1(6) DE Dave Hutton Florida A&M
1(11) TE Richard Jefferson Penn State
2(30) CB Shaun Kiniry Penn State
2(35) CB Bo Nakfoor Arizona State
2(48) QB Earl Alford Michigan
3(54) S Jason Jackson S.D. State
4(78) LB Champ "Ostrich" Ostresh Tulane
6(126) DT Rob Barker Stanford
7(150) DE Ryan Spangler LSU
With the sixth pick in the draft, the Hammerheads selected DE Dave Hutton from Florida A&M. Hutton, 23, immediately becomes the fastest defensive end in the entire PFL along with Horsemen's DE Dwight Freeney. Both ran identical 40-times in their respective drafts and the coaching staff of the Hammerheads is hoping Hutton can have as much success as Freeney. The plan seems to be that Hutton will immediately start at left defensive end (LE) and DE Will Smith will move to right defensive end (RE) and supplant DE Darren Howard of his starting spot. Howard's spot on the Hammerheads could be in limbo now if he demands to be traded; however, the Hammerheads love having depth and Howard is a defensive end who is primed to stop the run, which could be a major asset for a team that has shifted gears defensively and is now focusing on a lethal pass rush.
TE Richard Jefferson out of Penn State was the 11th overall selection in the PFL Draft and the Hammerheads are extremely excited about this pick. The 6'7", 22-year old college standout was valued very highly by the Hammerheads, but the team passed on him at #6 because they were very sure Hutton would not be available at #11 and knew he would be the best value pick and arguably the best player available. The team did not expect Jefferson to fall as far as he did after the success of mammoth Vengeance TE Gregg Guenther, who was second in the PFL in receiving yards and led the Vengeance to a PFL Championship. Jefferson not only has height, as he is also the fastest tight end in the league alongside Horsemen TE Antonio Gates. The only concern about Jefferson is his hands, as he was more of a multi-faceted tight end in college, one who was able to maul lesser linemen and then glide into the flat or middle of the field on a delayed route for easy catches. There is no doubt that he will need to adjust to the PFL game, but early indications are his hands have looked good and he is expected to be a big contributer to the Hammerheads' offense.
With the 30th overall pick in the PFL Draft, the Hammerheads selected CB Shaun Kiniry - a 23-year old also out of Penn State. Kiniry and Jefferson were friends at Penn State and Jefferson was thrilled when he heard the news that Kiniry was selected. After the selection of Kiniry, the Ocean City media asked Jefferson how he felt about it and he was quoted as saying, "I'm happy we'll be going through our rookie season together, we had some good times at Penn State, that's for sure. I knew there was a shot we'd get him since our team lacked depth in the secondary but I figured they'd take Bo-Nak [referring to Arizona State CB Bo Nakfoor], who was regarded as better." Kiniry is now the fastest cornerback on the Hammerheads' roster and has the speed and quickness needed to cover most PFL receivers. He is raw though and isn't polished, so he will need some development before he comes to the forefront of the Hammerheads' secondary. He is expected to be the nickleback for the Hammerheads' opener. Ironically enough, the Hammerheads already had Arizona State CB Bo Nakfoor in mind and five picks later at the 35th overall selection, the Hammerheads pulled the trigger on drafting their second consecutive cornerback. Nakfoor, 22, is a year younger than Kiniry and more polished, but lacks the linear speed that Kiniry has. This made it a toss up as to who the Hammerheads would take at #30, but the fact that the team ended up with both is a major positive in the front office's mind. Nakfoor will likely start at dimeback in the opener.
With the 48th overall selection and the final pick of the second round, the Hammerheads turned to offense and selected QB Earl Alford, a strong-armed quarterback out of Michigan. The addition of this talented quarterback was made as the quarterback supply in the draft dwindled and the team's need for a third quarterback increased after Hammerheads' QB Stefan LeFors' season-ending performance. LeFors is likely to be cut and the team is likely to have an open competition at quarterback between Alford, Philip Rivers, and Patrick Ramsey. Neither Rivers nor Ramsey had a great first season and they may be fighting an uphill battle.
With the 54th overall selection in the draft, the Hammerheads' went back to defense and drafted S Jason Jackson out of San Diego State. Jackson is a 6'4" safety who has decent speed, acceleration, and persistence - traits that made this youngster stick out. It is very likely that he will start at strong safety, moving incumbant strong safety Sean Jones to free safety and forcing both FS Erik Coleman and CB/S Daylon McCutcheon to the bench.
With the 78th overall pick in the draft, the Hammerheads looked to shore up their linebacker core by selecting speedy OLB Champ "Ostrich" Ostresh out of Tulane. Ostresh, 22, will likely backup LOLB Julian Peterson, but could see extensive time on special teams. The team wants him in their plans and could be a force in a few seasons or possibly even this season.
With the 126th overall pick in the draft, the Hammerheads selected DT Rob Barker out of Stanford. Barker stood out because he brings a bit more strength and depth to the interior defensive line, which is something the coaching staff wants a surplus of. Head coach/GM Joshua Biddle says the main problem last season was failing to put adequate pressure on the opposing quarterbacks and Biddle wants every potential option available to make sure it becomes reality by the time the regular season rolls around. Similarly, the 150th pick in the draft was used on DE Ryan Spangler, a strong DE out of LSU. Spangler has lots of raw strength and could see some time as an end in schemes with three-man defensive fronts.