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Here’s a few fun local leftovers from the NFL Draft

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Apr 27, 2020

Thank you, National Football League, for giving us three straight days of solid sports news and a plethora of discussion and debate that can continue in the weeks ahead by holding the NFL Draft as scheduled.

Fans everywhere, including in the Nashua area, the draft brought intrigue, anticipation, emotion, and fun during this pandemic problem. A great diversion.

Here’s a few draft related tids and bits for you to chew on as we begin another week under these tough circumstances:

First, we’ll anoint Souhegan High School head football coach Robin Bowkett and Campbell head man Glen Costello the winners based on our pre-draft poll. Sort of. Both expected the Patriots to trade out of the first round, and they did. The two coaches didn’t hit on players – although Bowkett was close when the Giants picked Alabama safety Xavier McKinney just ahead of the Patriots, who ended up taking Division II safety Kyle Dugger out of Lenoir-Rhyne. Perhaps they would’ve grabbed McKinney had he still been on the board. Costello felt New England would draft former Alabama and Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, but he ended up going to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 53rd pick, 16 picks after the Patriots selected Dugger. …

It’s super that University of New Hampshire defensive back Prince Smith, Jr., whose status and pre-draft activity we examined a week ago in the Sunday, April 19 Telegraph, was signed by his hometown Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday night. But now we’re hoping his former Wildcat teammate Isiah Perkins, also a corner, can get signed by an NFL team or have some kind of training camp invite. Perkins got a lot of response from scouts from his self-produced Pro Day workout and was still as of Sunday waiting for some word. Sometimes players don’t get signed right away, and there’s also talk that the rookie free agent numbers will be down a bit because of the inability to control a large roster due to the virtual setup caused by the pandemic. …

His controversial tattoo aside, former Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser, the Patriots’ fifth round choice, has had an interesting background. He’s from Clifton Park, N.Y., close to yours truly’s old stomping grounds. We have co-op high school football teams here in New Hampshire but he actually played on one in Troy, N.Y. – Holy Trinity — that was not just a combo of two high schools but three – Catholic Central of Troy (which is where he went), Bishop Gibbons of Schenectady, and Saratoga Central Catholic (since replaced by Bishop Maginn of Albany). Those schools all had their own football teams back 20 years ago. So see, New Hampshire isn’t the only state that has struggled in that regard. …

Sorry to see that the last Nashua player taken in the NFL Draft, former Nashua North and University of Connecticut standout Kendall Reyes (Chargers in 2012, No. 49 overall) left his position over the winter as the University of New Hampshire defensive line coach after one season. Sources said Reyes was getting rave reviews for his Wildcat work but was believed to have left for family reasons. Hopefully some day he can get back into full-time coaching – but in the meantime again help out Nashua North as he did a couple of years ago? …

Local fans were still irate on Saturday after the Patriots took Dugger. As one Nashua area fan texted, “Really like (Michigan LB Josh) Uche, but Dugger, (Va.Tech TE Dalton) Keene, (UCLA TE Devin) Asiasi? …Jennings (Alabama linbebacker Anfernee) was a reach and is a run guy. Is it just me or are we drafting for special teams only?”

And then a little while later the Patriots chose their kicker.

Gotta love the draft and all it creates. Thanks again, NFL.

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251,tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or@Telegraph _TomK.

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