Draft notices

The NFL draft could come and go next weekend without an area player selected.

That’s unlikely, but if it happens, it’s hardly a career-ending moment for prospective players. Free-agent options give the player more say in their eventual destination and an opportunity to target a favorable situation.

“My agent and I just had that conversation,” ex-Washington State University quarterback Alex Brink said. “We feel like there are four or five teams with only two (quarterbacks) on the depth chart and we were talking about those teams needing a third guy right now.”

Former University of Idaho linebacker David Vobora is often projected as a late-round draft pick, but he has the comfort of knowing he’ll get a shot, even if he doesn’t hear his name called during the draft.

“You know how I am,” Vobora said. “Give me an opportunity to play, 34th round or seventh round, whatever, I’m going to get it done and earn my spot.”

Brink, Vobora and roughly 20 area prospects, some of whom might have futures in the CFL or arena football, will probably watch the two-day draft on television but not necessarily with their eyes glued to the screen. Brink might go golfing on the Oregon coast next Sunday while Vobora will hang out with perhaps 15-20 family and friends in Moscow.

Ask Brink when he was a high school freshman if being drafted was a possibility and he’d have said, “Maybe, as a baseball player.” His father played college baseball and Brink’s passion was on the diamond. But he saw an opportunity to be the quarterback at Sheldon High in Eugene before his sophomore season and focused on football.

It didn’t work out right away. An upperclassman won the job but was hurt in the season opener. Brink started the rest of the season and eventually led the team to two state title games, winning one and losing one. At Washington State, Brink started for 3 1/2 seasons and holds numerous school records, including career passing yardage.

“I didn’t really think about the NFL until last year,” said Brink, who is rated 25th among quarterbacks by Scouts Inc. “I was always an undersized kid fighting an uphill battle to be the guy. My redshirt freshman year when I was the starter, I don’t think anybody would have looked at me and said he’s got a shot at the pros. I just tried to get better.”

He’s taken the same approach since his WSU career wrapped up with a win over rival Washington. Brink played in the Hula Bowl, attended the NFL combine and participated in WSU’s Pro Day. At the combine, he had the fastest time among QBs in the shuttle run and was in the top 10 in broad jump, vertical jump and the ‘L’ drill. He admits his 40-yard time was slow, but said, “That’s the least of my worries.

“You don’t work out until the last day. The first three days (of testing, measuring, medical checks, interviews, etc.) leading up to it, you’re going to bed at 1 a.m. and getting up at 5:30. By the last day, you’re ready to get out of there.”

The book on Brink remains roughly the same as it was at WSU.

“People really liked how much I’ve played, my intelligence and ability to make plays. I heard that I did well at the combine, which is important because it’s something you can control,” said Brink, whose agent is Missoula-based Ken Staninger, who represented ex-Cougars quarterback Mark Rypien. “The perceived negative is my arm strength, but everyone I talk to said no doubt my arm is strong enough to play in the NFL. One thing I need to get better is being more consistent and more accurate. That’s something I have to do.”

Vobora, who ranks sixth on UI’s career tackles list with 342, has been busy since the season ended. He’s taking 16 credits to complete his double major and he’s found time to attend a performance training center in California, play in the East-West Shrine game and participate at the combine.

“I heard for so long it’s hard to get drafted from a small school and you start to see how that makes sense,” he said. “It’s an uphill battle coming from a non-BCS school that hasn’t been successful and has been under the radar. I’ve heard great feedback. I think the postseason has been huge for me.”

The Dallas Morning News listed Vobora as a sleeper at linebacker. “He’ll be a late-round pick who will play in the NFL,” the article stated.

Vobora ended the season at 224 pounds but has slowly built up to his current 240.

“Something that was in question was my shed (blocker) ability, upper body strength and I showed it’s just fine at the combine,” he said. “In connection with that was my weight, but I’ve showed I can put on weight and move well. The other thing they weren’t really able to see me do is a ton of pass coverage because of the way our defense was (at Idaho). But I think there’s enough film and I can cover and they can see the way I moved.”

Vobora’s father, Andy, played at Oregon and was drawing NFL interest before being sidelined by an injury.

“He’s a man of few words,” Vobora said. “He’s always been super proud of me, but I talked to him the other day and told him I had been talking to a number of teams and he said, ‘This is pretty cool. This is some neat stuff.’ “