~ ~ Supplemental Draft ~ ~

[kelly]

Every year, a handful of college football players apply for entry into Supplemental Draft. This draft takes place after the regular NFL draft, but prior to the start of the season. It is intended to allow players who did not declare early for the regular draft to have the option to try and enter the NFL.

Typically, players who do this don’t have a school to go back to. Grades, off-field issues or some other reason will drive these young men to a final shot at professional football.

The draft itself works in three separate steps :

• Teams with six wins or fewer participate in the first lottery for the top supplemental draft picks. The team that posted the worst record  is given a weighted advantage over the following team and so on and so forth.
• The second group consists of non-playoff teams and follows the same system.
• The third group consists of last season’s 12 playoff teams and, again, follows the same system.

This year’s draft will consist of the following six prospects.

Tee Shepard, CB Ole Miss

Eddie D’Antuono, LS Virginia Tech

Ra’Zahn Howard, DL Purdue

Jalen Overstreet, RB Sam Houston State

Rashaun Simonise, WR Calgary

Cameron Walton, DE Concordia

Most recently, the Los Angeles Rams spent a fifth-round pick on OT Isaiah Battle in 2015. He lasted until September before the Rams cut him. Going back to 2012 we all remember the Cleveland Browns using a second-round pick on troubled WR Josh Gordon.

rest of above article  :  

>  http://steelerswire.usatoday.com/2016/07/04/no-options-for-the-steelers-in-upcoming-supplemental-draft/

[kelly]

Ra'Zahn Howard, who helped Asbury Park High School to a state title his senior year, is one of six players eligible for the NFL's Supplemental Draft to be held July 14.Howard, a 6-3, 325-pound defensive tackle from Purdue, left school because of academic reasons and entered the supplemental draft. Last year for the Boilermakers he recorded 23 tackles and had one sack.

Teams will get a chance to see Howard up close at his personal workout near his home in Asbury Park on Friday.

The way the Supplemental Draft works is each team can put in a bid for one of the players. If they get the player they would forfeit that pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.So for instance if the Eagles bid a fifth-round pick for Howard and that's the highest bid, they would get him and give up their fifth-round pick in next year's draft.The only player to get selected in the 2015 Supplemental Draft was Isaiah Battle, an offensive lineman from Clemson, who went to the Rams for a fifth-round pick.

Ole Miss' cornerback Tee Shepard, 6-1, 195, could also draw some interest. Shepard was a prose recruit coming out of high school. He missed all of the 2014 season with a torn tendon in his toe. He came back last year and did not play much. The school blamed it on a hearing problem, which Shepard used to qualify for the draft.

An intriguing prospect is University of Calgary wide receiver Rashaun Simonese. the 6-5, 205-pound Canadian caught 51 passes for 1,079 yards and 11 touchdowns and is trying to make the jump from Canada to the NFL.The other three players in the draft are Virginia Tech long snapper Eddie D'Antuono, Sam Houston State running back Jalen Overstreet, who began hiscollege career at Texas, but was dismissed from the team; and Concordia (Ala.) defensive end Cam Walton, who is trying to go from the JUCO level to the NFL. 

>     http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2016/07/nj_native_razahn_howard_highlights_nfl_supplementa.html#incart_river_index

[David Harris]

An Asbury Park boy!! Turning into one of the funnest towns ever again....finally! 

 

Asbury Park and Jersey City are cool again- only took about 50 years of recovery.

[kelly]

The NFL Supplemental Draft will take place on Thursday, July 14, and unlike its better-known sibling, there will be no fanfare for the players taken. Likewise, you won't find Mike Mayock, Mel Kiper Jr. and their spawn spouting endlessly about the relative virtues of the prospects that will be taken in the supplemental draft.

In last year's supplemental draft, the Rams gave up a fifth-round selection in the 2016 NFL Draft to pick offensive tackle Isaiah Battle of Clemson. Two months later, the Rams cut Battle as the team trimmed its roster to 53 players for the start of the season. Battle was the first player selected in the NFL's supplemental draft since the Cleveland Browns selected receiverJosh Gordon in 2012.

