Minnesota Gophers RB - Gary Russell ? ( Supplemental Draft )

[woodbuck27]

Reporting for duty

By John Murphy, Yahoo! Sports

June 18, 2006

In late March, 150 NFL scouts and coaches descended on the University of Texas to watch quarterback Vince Young and defensive back Michael Huff work out at the school's annual pro day.

A former U.S. Marine turned fullback was the Longhorn who had several area scouts talking.

Ahmard Hall impressed the gathering of team representatives with an all-around showing that included a 40-yard-dash time between 4.48 and 4.55 seconds, a 10-foot broad jump and 24 repetitions of 225 pounds. The 5-foot-11, 232-pound back also caught the ball better than expected during his positional drills.

"It was great," said Hall's agent, Vince Taylor. "[We] had a group of six to seven teams calling right up to the draft. Even three to four teams called the week before."

There was one problem, though. Hall, who had served a four-year tour in the Marines and twice landed on foreign soil to fight for his country, was not eligible for last April's NFL draft. Yes, he had graduated high school in 2001, but he technically had an extra year of college eligibility left. He had to submit his paperwork to the NFL office by mid-January in order to be available to teams.

"No one ever asked about this, so we figured he was eligible based on the five-year rule," Taylor said. "But once they said he was ineligible, the [July 13] supplemental draft became his next best option."

Taylor has been fielding calls from various teams interested in attending Hall's personal workout next Thursday in Austin, Texas. According to Taylor, teams want to see if Hall's conditioning has fallen off and maybe to have him do some positional drills. To avoid risking injury, Hall won't be running the 40 again.

Hall was a standout running back at Angelton (Texas) High School and shared the backfield with former Texas standout and current San Diego Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer. After spending four years away from the game, Hall found his way back onto the field for the Longhorns in 2004, finishing with 10 special teams tackles. Last year, he won a starting job at fullback and earned Big 12 Sportsman of the Year honors while helping Texas win the national championship.

At 26, Hall is a little older than the normal college prospect, but he also brings the type of leadership and maturity that you would expect from a former serviceman. He has an excellent size/speed ratio, but he predominantly has been used as a lead blocker and special teams ace. In his appearance at the Hula Bowl, Hall recorded a pair of special teams tackles.

Taylor expects at least 10 teams to appear at this week's workout because many of the same teams speculated that Hall could have been drafted between the fifth and seventh rounds in April. He still has two years of active duty remaining, but people close to the situation say the service time would not interfere with his dreams of playing in the NFL.


MORE SUPPLEMENTAL DRAFT


The league office has determined that former Delaware wide receiver David Boler will be a free agent. A transfer from USC, Boler suffered a knee injury during seven-on-seven drills last July, but he has been running in the 4.5-second range in the 40 once again while training in Delaware. Boler has good size (6-2, 205) and caught 152 passes for 2,108 yards and 15 touchdowns during his three-year run at the Division I-AA program. His agent, Mike Boyer, plans to set up a private workout for interested teams in the next few weeks.

Former Hutchinson CC (Kan.) linebacker David Dixon will hold his pro day at Beaumont (Texas) Central High on Monday, June 26.

Former Iowa State defensive end/linebacker Jason Berryman held his pro day at the school's campus last Tuesday in Ames, Iowa. He ran between 4.72 and 4.78 seconds in the 40 and also registered times of 4.48 in the short shuttle and 7.38 in the three-cone drills. Berryman also leaped 32 inches in the vertical jump and 9-11 in the broad jump and did 17 reps at 225 pounds. The 6-1, 235-pound Berryman did positional drills as a defensive end and outside linebacker, but most teams paid close attention to his footwork and backpedal during the linebacker drills. A number of teams were in attendance, including Green Bay Packers director of college scouting John Dorsey, who conducted the workout.

[woodbuck27]

NFL supplemental draft update

Written by Wire Services
Sunday, 09 July 2006

Texas defensive tackle Marco Martin and North Carolina State all-purpose running back Richard Washington have gained entry to the NFL's supplemental draft on July 13, according to officials at the league office.

Martin and Washington join a talent pool that features Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks, Iowa State defensive end/linebacker Jason Berryman and Texas fullback Ahmard Hall.

Once as highly recruited as any defensive lineman on Texas' roster, Martin faded into the background the past few years after failing to break into the Longhorns' defensive tackle rotation. Martin had previously run the 40-yard dash in the 5.20-second range, but the Mesquite (Texas) High School product has produced estimated 40 times at or below five seconds as recently as 2002 and 2003. The 6-foot-3 Martin has had some weight issues, tipping the scales between 335 and 355 pounds.

Washington is a speedy but slightly built all-purpose threat who spent his Wolfpack career producing good numbers at wide receiver. Ineligible his freshman season, Washington caught 44 passes for 500 yards and six touchdowns in 2003 despite being suspended two games for team rules violations and sitting out one game due to bruised ribs. As a junior in 2004, he missed three games because of a knee injury but still had 29 receptions for 348 yards and two touchdowns.

The 5-11, 180-pound Washington – who was timed between 4.41 and 4.45 seconds in the 40 coming out of high school – was dismissed from N.C. State's program in February of 2005.

Of all the supplemental draft prospects, Brooks appears to have drawn the most interest, specifically from the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers. Insiders have consistently stated that, while Brooks has "Day 1" type talent, he will likely not require more than a fourth-round supplemental pick to obtain his rights.

Berryman, who is seen as a situational pass rusher, and Hall, a former Marine who opened scouts' eyes with an impressive all-around workout in late March (including 40 times in the 4.5 range at nearly 235 pounds), could get a late-round call. The two will, at the very least, be signed as free agents after the draft. Both the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans have spent quality time evaluating Hall's talents, while 10 to 12 teams were represented at Berryman's pro-day workout.

The supplemental draft will be held next Thursday morning via league-wide conference call with all 32 franchises. If a team makes a pick, it will forfeit its rights to use that very same selection in the 2007 NFL draft.

[woodbuck27]

Russel is not eligible until Jan 2007 to be drafted or a free agent because he is not yet three years removed from hs graduation.

Your right!

Ex-Minnesota running back Gary Russell must wait until at least January 2007 in order to make himself eligible for the NFL.

Russell, who isn't enrolled at the school after attending a local-area community college to work on his grades earlier this spring, would not qualify for the supplemental draft since he is not yet three years removed from his high school graduation. Russell's father, Gary Sr., has noted to several sources that his son will attempt to transfer to a lower level of college football, but that would have to be a NAIA program since Division I-AA, Division II and Division III schools all abide by the same academic eligibility rules as Division I-A schools (i.e., a student/athlete deemed ineligible cannot participate at any other NCAA level program).