San Diego State senior running back Rashaad Penny was drafted with the No. 27 pick by the Seattle Seahawks on the first night of the 2018 NFL draft on April 26.
The 2017 NCAA leading rusher with 2248 yards, Penny finished fifth overall in the Heisman Trophy voting, helped lead the Aztecs to a record of 10-3 and was named a first-team AP All-American.
Still, Penny came into the draft largely projected as a second or third round pick.
Instead, Penny heard his name called on day one, as the second running back taken in the draft, behind only Saquon Barkley from Penn State, who went second overall to the New York Giants.
Penny joins a Seahawk team which went through a carousel of running backs last season, and it remains to be seen where he will fit in between Mike Davis, Chris Carson, C.J. Prosise and J.D McKissic.
Carson appeared to have a stranglehold on the starting job before suffering a season ending leg injury in a week four loss against the Indianapolis Colts.
Penny is the first SDSU player taken in the first round since Kyle Turley, a member of the Aztecs Hall of Fame, was taken with the seventh overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft.