It wasn't always the obscure afterthought, though, that headlined the supplemental draft. Here's five fascinating picks of past drafts :

5. Bobby Humphrey. Humphrey's meteoric NFL career began when the Denver Broncos made him a first-round pick in the 1989 supplemental draft, and his rookie total of 1,151 yards rushing helped theBroncos earn a berth in Super Bowl XXIV against the San Francisco 49ers. Humphrey followed up with a Pro Bowl spot in 1990, but also the inevitable contract renegotiation, which ultimately ended his tenure with the Broncos. A trade to the Miami Dolphins did nothing to reignite Humphrey, and his promising career ended in a fizzle.

4. Brian Bosworth. Bosworth is now better known as one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history, but the highly touted Oklahoma linebacker was so well thought of when picked by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 1987 supplemental draft that he was handed the largest rookie contract of all time at that point -- 10 years for $11 million. Bosworth is proof positive that all that glitters in the supplemental draft is not gold.

3. Steve Walsh. Walsh's selection by Jimmy Johnson in 1989 was curious for many reasons, not least that he had invested a first-round pick in quarterback Troy Aikman just weeks earlier.Johnson spent another first-rounder on Walsh,with whom he had won the 1987 national championship at the University of Miami.Walsh actually won the Dallas Cowboysstarting job ahead of Aikman in his rookie season, starting five games -- including the team's only victory that year -- before being benched for the eventual three-time Super Bowl winner. Walsh was traded to New Orleans a year later and wound up playing for six NFL teams in an undistinguished 11-year NFL career.

2. Bernie Kosar. Kosar's manipulation of the NFL's long-established draft rules allowed him to play with his preferred team, the Cleveland Browns, after they traded away their 1985 and 1986 first-round picks for theBuffalo Bills' top pick in the 1986 draft.They then used that pick to select Kosar with the first overall pick in the 1985 supplemental draft. Sound complicated? The fact that Kosar effectively chose to play for the Browns made him an instant "Dawg Pound" favorite, and when Bill Belichick released Kosar in 1993 and replaced him with Vinny Testaverde, he lost the support of Cleveland's loyal fans.

1. Cris Carter. Gordon can take some hope from Carter's introduction to the NFL. Picked in the fourth round of the supplemental draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, Carter's NFL career didn't begin well either. After being released byEagles head coach Buddy Ryan following extensive off-field problems with drugs, Carter excelled with theMinnesota Vikings in his second NFL stop, putting together a career that wound up with him being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

>     http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82a4c699/article/five-fascinating-nfl-supplemental-draft-picks

[PepPep]

Many still believe (and for good reason) that Bosworth was the best LB they have ever seen play college football. He was ABSOLUTELY DOMINANT. The definition of a one man wrecking crew. I don't blame anyone for paying him a ton to get him to play on their NFL team. One of those 'busts' that are hard to explain.  

[joewilly12]

5 minutes ago, PepPep said:

Many still believe (and for good reason) that Bosworth was the best LB they have ever seen play college football. He was ABSOLUTELY DOMINANT. The definition of a one man wrecking crew. I don't blame anyone for paying him a ton to get him to play on their NFL team. One of those 'busts' that are hard to explain.  

Vernon Gholston was a bigger bust than Boz

[kelly]

if  Ra’Zahn Howard is still there in the 7th round.. i think we should take him ~ ~ 

 

 

cheers ~ ~ 

 

[kelly]

The NFL Draft is a crapshoot for players. No one knows exactly where he will be selected, with rare exception, and things can take unusual turns. The supplementaldraft, a more arcane summer stepbrother to the widely celebrated spring selection process, is even more difficult to predict, with players entering under more bizarre circumstances and teams viewing the process differently.So while I wouldn't venture to suggest exactly where Purdue defensive tackleRa'Zahn Howard will be selected in a few weeks, when the NFL conducts the supplemental process (the exact date of which is still somewhat mysterious, though it will take place the second week of July), I do have a strong sense that he will be taken, and perhaps higher than some would anticipate. And what I can assure you of is that this young man does not lack for confidence and is very much up for the challenge.

Howard confirmed for me reports that he left Purdue for academic reasons and, after much deliberation, decided it was time to join the pro ranks rather than sit out a year to transfer to continue playing college football. Since word of that decision made the rounds, Howard's agent, Peter Schaffer, said he has been contacted by all 32 teams and expects a heavy turnout at the player's July 8 pro day in New Jersey.

