An Extensive Review of the Big 10 Players Drafted in 2008: Analysis, Salaries, and More

by grahamfiller10 on Jan 28, 2009 7:06 AM CST in All Comment 7 comments

This tremendous amount of information speaks for itself and I'm sure I'll put some notes in the comment section, but there are some obvious facts to take away from this post: 1) Salary wise, I guess it's not bad work if you can get it. 2) Lots of injuries to the top picks, almost every single one of them missed significant time due to season ending injuries. 3) Every school had a player drafted except Northwestern; cue the jokes, Iowa fans.

***Wisconsin***
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Jack.Ikegwounu	CB	4	PHL	No 2008 PT	$694,152
Taylor.Mehlhaf	K	6	NO	Made 3/4 FG's, cut, signed by Vikings	n/a
Nick.Hayden	DT	6	CAR	On the active roster, even started a game, made (1) postseason tackle	n/a
Paul.Hubbard	WR	6	CLE	No PT, made active roster	n/a

***Penn State***
Player.Name	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Dan.Connor	LB	3	CAR	Played three games, got injured, currently on IR	$1,083,384
Justin.King	CB	4	STL	Still on IR...here is the Ram's press comment on him: "A big loss was a toe injury suffered by the rookie King in training camp. He was making a move on the depth chart when the injured occurred in the first preseason game."	$671,000

***Purdue***
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Dustin.Keller	TE	1	NYJ	Knew he was going to be a star after showcasing his skills at the Combine, Favre got him the ball all year, almost garnered 50 catches his rookie year	$3,830,000
Cliff.Avril	DE	3	DET	Tied for NFL Rookie lead for sacks, started 4 games for the Lions.	$779,000
Stanford.Keglar	LB	4	TN	Active, played in 13 games with the Titans.	$680,100

**Michigan**
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Jake.Long	OT	1	MIA	Started all games for upstart Dolphins. Future Pro-Bowler. In other news, is living charmed life.	$6,225,000
Chad.Henne	QB	2	MIA	After 2-4 Dolphin start, Miami faithful made noise for Henne to take the reigns. Then Pennington went 9-1 and Henne faithfully held the clipboard.	$1,461,000
Shawn.Crable	LB	3	NE	No PT, On IR	$485,125
Mario.Manningham	WR	3	NYG	7 Games, 4 Catches	$912,000
Mike.Hart	RB	6	IND	Hurt early in season	$370,070
Adrian.Arrington	WR	7	NO	No PT	$328,375

**Michigan State**
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Devin.Thomas	WR	2	WAS	Disappointment for having all the physical tools needed in The League...only 15 catches all year	$2,020,000
Kellen.Davis	TE	5	CHI	Did not register a catch	$462,954
Ervin.Baldwin	DE	7	CHI	Active roster for 8 games	n/a

***Ohio State***
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Vernon.Gholston	DE	1	NYJ	Played 16 gms, didn't impact games like 6th overall pick	$2,320,000
Larry.Grant	LB	7	SF	Played 5 games	n/a
Kirk.Barton	OT	7	CHI	Played in 1 game	$332,815

**Minnesota**
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Dominique.Barber	S	6	HOU	played in 12 games, made 15 tackles...	$402,000

***Illinois***
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Rashard.Mendenhall	RB	1	PIT	Played hard, started a game because of injuries...and then got hurt, ending his season	$2,815,000

**Indiana**
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Tracy.Porter	CB	2	NO	Started for Saints, a legit tackling machine. suffered season ending injury...	$1,795,000
James.Hardy	WR	2	BUF	9 catches, 2 TD's...	$2,586,000

**Iowa**
PlayerName	Pos	Rnd.Drft	Team	Season Synopsis	Salary
Charles.Godfrey	CB	3	CAR	Tough tough free safety had 61 tackles, 1 pick, and started all 16 games...was torched by Cards in the playoffs	$1,149,200
Kenny.Iwebema	DE	4	AZ	Played in 13 games, active roster	$640,150
Mike.Humpal	LB	6	PITT	Did not play a game, made 300 grand...beautiful	$366,57

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Comments

I'll admit that Gholston had a modest rookie season...

But let’s not forget what he did to Jake Long in head to head play…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yot9ClPvZDg

Don’t give up on Vern, the dude’s insane.

Fantastic eye candy. Great use of color on the charts.

The Rivalry, Esq.
Big Ten Football. Excuses Included.

by Law Buckeye on Jan 28, 2009 10:00 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Gholston Looked Horrible This Year

He might get better(maybe)…but watching him maneuver this year was like watching a Mack truck attempting to turn around in a gas station parking lot. It was just plain bad.

by studbucket on Jan 28, 2009 10:03 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Also Mike Humpal = LB, not OL

by studbucket on Jan 28, 2009 10:04 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

fixed

I don’t feel like doing the math but I would like to see an average salary for these first year players. Probably somewhere right above $1 million?

by grahamfiller10 on Jan 28, 2009 10:59 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Devin Thomas

He played in all 16 games, he was a huge disappointment for the Skins. Don’t think he got hurt, but he played and made zero impact.

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Jan 30, 2009 1:01 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

good call

I got him confused with the 5 other people who had season ending injuries…Did he really look that bad? Was it the route running, speed, or what?

by grahamfiller10 on Jan 30, 2009 1:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

It could be

He had a few nice 15+ yard plays, but for the most part he wasn’t open. I think it was really the offense and how it was run. It’s just not a big-play offense, they run like a 3 yard west coast slant route thing and… he just didn’t have time in much. Even James Thrash got quite a bit of time. Malcolm Kelly and Fred Davis also made zero impact, so hopefully it was the offense. I was just pointing out that he made a very small contribution.

Who's world is it? It's yours.

by BlackOps on Jan 31, 2009 2:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs