Six Oregon football players were selected in the 2009 NFL Draft held over two days this weekend, tying the school record.
A school-record three athletes were picked in the second round alone on Saturday, all within 15 picks of one another.
Rover Patrick Chung was selected with the 34th overall pick to the New England Patriots as the team’s first selection of the draft.
After declaring for the 2008 NFL Draft last year, he returned for his senior season and was selected higher than most scouts predicted despite lacking the size many scouts want from a defensive back. His hard-hitting tackling could help to fill the void of longtime NFL player Rodney Harrison, another hard-hitting safety.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the player’s versatility intrigued the team, which Chung said his experience at Oregon gave him a good feeling going into the draft.
“You do everything,” Chung said. “You’re like a strong safety, free safety, corner, linebacker, you blitz, cover slot, cover tight ends, cover a deep pass, cover deep middle, curl, slide. Rover is just pretty much everything. It’s the most versatile position.”
With his family on draft day, Chung said knowing he could be a high pick didn’t make it any more exciting when he was chosen.
“I was shocked,” Chung said in a conference call with reporters. “I was shocked to get the call and I’m ready to go. I’m ready to go to work.”
Byrd, who left school early to be in the NFL, had NFL experience growing up with his father, Gil, who was an all-NFL player for the San Diego Chargers and a coach with several teams in the NFL. A cornerback in college, Byrd will be tried at free safety, Bills defensive backs coach George Catavolos said.
“He can play a number of positions for us. I think that he can be a productive free safety,” Catavolos said. “He’s got excellent ball skills, he reads the quarterback well, he plays the ball well in the air. So this is a flexible athlete for us.”
“Just having played corner I’ll have the footwork, and the ability to go out and play the different coverages,” Byrd said. “And now I can translate that over to a safety, so I think that only makes it better.”
Unger became the third center picked in the draft after California’s Alex Mack and Louisville’s Eric Wood went in the first round.
“I was getting pretty anxious toward the end,” said Unger, who was in Eugene on draft day with his family. “I’ve been staring at my phone for the last five hours.”
Fenuki Tupou went to the Philadelphia Eagles on the offensive line in the fifth round while Ra’Shon Harris went to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round, where he will rejoin former Oregon teammate Dennis Dixon.
Nick Reed, thought to be undersized enough at defensive end that he might have been an undrafted free agent, was the last Ducks player to be drafted at 247, nine away from being the final pick of the entire draft.
One Oregon player not drafted was running back Jeremiah Johnson, who played at the Senior Bowl.
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