Jay "The Birdman" Stumpff - My Story

Big ol’ Jammal Brown and little Mark Clayton went in the first round in the draft last week. There were 15 players available for the draft and 11 were drafted.

Round 1
Jammal Brown 6’6” 313 pounds offensive tackle was selected with the 13th overall pick by the New Orleans Saints. Saints traded up to pick up Brown. This guys is huge! I saw him at the Red and White game. I nearly broke my neck looking up at him. During the 2004 season, he did not allow a sack and over 3 games he did not allow any pressure, knock downs, or tackles for a loss. He is 313 pounds now, after a few seasons he will probably bulk up to 325 to 335. He is going to have a long and great career in the NFL.

The Baltimore Ravens selected Mark Clayton 5’10” 193 pounds wide receiver with the 22nd overall pick. Bob Stoops said of the new Ravens wide out, “Mark is the best athlete I’ve coached since coming to Oklahoma.” Clayton is small in stature so it is going to be tough going for him. I do think he will make his mark sometime after his sophomore season but size will be a factor. Does he have the size at 5’10” to match up against 6’2” corners or at 193 pounds can he move across the middle as a slot receiver?

Round 2
The Browns used their 2 round pick, 34th over all pick, for Brodney Pool, 6’2” 208 Corner Back. Pool has a bunch of athletic ability and he will make a good corner someday for Cleveland. He might make an impact during his rookie season but he will need some development time and he has to add some bulk to his frame. He was one of the reasons that OU lost to USC. Pool has a hard time playing catch-up when a WR gains separation. In addition, Brodney lacks hard-hitting ability to make the WR regret thinking about catching a ball.

The Bears in the 2nd round selected Mark Bradley 6’1” 201 pounds wide receiver with the 39th overall pick. Bradley could see immediate action this year. He was a strong receiver an has the size and ability to play anywhere. That is if it wasn’t all Jason White. Was the receiver core the best unit ever or was it Jason’s accurate passing? Well some of both. Bradley will make a good 3rd receiver.

The Ravens used their 2nd round pick to get defensive end Dan Cody 6’4” 270 pounds 53rd overall pick. Baltimore must have been very impressed by the Sooners because they have picked up 2 of the best Sooners in the draft. Cody was picked anywhere as high as 10th and as low as 25th overall pick in pre-draft hype. Dan’s stock fell in the mock drafts, which proved true when he fell to the 53rd pick. Does it matter where he fell in the draft the fact is he was drafted. Dan Cody will be an All-Pro DE someday.

Rounds 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7
Brandon Jones 6’1” 208 pounds will join former teammate, Rocky Calmus at Tennessee as the Titans picked up Jones in the 3rd round and 96th overall. “McNair to Jones, Touchdown” will sound good!

The Cleveland Browns in the 4th round 103rd overall, joining OU teammate Brodney Pool picked, Antonio Perkins 5’11” 188 pounds. The Browns are covering the corners with a pair of Sooners. That is like having 5 aces in poker! It is almost not fair! Look for a big NFL career with Perkins. He is a Deon Sanders type CB, blinding speed and excellent downfield vision.

The pick that my sister, RaNée, likes best of all is Tampa Bay’s 5th round pick up, 141st overall, Strong Safety Donte Nicholson 6’1” 216 pounds. Donte will make his presence known in the NFL almost as stunning as Roy Williams did. Nicholson is the same type of back but lacks the intangibles that Roy possesses. Give Donte time and he will be a strong back at the strong safety position. That is kind of a strong statement.

Also making the 5th round with the 167th and 168th picks were Free Safety Michael Hawkins 6’1” 175 pounds goes to the Packers and Linebacker Lance Mitchell 6’2” 247pounds going to the Arizona Cardinals.

Michael Hawkins about 5 minutes in 5 games, got into grade trouble, got homesick, went back home to Dallas, and played arena football. But… the only school he went to was OU. He did catch and return an interception against UTEP in 2002.

Cardinals have always been a bad team. I don’t like to see Mitchell going to the Cardinals but it is better than the 49ers. No offense, Jason. Lance will be a regular starter or part of a rotation THIS year. He is good and Zona got a steal with him going all of the way to the 168th pick.

Guard Wes Sims 6’4” 317 pounds was the last Sooners’ pick of the weekend. The San Diego “Super-Chargers!” picked up Sims in the 6th round and 177th overall. Wes is an outstanding guard and he should have a great career in the NFL if his knees hole out.

Also Ran’s…
Jason White, Jonathan Jackson, Vince Carter, and Lynn McGruder were left out of the draft this year. The most surprising is Heisman Trophy winner Jason White not getting drafted. Maybe with free agency he can get picked up some where. Jason got screwed! The second most surprising non-draftee is Vince Carter 6’3” 293 pound Center. Carter’s knees are not in the best shape. He does have quickness but he is smaller than the average sized NFL lineman. Hopefully the free agency will be kind to the other 4 Sooners waiting for their shot.

What a tremendous class this group of guys were. They will be missed next year and years to come for the Crimson and Crème but we will enjoy watching them on Sundays!

~Bird~

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