WITH THE _TH PICK…

Brandstater, Pascoe, Follett are all selected on day two of the NFL Draft.

By Andrew Marden
VSP Senior Writer-

The NFL Draft is an inexact science. Sometimes high-round draft picks turn out to be busts and sometimes late-round picks turn out to be the face of a franchise.

Tom Brady was once in the latter category (6th round in 2000). As of this year, so are Fresno State’s Tom Brandstater (QB) and Bear Pascoe (TE).

“I come in as the 3rd guy, obviously,” says Brandstater, a 6th round selection of the Denver Broncos, who already have quarterbacks Kyle Orton and Chris Simms on their roster. “But I’m gonna work like the starter, do what I can to give myself a chance.”

Says Pascoe, a 6th round selection of the San Francisco 49ers, “I’m gonna go into this thing with an open mind. I’m planning on working hard everyday at practice and I’ll do whatever they need me to do, do whatever I can do to help this program.”

Being drafted that late, though, means neither player gets guaranteed money or even a roster spot at this point.

Former Clovis High linebacker Zack Follett knows all about that. The Cal standout, who was third in the nation with 23 tackles for loss last season, fell to the 7th round because of neck issues.

“I have some disc bulges in my neck,” says Follett, who was projected to go as high as the 3rd round before being taken with the 235th overall pick by the Detroit Lions. “I failed a lot of teams’ physicals because of that. A lot of teams didn’t want to spend a lot of money to take that risk, knowing that I could hurt it more and be done.”

Follett did not hear his name called Sunday morning and says he was prepared to not hear it at all.

“It was coming down to the wire, teams were calling me to be a free agent,” he said.

The odds of making an NFL roster that way are not very high. Return specialist Clifton Smith (Edison HS/Fresno State) is the exception, making the Pro Bowl for Tampa Bay last season after going undrafted.

“I’d been hearing all week I was projected from 3rd to mid 4th, maybe into the 5th,” added Pascoe. “So when you drop down to the 6th, a little doubt starts coming into your mind. ‘Maybe I’m not gonna get drafted at all, maybe I have to make it as a free agent.’”

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

The truth of the matter is, all three of these guys already have their feet in the door. They’re going to mini-camp in roughly five days.

“The realization that I’m gonna be a professional football player, it’s kind of crazy to think about it,” says Brandstater. “I just looked at the Denver Broncos’ website and there I am.”

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