Sun Devil Science: ASU Early Entries to the NFL Draft Since 2000
For some the decision is a no-brainer, for some, it is a major gamble. The topic of whether a star college football player enters the NFL Draft prior to finishing the entirety of his college eligibility can in some cases be debatable as at times some unwisely conclude their collegiate careers early while others are seemingly ready for pro snaps on day one as true freshmen.
At Arizona State, early departures are not particularly common but also not a total rarity – with the three early entries for the 2018 NFL Draft, 16 Sun Devils have declared early since the 2000 NFL Draft – but looking back at the history of these decisions, some were unquestionably wise, while others perhaps could have benefitted from extra time on campus.
Of the 13 early draft entries from the 2000-17 NFL Drafts, two were selected in the first round, three in the second round, one in the third round, two in the fourth round, one in the fifth round, one in the seventh round and three went undrafted.
2018 NFL Draft: OL Sam Jones, LB Christian Sam, DL JoJo Wicker
2017: None
2016: None
2015: WR Jaelen Strong, LS Easton Wahlstrom
Perhaps the most developed receiver in ASU history – though N’Keal Harry gives him a definite run for his money – Strong came to ASU as a JUCO transfer with three years to play three starting with the 2013 season and instantly became a nationally elite performer.
After a pair of 1,000-yard seasons that resulted in a total of 157 receptions for 2,287 yards with 17 touchdowns in 26 career games with the Sun Devils, Strong bypassed his senior season to enter the NFL Draft.
Chosen in the third round (70th overall) by the Houston Texans, strong played his first two years in Houston and spent the majority of the 2017 season with Jacksonville. In all, Strong has caught 31 passes for 330 yards with four touchdowns in 20 career games played.
You may not remember, but Wahlstrom technically entered the NFL Draft a year early after serving as ASU’s primary snapper in 2012-13, but only having played in two games as a junior in 2014. He was not drafted and never appeared on an NFL roster.
2014: LB Carl Bradford
A star rush linebacker under Todd Graham’s first two teams at ASU, Bradford became one of the Pac-12’s most feared defenders during his sophomore and junior seasons.
After posting 81 tackles including 20.5 for loss with 11.5 sacks as a redshirt sophomore in 2012, Bradford helped ASU win its division the next year with 61 total tackles including 19.0 for loss with 8.5 sacks.
Bradford was chosen by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round (121st overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft and has also spent time with San Francisco, Buffalo, Chicago, and Cincinnati. He has totaled five tackles in six career NFL games played – all in 2016 in time split with Green Bay and San Francisco.
2013: None
2012: LB Vontaze Burfict, QB Brock Osweiler
A tumultuous enigma as ever has there been at ASU, Burfict came to Tempe with a five-star hype machine like few that have been seen in the recruiting game this century for the Sun Devils.
The results were immediate, as Burfict was the Pac-10 Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2009 and a Second-Team All-Pac-10 pick as a sophomore. However, a perception and reputation as a dirty player quickly caught the attention of officials, opponents, and critics – an image Burfict has yet to be able to shed even to this day.
After an up-and-down junior season that yielded much less fanfare than his first two years, Burfict opted to bypass his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Unfortunately for Burfict, his controversial college career coupled with a failed drug test at the NFL Combine resulted in him falling undrafted.
To Burfict’s credit, however, he persisted and ended up signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, with whom he earned a Pro Bowl nod in just his second season after recording a spectacular total of 171 tackles on the year. Though his reputation has followed him from college to the pros, Burfict has started 65 of 67 games played from 2012-17 and has 571 career tackles with 8.5 sacks.
After starting only one full season – albeit in a season he broke the school single-season passing yardage mark – some questioned Osweiler’s decision to leave ASU a year early in the wake of the coaching change from Dennis Erickson to Todd Graham.
The decision paid off as Osweiler was chosen in the second round (57th overall) in the 2012 NFL Draft by Denver, theoretically to be groomed to be Peyton Manning’s heir at quarterback for the Broncos.
Osweiler remained with the Broncos through the 2015 season before signing with the Houston Texans in 2016. Unfortunately, his lone season in Houston was a disaster and Osweiler was subsequently traded to Cleveland the following March, then released six months later before ultimately returning to Denver for the 2017 season.
2011: DL Lawrence Guy
A solid starter though not a spectacular, upper-tier all-conference performer during his three years at ASU, Guy entered the draft after the 2010 season in a move that was questioned by many.
In 35 career games at ASU, Guy posted 122 tackles including 23.0 for loss with 8.0 sacks, though his junior season included the fewest tackles for loss and sacks and second-fewest total tackles of his three-year Sun Devil tenure.
Picked in the seventh round (233rd overall) by the Green Bay Packers, Guy avoided falling undrafted and after hanging around in the NFL for his first few years with the Packers, Colts, and Chargers, Guy has emerged as a steady, legitimate starting defender with the Baltimore Ravens and currently the New England Patriots.
Through the end of the 2017 regular season, Guy has totaled 186 tackles and 7.5 sacks, posting a career high in 2017 with 58 tackles as a starter in 15 of 16 games played with the Patriots.
2010: None
2009: None
2008: None
2007: TE Zach Miller
The superstar tight end from nearby Phoenix Desert Vista High School, Miller was a standout from day one at Arizona State and was never expected to last all four years at ASU. To the surprise of none, Miller left for the NFL after his junior season.
