It’s been 732 days since a San Diego State football player has been selected in the NFL Draft.
That number will likely grow to 733 and maybe even 734 after today and tomorrow. But it’s a safe bet that number won’t get past 735.
SDSU has two players who should be0. selected in this weekend’s 76th annual NFL Draft. Its two star receivers, Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson, both graduated and decided to take their talents to the NFL. This weekend, they both should find homes with one of the 32 franchises picking.
Brown, a four-year starting wide receiver at SDSU, racked up 209 catches for 3,110 yards and 23 touchdowns in his Aztec career. He left SDSU third all-time in career receptions and yards, and finished fifth in career touchdowns.
Sampson, meanwhile, didn’t have the numbers Brown had. A self-proclaimed troublemaker, Sampson dealt with academic issues and injuries in his first few years on campus, but put it all together in his last two seasons at SDSU, finishing his Aztec career with 146 catches for 2,242 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Both are projected mid-to-late round picks (between the third and seventh rounds) for various reasons. Brown isn’t as fast as the other wideouts in this year’s draft. He clocked a 4.71 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine back in February, and ran a 4.56 40-yard dash at SDSU’s Pro Day last month. Sampson, meanwhile, had a career at SDSU in which he was thrown off the team for grades and also missed two full years recovering from a severe foot injury – two red flags teams usually shy away from.
But the two receivers are talented. Former NFL scout Dave Razzano recently told Yahoo! Sports’ Michael Silver that Brown was a “potential sleeper.” San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner recently told The Daily Aztec’s Staff Columnist Matt McClanahan that Sampson was “explosive.” And in the past few weeks and months, Brown and Sampson have reportedly visited and / or worked out with teams such as the Chargers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Giants.
Now, however, all they can do is wait. Round 1 takes place tonight at 5 p.m. Rounds 2 and 3 will happen tomorrow at 3 p.m., and Rounds 4-7 will start at 9 a.m. on Saturday.