Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – The 2015 NFL Draft ended Saturday with
former first-round projection and LSU offensive tackle La’El Collins going
undrafted.
Collins’ stock slipped after reports surfaced that Baton Rouge police were
interested in talking to him about the homicide of alleged ex-girlfriend
Brittney Mills.
Mills was shot and killed on April 24 and was pregnant at the time. The child,
who was delivered, died a week later.
Collins, who is not listed as a suspect, left Chicago’s draft festivities and
traveled to Louisiana, where he is expected to meet with police on Monday.
He originally stated that if he was drafted past the third round that he would
not sign. He is now officially an undrafted free agent and is not eligible to
enter the 2016 draft.
Bryce Petty didn’t have to wait long to finally have his name called on Day
3. For fellow quarterback Brett Hundley, the delay took a bit longer.
Petty was selected by the New York Jets early in the fourth round, with
Hundley becoming the next high-profile signal-caller to come off the board
when the Green Bay Packers took the UCLA product in the fifth.
The Jets traded up one spot with Jacksonville to nab Petty, the 2013 Big 12
Player of the Year who led Baylor to back-to-back conference championships and
a pair of major bowl appearances over the past two seasons, with the fourth
choice of the fourth round (103rd overall).
Green Bay also moved up in the fifth to nab Hundley, the Bruins’ all-time
leader in passing yards and touchdown passes, with the 147th pick.
The St. Louis Rams traded running back Zac Stacy to the Jets for a seventh-
round pick. Stacy had requested a trade after the Rams drafted Georgia running
back Todd Gurley No. 10 overall on Thursday. Stacy tweeted “Yikes” after St.
Louis made the selection before deleting it.
Tennessee opened Day 3 by taking Auburn defensive tackle Angelo Blackson with
pick No. 100.
Other notable selections on Saturday’s final day included a pair of USC
players, defensive back Josh Shaw and running back Buck Allen, Florida State
wide receiver Rashad Greene, Boise State running back Jay Ajayi and Oregon
cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
Shaw, limited to just three games as a senior by an ankle sprain in which he
was suspended by the Trojans for lying to police as to the nature of the
injury, was chosen by Cincinnati at the No. 21 slot of the fourth round.
Former teammate Allen went to Baltimore five spots later.
Greene was plucked by Jacksonville with the third pick of the fifth round,
while Ajayi’s draft fall finally ended when the powerful back was grabbed by
Miami with the 13th selection of the fifth.
Ekpre-Olomu was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 24th pick in the
seventh round. The consensus All-American suffered a knee injury during
practice for the Rose Bowl.
The draft’s Mr. Irrelevant was Louisville tight end Gerald Christian, who was
selected with the final pick, 256th overall, by the Arizona Cardinals.
Petty and Hundley are the fifth and sixth quarterbacks to come off the board
in this year’s draft. Former Heisman Trophy winners Jameis Winston and Marcus
Mariota were chosen by Tampa Bay and Tennessee, respectively, with the top
two overall picks on Thursday, while Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson
(New Orleans) and Oregon State’s Sean Mannion (St. Louis) were claimed in
Friday’s third round.
