Golden Bears 2009 NFL Draft recap

April 26, 11:50 PMCal Bears ExaminerRob Calonge

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Alex Mack in Madden NFL10

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This weekend, the NFL Draft wasn't kind to the men from blue and gold Berkeley.

Many Bear Backers will find the results and wonder in disbelief why their former stars weren't seen as valuable by NFL teams as they were in a Cal jersey.  It's hard to say exactly why and it's unlikely Cal fans would get an answer that they would agree with.

At least the Bears had players drafted.  Three schools from the Pac-10 (UCLA, Stanford, and Washington) went without any players drafted.

Going into the draft, Cal's top prospect Alex Mack appeared to have dropped on the draft boards of talking heads.  It was puzzling to see Mack's biggest fan, ESPN/Scouts INC. draft guru Todd McShay, had dropped him into the second round behind Oregon's Max Unger and Louisville's Eric Wood.

The highest projection found for Mack was in the Cal Bears Examiner's Golden Bears mock draft, where he was selected by Minnesota with the 22nd pick of the first round.

For the record, when Mack was selected by the Cleveland Browns with the 21st pick of the draft, nobody was probably more surprised than that same Cal Bears Examiner.

Mack was in Cleveland Sunday morning after flying out from Berkeley at 11pm PST Saturday night.

Primarily, I'm a hard worker, excited to be here and I think it's going to be a really great fit
- Mack in his first press conference as a Brown.

More surprising than Mack's early exit from draft boards, was the long wait before another Bear was drafted.  With the 235th pick of the draft (RND 7, Pick 26), Cal's defensive captain Zack Follett was finally taken.

Just prior to getting the call from Detroit, Follett had already begun negotiating with teams on an undrafted free-agent contract.  When the Lions called, he was actually on the phone with the Oakland Raiders.  "I had kinda settled for free agency because a lot of teams were calling me about signing with them as a free agent," Follett said. "I was on the phone with the Raiders when the Lions called. They didn't want me to take the call (from Detroit) but I did."

The Lions gave me a shot. I'm going out there and go to work.
- Follett on the Lions.

There will be a familiar face in Detroit - former Cal Bear punter Nick Harris.

I've known Nick Harris since I was a little kid and I spend a lot of time with him in the offseason.  He's a good Christian dude who's helped raise me in my faith. God's going to put me where he wants me and he put me there with Nick. I'm pretty excited about that.
- Follett on Harris

Only 13 picks later, the Bears had a third and final player drafted.

Early entry tight end Cameron Morrah was selected by the Seattle Seahawks with the 248th pick (RND 7, Pick 39).  Full of raw physical talent, Morrah is just that for the NFL - raw.  Even though he was what can be called a 'workout warrior' at the NFL combine, it's his game tape that caused him to drop so far.

Lacks bulk, especially in his upper body. Shows some effort as a run blocker, but is easily discarded by front seven defenders due to his lack of strength. Talented receiver, but is prone to lapses in concentration. Drops some easy passes. Doesn't consistently use his size to his advantage over the middle. Impressive touchdown total more a reflection of defenses' focus on dynamic sophomore running back Jahvid Best.
- NFL.com's 'Negatives' for Morrah.

Morrah didn't seem to mind.  He's just happy being in the NFL.  "They called me on the phone and told me that they really liked me, and I was excited about that," said Morrah. "I just feel like I'm in a great situation going to Seattle. It's a great place, and I have met a couple people up there so I have got to make the most of it."

Over the next few days we'll find out the fates of Nick Sundberg, Nate Longshore, Rulon Davis, Worrell Williams, and Anthony Felder.  While the draft is over on the networks and for the fans, NFL teams are still working furiously trying to sign the players that weren't fit into the seven rounds of selections.

At one time, the NFL draft was 30 rounds long, in 1970 it was 17 rounds, in 1980 it was 12 rounds, in 1993 it was eight rounds, and it has been seven rounds since 1994.  Getting undrafted isn't necessarily the end of football either.  Probably the greatest player to never get drafted is three-time Super Bowl quarterback Kurt Warner.

Right now, the only undrafted Bear to have signed is fullback Will Ta'ufo'ou.  According to KFFL.com, he agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears soon after the draft ended.

We'll have more as it unfolds.