Three Others Ink Free-agent Contracts
PROVO -- Three Cougars were selected in the 2005 NFL Draft on Sunday, including linebacker Brady Poppinga, defensive end Shaun Nua and offensive guard Scott Young.
Poppinga, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound outside linebacker, was the 24th pick of the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers. Young, a 6-foot-4, 312-pound offensive guard was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round and Nua, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound defensive end was drafted in the seventh round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I'm going from one traditionally rich program to another program that is filled with tradition and history," Poppinga said. "This is a huge blessing. I'll be in a good situation."
As the seventh outside linebacker selected in the draft, Poppinga said waiting to be drafted proved to be a difficult task.
"The waiting was hard," he said. "It was difficult seeing some guys go off the board. It was like a roller coaster just trying to find out where I would end up. Luckily, everything worked out well. We're excited to go to Green Bay. My wife's excited--she loves cheese."
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| Scott Young (Philadelphia Eagles) | |
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A native of Evanston, Wyoming, Poppinga is a three-time All-Mountain West Conference first-team selection and holds the MWC career sack record with 20. Last season, Poppinga led the BYU roster with 12.0 tackles for a combined loss of 53 yards, including a team-leading 6.0 sacks. Poppinga finished his career at BYU with 193 career tackles, including 99 solo tackles.
A 2004 graduate in business management, Poppinga is only the fourth player from BYU to be drafted by Green Bay, and is the seventh BYU linebacker selected in the NFL Draft since 1985.
Young, a native of Salt Lake City, became the 10th BYU offensive lineman to be drafted since the 1995 season. While BYU appears to have become a collegiate pipeline of sorts for the Eagles, Young is actually the first BYU draft-pick for Philadelphia since current BYU assistant coach Steve Kaufusi was drafted by the Eagles in 1988.
"I couldn't be more excited about going to Philadelphia," Young said. "With the quality of team they have, and with that BYU connection, I couldn't have picked a better place to go. Philadelphia is also one of my mom's favorite places in the country. Even though she's not a huge NFL fan, she loves that part of the country. It's always good to make sure your mom is happy."
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| Shaun Nua (Pittsburgh Steelers) | |
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Largely because of Young's outstanding performance at the NFL Combine earlier this year, many draft analysts projected Young to be drafted a little earlier in the draft. The fifth-round selection doesn't bother Young.
"I'm not disappoint at all," he said. "I don't care if you get drafted in the third, fourth, or fifth round, you still have to make the team. My concern is making the team, not where I was drafted. It's a huge honor to be drafted."
Young, a second-team All-Mountain West Conference selection started all 11 games at offensive guard, allowing just one sack against league opponents during his senior year.
Nua, a native of Pago Pago, American Samoa, is the first BYU player drafted by the Steelers since Brett Keisel was selected in the seventh round in 2002. With Keisel seeing playing time for the Steelers at defensive end, and former Cougar Chris Hoke starting at nose tackle, Nua could complete an all-BYU line for the Steel Curtain.
Nua, a second-team All-Mountain West Conference selection, played in all 11 games during his senior season and was credited with 34 tackles. A transfer from Eastern Arizona JC, Nua earned junior college All-America honors.
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| John Denney (Miami Dolphins) | |
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Free Agents
Shortly after the conclusion of this year's draft, three Cougars signed free-agent contracts with NFL teams. Defensive end John Denney signed with Miami, safety Aaron Francisco signed with Arizona and cornerback Brandon Heaney signed with Atlanta.
Denney, a two-time Academic All-Conference performer was credited with 27 tackles as a senior, including 13 solo tackles. Francisco, a native of Laie, Hawaii, started 36 games throughout his career, including 34 straight since the beginning of the 2002 season. Francisco racked up 330 career tackles, including 167 solo takedowns. Heaney, who battled injury and was granted a sixth season by the NCAA, totaled 122 tackles and five interceptions over his career.
Draft Facts:
- The Cougars have had 10 players selected in the first round of the draft, including eight different players who were drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, one player selected in the first round of the USFL Draft and one player selected in the first round of the CFL Draft.
- BYU has had 61 players drafted over the past 20 years, including 31 players over the past 10 years.
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| Aaron Fancisco (Arizona Cardinals) | |
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- Five members of the BYU coaching staff were selected in the NFL Draft, including Lance Reynolds (1978, Pittsburgh Steelers), Robert Anae (1985, New England Patriots), Steve Kaufusi (1988, Philadelphia Eagles), Brian Mitchell (1991, Atlanta Falcons) and Brandon Doman (2002, San Francisco 49'ers.) Additionally, two BYU athletic department administrators were also selected in the NFL Draft, including Robbie Bosco (1986, Green Bay) and Tom Holmoe (1983, San Francisco).
- Over the past 20 seasons, 33 offensive players from BYU have been drafted, as well as 26 defensive players and two special teams players.
- As the 24th selection in the fourth round (125th overall), Brady Poppinga is the highest BYU draft pick since Doug Jolley (Oakland Raiders) and John Denney (Buffalo Bills) were selected in the second round of the 2002 draft.
- Brady Poppinga became only the fourth BYU player drafted by the Green Bay Packers, and the first since Ty Detmer was drafted by the Packers in 1992. Along with Detmer, Robbie Bosco (1986) and Gayland Mills (1948) were also drafted by Green Bay.
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| Brandon Heaney (Atlanta Falcons) | |
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- The 2005 NFL Draft marks the first time BYU has had three players drafted since five Cougars were selected in the 2002 draft.
- The Cougars ranked second in the MWC with three overall draft picks. (San Diego State also had three players selected in this year's NFL Draft.)