC for the first time in his career and had the team’s highest grade among offensive linemen in seven of 12 games.
His selection by the Jaguars came as a surprise to Monroe, who has no idea the Jaguars were so interested in him.
“(I had) no idea (they would pick me),” he said afterward. “I mean the last I had talked to a Jaguar was Pro Day and I didn’t take a visit, so I had no idea. This is a surprise for me.”
Outside linebacker Clint Sintim was the next Cavalier to go. The New York Giants selected him in the second round with the 45th overall pick. A four-year starter at outside linebacker in UVa’s 3-4 defense, he will be now have to familiarize himself with a 4-3 defense for the first time in his career.
The Giants don’t see the transition being much of a problem, however.
“He will be fine,” said Marc Ross, the Giants director of College Scouting. “Like I said, our SAM plays up on the line a little bit and on third downs hopefully he can work in that pass rush rotation with the rest of those guys. That is the strength of his.
“I don’t know what (highlights) they showed (on TV), but he is a heck of a pass rusher. That is what we liked about him. He is a physical at the point of attack guy. He can really rush the passer. He has played out (in) space for Virginia played at the line as a D end and played linebacker. So he is a smart guy that can play multiple positions. The way we use our guys in various ways, he will fit in there perfectly. But he is a big guy who is physical. And he is a presence at the line.”
A second-team All-ACC selection last fall, Sintim led the nation’s linebackers in sacks for the second year in a row with 13 (nine solo, four assisted). He finished his career second in school history with 29 sacks.
Tailback Cedric Peerman was the first Cavalier drafted on the second day. He was selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round as the 189th overall pick. He received honorable mention All-ACC recognition this season and led the team in rushing with a career-high 774 yards. He led ACC running backs and was sixth in the country in receiving with 44 receptions.
He is the first Virginia player drafted by the Ravens since Anthony Poindexter in 1999. Interestingly, Poindexter was Peerman’s position coach at Virginia.
Peerman helped himself with a strong performance at the NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran the fastest 40 time of all the running backs (4.45 seconds), had the second-best vertical jump (40 inches) and bench pressed 225 pounds 27 times.
“Cedric is a downhill guy with very, very good speed,” said Eric DeCosta, Baltimore’s director of player personnel. “He’s as tough as they come with good hands. He’s been a very productive special teams guy. He’s got a tough mindset. He’s an ordained minister, and his family has a tobacco farm in Gladys, Va., where he’s worked his whole life. He’s a lunch-pail type guy. He was another red star’ for us this year. He’s a guy who we think can come in and contribute and compete to win a spot.”
Tight end John Phillips was the final Cavalier selected in the draft. He was chosen by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round with the 208th overall pick. Phillips continued a run of outstanding tight ends to play at UVa under head coach Al Groh. He was the fifth UVa tight end drafted since 2002.
He will be reunited with tight ends coach John Garrett, who recruited him to Virginia while on Groh’s staff from 2004-06.
Phillips caught 48 passes last fall to lead all ACC tight ends and rank ninth nationally. He was a first-team All-ACC selection and caught at least five receptions in six games. A mainstay on UVa’s special teams throughout his career, his versatility caught the Cowboys’ eye.
“He’s a guy who can play and do most of the things we ask a tight end to do,” said Jerry Jones, the team’s owner, president and general manager. “But he also has the potential to be a real good special teams player. So we’ve got a player here at tight end that’s going to create some competition (and) depth at our tight end position.”
Three players from last year’s team signed as undrafted free agents following the draftLB Antonio Appleby with the New England Patriots, DE Alex Field with the New York Giants and WR Kevin Ogletree with the Dallas Cowboys.
Appleby started at inside linebacker for three years and was Virginia’s second-leading tackler last season with a career-high 72 tackles. Field started all 12 games last season and finished with 48 tackles, also a career high. Ogletree finished fifth in the ACC in receiving last year with 58 receptions to become only the 26th player in ACC history with two 50-catch seasons in a career.