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His nomination to the various All-America squads in November typically elicited nothing more flattering than a smirk by those with a vote.

Now Notre Dame defensive lineman Trevor Laws is smirking and smiling and laughing all the way to maybe as high as the third round in the upcoming NFL Draft, April 26-27 in New York.

"He jumps out at you," said independent scout Frank Coyle of draftinsiders.com. "He's improved his stock significantly."

Laws was one of three Irish fifth-year seniors playing for the losing North squad in the Senior Bowl, Saturday at Mobile, Ala. The game itself, a dramatic 17-16 victory for the South, is secondary to the draft buzz the workouts leading up to it create.


Read More From: South Bend Tribune

Colt Brennan is carrying more baggage than a bellhop as he prepares for the NFL draft.

Scouts have recited a list of his flaws.

Some question his arm strength. Some have labeled him a "system quarterback," a product of June Jones' run-and-shoot offense. Others say Brennan's slender 185-pound frame will crumble under the weight of NFL defenders. Some wonder whether he can adjust to taking snaps under center after playing exclusively in the shotgun formation at Hawaii.

Then there was that season-ending Sugar Bowl performance against Georgia -- eight sacks and three interceptions in a 41-10 loss. If that was Brennan's national coming-out party, somebody should have stopped the music.

Read More From: The Sporting News

Boise State left tackle Ryan Clady will forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft, he said Tuesday.

Clady, a 6-foot-6, 317-pounder from Rialto, Calif., has been projected as a high first-round pick in April's NFL Draft. In a Dec. 17 mock draft on ESPN.com, Clady was projected as the No. 7 pick in the first round by Kansas City, which now picks fifth.

He said he made the decision after the Broncos' 41-38 loss to East Carolina in the Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 23.

Read More From: The Idaho Statesman

James Banks has one season of college football eligibility remaining. But at 24, time is becoming an increasingly hostile opponent.

The former Ben Davis High School All-American said Thursday he intends to enter the 2008 NFL draft after one season at Division II powerhouse Carson-Newman.

Banks has requested an evaluation from the NFL College Advisory Committee for underclassmen, and he expects to apply for the draft before the Jan. 15 deadline.


Read More From: Indy Star

Junior center Alex Mack, the heart of Cal's offensive line, said Friday that he entered his name for review by NFL decisionmakers but hasn't decided whether he'll enter the draft early.

"I'm keeping that option open," Mack said, "but if I decide to leave, it won't be easy."

Mack topped off a season of honors two weeks ago, when he was named the Morris Trophy winner, which is given to the Pac-10's top lineman and is voted on by the conference's players. Mack also was one of three unanimous selections to the All-Pac-10 first team, was a finalist for the Rimington Trophy as the nation's best center and got a first-team All-America mention from the Sporting News.


Read More From: San Francisco Chronicle

Four days before what could be his final game for the Illini in the Rose Bowl, Mendenhall was a prime target as the national media dug into his story. But when it came to his thoughts on the NFL draft, he tried to steer clear, offering only tidbits that were open to interpretation.

After several minutes of such banter, Mendenhall unleashed his best line of the day at the Beverly Hilton, where stars congregate and movies are filmed.

"I'm still not sure what I'm going to do,'' he said. "I guess everyone's just going to have to wait until the movie comes out.''

Read More From: STL Today

Louisville junior wide receiver Mario Urrutia has decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and declare for the National Football League draft.
"It's by far the toughest decision I've ever made," Urrutia said in a statement released by the university. "Unfortunately, with missing time this season and playing injured I got to see football from a different perspective. You only have so much time to play this sport, and the 2008 draft is my opportunity."

Urrutia, a 6-6 product of Fern Creek High School, had a subpar season in 2007.

He caught 35 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns while missing two games with a turf toe injury. Urrutia struggled with dropped catches during the season and spent time in head coach Steve Kragthorpe's doghouse for a series of ill-advised penalties.

Read More From: USA Today

Teams will be on the clock for a significantly shorter time at next year's NFL draft.

Reacting to a tedious 2007 event that saw the opening round drag on for a record six hours, eight minutes, the league on Tuesday reduced the period between first-round picks from 15 minutes to 10.

The NFL also pushed the draft's start time back three hours, to 3 p.m. ET, and shortened the first day to two rounds instead of three.

The time limit for second-round choices was also cut, from 10 minutes to seven. Picks in the final five rounds, which will take place on the second day of the draft, will continue to be five minutes apart.

Read More From: CBC Sports

Spurned by the Super Bowl in recent years, local officials have turned their attention to another NFL prize: the annual draft.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation has sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seeking not only to host the National Football League's draft, but also turn it into a weeklong carnival with special events and even a Mardi Gras-style parade leading up to the wildly popular two-day player lottery.

