Quarterbacks Most Popular Choice In Nfl Draft

It’s not exactly 1983, when six quarterbacks were taken in the first round. But the 1995 draft is becoming the year of the quarterback in its own way.

Four more quarterbacks - Rob Johnson of Southern Cal, Chad May of Kansas State, Dave Barr of California and Steve Stenstrom of Stanford - were taken in the fourth round as the draft resumed Sunday.

Jay Barker of Alabama went in the fifth. Jerry Colquitt of Tennessee and Craig Whelihan of Pacific went in the sixth. And John Walsh of Brigham Young was taken in the seventh and final round, one that ended with Carolina taking Michael Reed, a defensive back from Boston College.

With six quarterbacks chosen in the first three rounds on Saturday, Sunday’s calls brought the total for the draft to 14, compared to nine in seven rounds last year and eight in eight rounds two years ago, the first time the draft was trimmed from 12 rounds.

That wasn’t unexpected - this was supposed to be a year when there were more quarterbacks available than in the past. In fact, Johnson, May and Walsh were considered possible late first-rounders at some point.

That left them wondering.

“I thought something was wrong with me,” said Johnson, who completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,210 yards at Southern Cal last season and thought he would be the third quarterback chosen. Instead he was the seventh, by Jacksonville with the first pick of the fourth round, and pulled out a book by Bill Walsh to discover why.

“I needed answers,” Johnson said. “No one was giving me any answers.”

The same went for May, the 111th overall pick by Minnesota.

“I didn’t sleep last night, I was tossing and turning,” he said.

“I just wanted an explanation. I wish somebody would have called me and told me why I fell so far. It was a shock. It was the worst day of my life.”

The quarterbacks weren’t the only players chosen in the fourth round who tumbled.

Two wide receivers, Lovell Pinkney of Texas and Jack Jackson of Florida, both considered possible first-rounders, went on consecutive picks to St. Louis and Chicago. Their problems? Squabbles with coaches and teammates that lowered their value in the eyes of scouts.

“A pain in the butt to his teammates and a bigger pain to the opposition,” Joel Buchsbaum, one of the leading professional draftniks, wrote of Jackson.

Among the other notables to go in the first round of the second day were guard Rich Zatechka of Nebraska, chosen by the New York Giants, and Pete Mitchell, the Boston College tight end taken by Miami.

Illinois linebacker Dana Howard, an AllAmerica the last two years, was taken late in the fifth round by Dallas, probably because he’s only 6-foot, and Chad Cota, Oregon’s star safety, was taken on the first pick of the seventh round by Carolina.

A few quarterbacks were left out, notably Danny O’Neil of Oregon, Wayne Cook of UCLA, Terry Dean of Florida and John Sacca of Eastern Kentucky, who started for a while ahead of Collins at Penn State, then transferred when he lost his job.

The Raiders drafted offensive tackle Eli Herring of BYU on the final day of the NFL draft, even though Herring said he doesn’t want to play professional football.

Herring, selected in the sixth round, has told NFL teams his religion will prevent him from playing on Sundays.Coach Mike White said the Raiders would not call Herring in hopes of changing his mind.