Jackson may have long, strange wait in unique draft
Next week, football gods-willing, another Delaware County player will come off the board in the NFL draft.
The question is when Jonah Jackson, the big offensive lineman out of Media, Penncrest and Ohio State joins the lengthy list of Delaware County athletes who had their draft day moments of fame.
Scouting publications anticipate Jackson coming off the board somewhere between rounds four and six. That would be the final day of the lottery which begins April
23, and put him in the company of Tom Savage, the quarterback out of Cardinal O’Hara and Pitt. Savage was selected in the fourth round of the 2014 lottery by the Houston Texans.
Savage also is the last product of Delaware County high school football to be selected in the draft. He hasn’t played since the 2017 season, injuries dotting the road as he bounced around four teams. He’s been signed or cut a dozen times since he stepped in when Brock Osweiler was hurt during the
2016 season with the Texans.
With the pandemic restricting the league’s football operations people and coaches to their homes, it will be anything but the draft pro football fans have grown up with. There’s also no way around the NFL’s presentation and the way it chooses to stage the event.
Trade opportunities could be an adventure, as some of the key decisionmakers will be at different locations.
Extra time between picks is a possibility. Ditto technical issues. The draft is a hacker’s dream by virtue of being the only sports show in the world.
Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce the
32 picks in the first round from his basement, marking the first time in several years he hasn’t been booed at the venue hosting the event.
The first round will be held Thursday, the second and third rounds Friday and the final four rounds Saturday.
While you won’t see draftees walking to the podium, the cameras will cut away to 58 of the top prospects, all slated to participate in the virtual draft.
This is a good time for Delaware County football fans who have patiently waited to add more of their own to the draft registrar to look back on the area’s rich history.
Dating back to just the
1972 NFL-AFL merger, six Delco players have been taken in the first round of the draft. That list is topped by Marple Newtown product Bill Maas, the fifth overall pick in the
1984 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
After an all-American career at Pitt, Maas made two Pro Bowls and registered 40 sacks in nine seasons with the Chiefs.
In 1989, defensive end Burt Grossman, a product of Pitt and Archbishop Carroll, was the eighth overall pick in the draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Grossman had doubledigit sacks his first two seasons, and after a productive five-year tenure there was dealt to the Eagles before the 1994 draft for a sixth-round pick. He had had 5.5 sacks and 40 tackles in 14 games for the Eagles, who dropped a pay-cut on him.
The other Delco firstround selections:
Heisman Trophy winner John Cappelletti of Monsignor
Bonner, the 11th pick in 1974 by the Los Angeles Rams. Cappelletti won the Heisman after rushing for 1,522 yards and 17 touchdowns for the Nittany Lions.
Chichester star John Mobley, the 15th pick in the 1996 lottery by the Denver Broncos, starred at Kutztown University. Mobley broke up a pass in the last minute of play to lift the Broncos to a 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXII.
Anthony Becht, another Bonner alum, came off the board to the New York Jets with the 27th selection in the 2000 draft. The product of West Virginia who grew up in Drexel Hill played 11 seasons in the league.
The most recent firstround pick out of Delco is Kevin Jones, who grew up in Chester and starred at Cardinal O’Hara and Virginia Tech. The 30th pick in the 2004 draft, Jones rushed for 1,133 yards and five touchdowns in his rookie season with the Detroit Lions. His career was shut down after just five seasons due to injuries.
In all, 27 Delaware County football players have been drafted, including three in the second round, four in the third round, two in both the fifth and the sixth rounds, four in the seventh round, one in the ninth round, three in the 10th round and Billy “White Shoes” Johnson of Chichester in the 15th round.
Look for that number to rise next week. One way or another, Jonah Jackson is going to break down the door.