Howard, meantime, has been trying to compensate for a truncated predraft period by working out relentlessly, consulting with some of his family and acquaintances who play in the NFL, and watching film of those he hopes to emulate at the next level."I was in a predicament at Purdue," Howard said, "and I had some issues with my academics. I enjoyed my time at Purdue, and Purdue has been like a family to me, and my coaches embraced me from the get-go there. There is no dirt being thrown on anybody's names ... My coaches helped mold me."But for me, personally, it was unfortunate that it was time to leave and I had bigger expectations going into my senior year, but I was basically given the decision to transfer. I thought about having to sit out a year, and being realistic with myself and seeing the kind of shape I was in, now is the time to go.

"I've trained myself and remolded myself and upgraded myself like I'm going into my senior year, and waiting out a year for me, that's a waste of time. And missing the game for a year, anything can happen in a year, and some people lose motivation because they sit out a year and then you have to adjust to a new atmosphere and new coaches and a new defense. So a lot of thought went into it but I'm happy with the decision I made and excited for the draft."Howard is an intriguing package for scouts. He is a big, big man (Howard says he measured 6-foot-3 1/2 and 325 pounds right now) who also has no lack of natural athleticism and speed from a youth spent excelling at boxing, wrestling and basketball. In fact, Howard didn't take up football until his junior year, and in three years at Purdue, he appeared in 24 games, registering 47 tackles and three sacks.

Some scouts believe he could be at home as a tackle in a 4-3 or anchor as a nose in a 3-4, and he continues to grow into his body and hone his technique. Howard seems driven, mentioning frequently the film work he began undertaking early in his high school career. He wants to be a tactician in the pro ranks, and not just a space-filling big body.He is the only player generating any real buzz in this supplemental draft, and has the kind of build where, if he had gone out and performed well as a senior, he could have been set up to go on the second day of the full draft. His pro day will go a long way to cementing his draft status, but it is not uncommon for teams to take a chance during this July process.

Howard took this decision very seriously and consulted with veterans like Eaglesdefensive lineman Vinny Curry, a family friend, and Akeem Spence, getting their opinions of his game and his options before finalizing his route."I have some great positive influences who have been in my life, and those guys evaluated me and they see the way I carry myself and I trust their opinion," Howard said. "They helped me with it and I'm so excited to see where this whole process goes, to be honest with you. I'm embracing it more than anything else."

Howard vows to be in peak condition when the NFL congregates to his pro day, and says he has heard lots of positive chatter already."Definitely," Howard said. "I've been hearing pretty much from every team in the league, basically, and in that sense it's fascinating to me. I was just in college getting ready for my senior year, and now I'm possibly going to be playing with or against some of the guys I look up to in the NFL. I've heard a lot of positive feedback from the teams so far. They really like me and love what I can bring to the table."Howard will train with Spence in the coming days and will join him at Spence's football camp in Tampa. He plans on being a sponge picking up whatever pointers he can about life in the NFL and what it takes to compete at this level. Howard sounds like a young man committed to making a strong first impression, and if he can match his confidence with production, he might end up being a summer steal for some franchise.

"I'll say this: if a scout were to ask me -- or an NFL head coach or GM or position coach -- how I describe myself," Howard said, "I would say I am stout against the run -- big and stout against the run -- and an athletic type of nose guard. And I can do a lot of different things in the middle. I bring excitement, power and explosiveness to the position, and I'm able to do a lot of things. I'm versatile and still moldable. I'm still able to learn things. I see myself -- God willing and if God blesses me -- I see myself being one of the premier guys in the league in two years, definitely."

> http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/supplemental-draft-prospect-razahn-howard-expects-big-turnout-at-july-pro-day/

[kelly]

None of the six eligible players eligible for Thursday's NFL supplemental draft was selected, the league announced.

Defensive linemen Ra'Zahn Howard of Purdue and Cameron Walton of Concordia (Alabama), which shut down its program last year; running back Jalen Overstreet of Sam Houston State; defensive back Tee Shepard of Ole Miss; wide receiver Rashaun Simonise of Calgary, Alberta (Canada); and long-snapper Eddie D'Antuono of Virginia Tech were the eligible players.

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Randall Liu @RLiuNFL

No players were selected in today’s @NFL Supplemental Draft. The 6 eligible players are now free agents

1:13 PM - 14 Jul 2016

 

Any team selecting one of these players would have forfeited a matching pick in the 2017 regular draft. The players are now free agents.Overstreet, who first attended Texas, was indicted in 2016 in that state on a felony charge of credit or debit card abuse.

This is the third time in four years that no players were taken in the supplemental draft.

>     http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17077390/no-players-selected-nfl-supplemental-draft