After catching 56 passes for 552 yards with six touchdowns and becoming the Pac-10 Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year in 2004 as a true freshman, Miller caught 38 passes for 476 yards and four scores as a sophomore. He capped off his college career with 50 receptions for 484 yards and four touchdowns, also earning Walter Camp All-America honors and recognition as a finalist for the John Mackey Award.
Miller was chosen in the second round (38th overall) by the Oakland Raiders and was the second tight end chosen after Greg Olsen of the University of Miami. He played in Oakland from 2007-10, then with Seattle from 2011-14. He earned a Pro Bowl selection in 2010 and was a part of Seattle’s Super Bowl XLVIII champion squad. He caught 328 passes for 3,804 yards with 20 touchdowns before retiring after the 2014 season due to injury issues.
In 2016, Miller was inducted into ASU’s Sports Hall of Fame.
2006: None
2005: None
2004: Jason Shivers
A tackling machine for the Sun Devils, Shivers totaled 89 tackles as a true freshman in 2001 and then 121 as a sophomore in 2002. After posting 104 tackles with three interceptions in 2003, the product of Phoenix’s South Mountain High School bypassed his senior season to enter the NFL Draft – a move that was generally surprising, despite his productivity.
Shivers was chosen in the fifth round (158th overall) by the St. Louis Rams and ended up being released in the preseason, but spend his rookie year with the Chicago Bears. He is not credited with having played in an NFL game, though he spent the 2007-11 seasons playing in the Canadian Football League.
2003: WR Shaun McDonald, DE/LB Terrell Suggs
One of the nation’s most productive wide receivers during the 2001-02 seasons, McDonald left ASU with a year remaining after setting program single-season records for receptions (87) and receiving yards (1,405) in 2002, while falling one touchdown catch short of tying the school’s single-season record of 14.
A First-Team All-Pac-10 pick in both 2001 and 2002, McDonald was a Third-Team All-American as a junior and an Honorable Mention All-American as a sophomore.
McDonald was chosen in the fourth round (106th overall) by St. Louis and after four years with the Rams, he played for Detroit from 2007-09 and Pittsburgh in 2010. In total, McDonald caught 220 passes for 2,490 yards with 11 touchdowns in the NFL, with his best year coming with the Lions in 2007 when he caught 79 passes for 943 yards and six touchdowns.
Likely to be known as the most talented player in Arizona State history, after a record-setting junior season in 2002, Suggs predictably cut his Sun Devil career short after three seasons.
After posting 10.0 sacks in each of his first two seasons, Suggs broke the NCAA record by totaling 24.0 sacks in 2002 on his way to Unanimous All-America honors, the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-Pac-10 accolades and the Hendricks, Lombardi, and Nagurski Awards. He also graduated as the NCAA career leader in total sacks (44.0).
Chosen 10th overall in the 2003 NFL Draft, many believe – both at the time and now looking back – that Suggs should have been drafted even higher. Regardless, Suggs has spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens and has been a seven-time Pro Bowl pick, the 2003 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, the 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was a key force on Baltimore’s Super Bowl XLVII champion team.
Suggs has 125.5 sacks to his credit including 11.0 in 2017, placing him 17th on the NFL’s all-time list for career sacks. He figures to ultimately join Mike Haynes and Randall McDaniel as the only Sun Devils to be inducted into both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.
2002: None
2001: TE Todd Heap
The most physically gifted tight end ever to play at ASU, Heap falls under the category of ones who, barring injury, were never expected to be with the program a moment past the point draft eligibility was achieved.
ASU’s leading receiver in 1999 and 2000 and a First-Team All-Pac-10 pick both years, Heap also earned Second-Team All-America honors as a junior and Third-Team All-America accolades as a sophomore. A finalist for the 2000 John Mackey Award, Heap caught 115 passes for 1,685 yards over his Sun Devil career. His 55 receptions in 1999 established an ASU single-season record by a tight end and he finished his three-year stint as the school’s all-time leader among tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards.
A first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens (31st overall), Heap was the first tight end chosen in 2001. The former Mesa Mountain View High School star was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and caught 499 passes for 5,869 yards with 42 touchdowns over his career with the Ravens (2001-10) and Arizona Cardinals (2011-12).
Heap was inducted into ASU’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.
2000: WR Tariq McDonald, OL Marvel Smith
A difficult decision motivated by the need to provide for his family, McDonald declared early after three years on the field for ASU. In 34 career games across the 1997-99 seasons with the Sun Devils, McDonald caught 66 total passes for 816 yards with seven touchdowns. As a junior, he registered 33 receptions for 386 yards and one touchdown. Though he wasn’t selected in the draft, McDonald signed as an undrafted free agent with Cincinnati Bengals prior to the 2000 season but is not credited with having appeared in any games at the NFL level.
One of the most dominant offensive linemen of the past 20 years for ASU, Smith left after his junior season that included accolades such as First-Team All-America honors by Football News and First-Team All-Pac-10 distinction.
Smith was selected in the second round (38th overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers. A Pro Bowl selection in 2004, he also won a pair of Super Bowls with the Steelers. He played in Pittsburgh from 2000-08, and then signed with San Francisco for 2009 but retired before the season began. He appeared in 111 career games with 108 starts.
Smith was inducted into ASU’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.