The draft has been held in New York since 1965 and will be held in Radio Music City Hall in Manhattan next year.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Friday the league is "committed to Radio City for next year's draft. Then we will review our options, including the possibility of taking the draft to other locations."


Read More From: The Times-Picayune

The Baltimore Ravens selected Jared Gaither, the talented but troubled tackle from the University of Maryland, in the fifth round of yesterday's NFL supplemental draft.

For a relatively low price -- forfeiture of their fifth-round pick in next April's college draft -- the Ravens acquired a potential impact player for an offensive line that has been transformed significantly this offseason.

"This is my biggest dream," Gaither said.

During two tumultuous seasons at Maryland, Gaither showed flashes of his potential to become one of college football's top tackles. From both tackle spots, he bullied pass rushers with his 6-foot-9, 324-pound frame and showed impressive speed for his size.

Read More From: Washington Post

The Chargers added depth to their secondary today by selecting Georgia cornerback Paul Oliver in the fourth round of the NFL supplemental draft.

Oliver initially planned to return to school for his senior season, but applied for the supplemental draft after he was ruled academically ineligible several months ago.

“We had the opportunity to get a good football player today, and we took it,” General Manager A.J. Smith said in a statement. “Paul Oliver is very competitive, aggressive, confident player. He's not cautious about anything he does on the field. You know how we like depth. We'll add Paul to the mix as a Charger and time will tell.”

Read More From: Union-Tribune

Although a strained shoulder limited his performance in the bench-press drill, University of Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither likely cemented his status as a player who will be chosen in Thursday's supplemental draft by turning in a solid overall workout for league scouts Monday.

The audition, which took place on the Maryland campus, was attended by representatives from about half of the NFL's 32 franchises. Atlanta and Jacksonville, both of which have indicated interest in Gaither, had multiple scouts at the workout.

Gaither essentially went through a combine-style workout, which included positional drills that were run by an Oakland Raiders representative. He was able to do only 15 repetitions on the standard 225-pound bench press, having slightly injured his shoulder last week while preparing for Monday's audition.

Scouts clocked Gaither, who checked in at 6-feet-8¾ and 324 pounds, at between 4.98 and 5.14 seconds in the 40-yard sprint. He posted a vertical jump of 31½ inches, a broad jump of 9 feet, 3 inches, a short shuttle of 4.49-4.53 seconds and a cone drill of 7.12-7.25 seconds. The short shuttle and cone drill are change-of-direction drills.

Read More From: ESPN

ATHENS - More than 25 NFL scouts and personnel officials flocked to Athens on Wednesday to check out Paul Oliver for his Pro Day workout.

Scouts timed the former Bulldog cornerback who ran times of 4.56 and 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Oliver worked out for about an hour and 20 minutes on a day he was flying solo.

"Regardless of how I do, I always feel like I could do better," Oliver said. "I felt prepared and felt good out there, but it's hard to be a one-man show."

Oliver put himself on an island by becoming academically ineligible to play his senior season. He has entered the July 12 NFL supplemental draft, when 32 NFL teams must decide whether they want to give up a corresponding 2008 draft pick to draft Oliver.

Read More From: Savannah Morning News

While only time will tell who the winners and losers were from the 2007 Draft, there is always room to nit-pick and speculate, and with that in mind, my top 5 winners and losers from the 2007 Draft.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

Well with the 2007 Draft behind us, it's that time again. Time to nit-pick the good and the bad. One name you will not see in either category is that of Ted Ginn Jr. Why not? Because a player of that speed and potential at the WR position--and elite return specialist spot--simply cannot be called a "bad" pick. It's a gamble, like all picks are, but what the people who are knocking it don't realize is that if he returns from that injury, he could make the Dolphins look like geniuses. So let’s take a look at my top 5 bad and good picks.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

Now that the 2007 NFL draft is complete, we can take a look at this year's winners and losers. In this article Cedric Meyer grades the NFC teams on their drafts.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

After a long night working into the early morning hours, On The Clock releases it's final mock draft. This is a two-round mock with a couple of trades included.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

The NFL Draft is just a day away, and we're proud to announce that we've put together a draft guide just for you to use. It includes position rankings, a value board, a top 100, and the complete draft order for you to keep track of who's going where. The PDF file is 25 pages, and of course it is completely free!

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

DeMarcus "Tank" Tyler and A.J. Davis checked in to update their draft blogs this afternoon. Both players told us about their pro day, private workouts, and their draft day plans. Tank also filled us in on his combine experience. Click the link below to read these updates as well as the previous entries by Tank and A.J.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft

Ben Grubbs stopped by today and updated his draft blog. In his latest installment, Ben talks about his pro day, his individual workouts, as well as his draft day plans. Click the link below to read this as well as all previous entries by Ben Grubbs.

Read More From: On the Clock Draft