21
Jul
2010
Bears RB Unga signs contract, prepares for competition
Bears RB Matt Forte isn't about to give up the spotlight just yet. (Source: Mark2400 on Flickr)
The Chicago Bears have signed Harvey Unga to a four-year contract, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The Bears chose Unga with the 12th pick in the seventh round of Thursday’s 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft. The BYU running back was one of a whopping two players taken.
Unga rushed for more than 3,400 yards during his college career, but it’s going to be an uphill climb when Bears training camp starts July 29. Chicago’s backfield is crowded, with Matt Forte and Chester Taylor set to see the majority of the action. Unga will battle reserves Khalil Bell, Brandon Minor, and Garrett Wolfe for the third spot.
As discussed earlier, the supplemental draft hasn’t exactly been a goldmine for NFL teams. Maybe the Bears — who already have enough Unga-types on the roster — feel like they’ve found something special.
16
Jul
2010
Oh yeah, the Supplemental Draft happened
Once again, mid-July rolls around, and we here at ReadAndReact are settling nicely into our summer, blissfully unaware that the NFL’s annual Supplemental Draft is taking place. Which it did, yesterday.
For those who don’t remember (or care), the Supplemental Draft is intended for players who failed to declare for April’s draft, or had other issues affecting their eligibility. This year, there were a grand total of 4 players eligible for the draft, and the Chicago Bears played it crafty, waiting until the 7th and final round to select RB Harvey Unga from BYU. They were quickly followed by the Dallas Cowboys, who pounced on Illinois DT Josh Price-Brent later in the round.
BYU Running Back Harvey Unga is now a Chicago Bear (Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel/US Presswire via ESPN.com)
As we’ve discussed here before, the Supplemental Draft is something of an enigma, in that it holds very little significance, even for draftniks like ourselves. Hell, it doesn’t even seem to be a real event — more likely a conference call or online draft, a la fantasy football. But do you think that they make some poor sucker sit through hours of calling out team names and waiting for their time on the clock to run out? I mean, there were only four players entered in this thing, and the first one was taken with the 12th pick in the 7th round!! Even if there’s only 2 minutes on the clock per pick, that works out to over SEVEN HOURS before the first pick was made!!! I guess that’s why this isn’t a televised event. Goodell certainly isn’t hanging around and watching it unfold.
Of course, every time I think about the supplemental draft, I always wonder how many players taken here have really made an impact in the NFL. Read the rest of this entry »
16
Jul
2009
Hey, they still hold a Supplemental Draft!
The Washington Redskins selected DE Jeremy Jarmon in this year's supplemental draft
Yeah, it caught me by surprise too. But apparently the NFL held it’s annual Supplemental Draft today, giving teams a chance to select one of eight college players who didn’t declare for April’s draft, but then lost or gave up their eligibility for varying reasons.
In the past, the supplemental draft has resulted in a handful of impact players in the NFL – most notably QB Bernie Kosar and WR Cris Carter. Oh, and Brian Bosworth. But for the most part, few players end up making it this way, and most end up going the way of Giants QB Dave Brown.
Plus, the supplemental draft is held somewhat like a silent auction, which takes pretty much all of the fun out of the process. And clearly there’s no need to rent out Radio City and invite all 8 potential draftees down to sweat it out on national TV. But you’d think the NFL could spring for a deli on the lower east side, and have Kiper blather on for a couple hours. And there are literally NO photos of this event. It’s like they held it in a back alley … or more likely over the interweb.
Here’s how the process works, from NFL Fanhouse:
Prior to Thursday afternoon’s “draft,” each NFL team’s general manager submitted an e-mail to the league, listing which players they’d like to bid on. Those bids include what round the team would like to “select” a player in — if a team is awarded a player in the 2009 supplemental draft, it forfeits it corresponding pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
The only player selected in the 2009 Supplemental Draft was Kentucky DE Jeremy Jarmon, who went to the Washington Redskins in exchange for the 19th pick of the 3rd round in the 2010 draft. Jarmon tested positive for a banned substance, and was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for his senior season.
The other 7 hopefuls who went undrafted, and now become free agents are: Blake Boyd (Western Kentucky), Torris Magee (Southern Mississippi), Dixon McKinner (Texas Tech), Joe McMahon (Central Michigan), Demetrice Morley (Tennessee), Deon Murphy (Kansas State) and Corey Surrency (Florida State).
