Will Smith could have left Ohio State after his junior season, but the dominating defensive end chose to return to the Buckeyes last year because he wanted a chance to play in the Sugar Bowl.
Well, Smith got his chance yesterday, although not exactly the way he had planned.
Instead of visiting the Superdome for the 2004 national championship game, Smith will spend more time in New Orleans after the Saints selected him 18 th overall in the NFL draft.
Two other OSU players went in the first round: cornerback Chris Gamble to 2004 Super Bowl participant Carolina at No. 28 and receiver Michael Jenkins to Atlanta at No. 29.
Ohio State last placed three players in the first round in 1999 with David Boston, Antoine Winfield and Andy Katzenmoyer.
Tight end Ben Hartsock went to Indianapolis in the third round, the 68 th player selected. Buffalo took defensive tackle Tim Anderson at No. 74, Green Bay picked punter B.J. Sander at No. 87 and Minnesota took defensive tackle Darrion Scott at No. 88.
Smith joins former Buckeyes Cie Grant and LeCharles Bentley with the Saints.
"I guess I get to play in the Sugar Bowl this year," said Smith, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., and accompanied his family to Manhattan for the draft. "I thought I’d go earlier, not 18 th, but I’m just thrilled to be in the draft."
Most draft experts projected Smith as a top-15 pick; some had him going in the top 10 and as high as No. 7. The Saints were glad he slipped a bit.
"He’s been in our scope, if you will, for a long time. He is one of a group of four or five players that we thought we might have a chance at, but truthfully, we really didn’t think he’d be one of the guys available at 18," Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said. "We thought he was the best end available in the draft, and we figured someone else would pick him before we had the opportunity to get to him."
Smith thought the same thing, especially after holding discussions with San Francisco and Chicago less than an hour before he was picked. But both teams went in different directions.
Jenkins was caught by a more pleasant surprise.
"I didn’t know Atlanta was going to do what they did," he said. "I had actually just walked outside the house to get some air and didn’t know what was going to go on, and then they called me."
The Falcons traded up from the second round to take Jenkins.
"We talked to every single team from 24 on until we could get a deal with Indianapolis that we thought was a fair deal," general manager Rich McKay said. "The reasoning was pretty simple. He’s a three-year starter at Ohio State. A real big guy (6-4½) with a lot of speed. He ran 4.4 in the Ohio State workout."
Smith, meanwhile, nearly ended up with the defending Super Bowl champions.
"We did have a couple of calls when we were on the clock," Saints coach Jim Haslett said. "(New England) coach (Bill) Belichick called and wanted to know if we were going to move down. He said Smith was their second guy on the board and we got a great pick."
Smith already has a nickname in the Bayou. The Saints’ media relations department has dubbed their No. 1 pick "Man in Black" — a play on the team’s secondary color and the movie starring Will Smith.
The defensive end surprised some Buckeyes fans when he announced after OSU’s national title season in 2002 that he would return for his senior season. He likely would have been a first-round pick had he left school early.
"I think coming back last season helped me, not necessarily in the NFL draft, but as an overall person," he said. "I probably would have been selected about the same as I was this year, so I don’t think it helped me out that much, but educationwise it helped me out a lot. I’m very close to graduating and excited about that."
Gamble chose to leave Ohio State after his junior season.
"My main goal was to get my degree, but I felt like I was ready to play in the NFL and play against the best receivers," he said. "With Carolina being a good team and being in the South, it’s a good fit for me."
Hartsock felt a similar fit with the Colts.
"This is as good as I can imagine happening," Hartsock said. "My parents will be able to come see me play, it’s a team that’s a contender and I get to play with a guy you could say is a future Hall of Famer (quarterback Peyton Manning)."
The seven players drafted in the first three rounds tied an OSU record set in 1995.
Posted by Ron at April 24, 2004 11:35 PM