DAVIE, Fla. (AP) -The day before the Senior Bowl in January, North team defensive end Jared Odrick crossed paths with South team coach Tony Sparano of the Miami Dolphins.
Odrick was in a feisty mood.
“I asked coach Sparano what the first play was going to be,” Odrick recalled. “He said, ‘We’re sure as heck not telling you.”’
Nearly three months later, Sparano and the Dolphins drafted Odrick because they liked what they saw up close – and not just his sense of humor.
In fact, the Dolphins devoted their first four picks in the NFL draft to Senior Bowl players. They were Penn State’s Odrick, outside linebacker Koa Misi of Utah, guard John Jerry of Mississippi and linebacker A.J. Edds of Iowa.
Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, a placekicker in the Senior Bowl in 1992, said the Miami regime benefited from Sparano and his staff coaching at the game in Mobile, Ala.
e advantage for us over other teams to get to know these kids the way we did.”
The Dolphins addressed their most glaring needs in the three-day draft ending Saturday, although they waited until late in the fifth round to take a safety – Reshad Jones of Georgia. They also drafted Maryland cornerback Nolan Carroll in the fifth round.
Odrick, Misi, Jerry and Jones are expected to contend for starting jobs. The Dolphins’ long search for a playmaking receiver ended when they traded last week for two-time Pro Bowl wideout Brandon Marshall, and the addition of Odrick will allow veteran Randy Starks to move from defensive end to nose tackle, plugging another hole.
Misi and Edds reinforce a linebacking corps depleted by the offseason departures of Joey Porter, who was released, and Jason Taylor, who signed this week with the New York Jets. Porter led Miami in sacks the past two seasons, while Taylor is the NFL’s active sack leader.
Edds provides playmaking potential, but primarily in pass coverage, where he made five interceptions last season. He met with Sparano and Ireland during Senior Bowl week.
“I must have done something to make an impression on them,” Edds said. “I told them on the phone just now that they’re not going to regret their decision taking me.”
starts before breaking his leg early last season.
Carroll will put off a possible career in politics to pursue a job in the NFL. He’s a native of Green Cove Spring, Fla., and his mother, Jennifer, is a Republican in the Florida House of Representatives.
“I keep seeing myself going down that road,” Carroll said. “If I go with her to any type of meeting or convention or something, I get the feel that ‘I probably could be doing this.”’
Jones thought he might be drafted as early as the second round. Instead, he lasted until pick No. 163 and was the 13th safety taken.
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