In a sport that is so often marred by controversy and injury, the NFL Draft is the much-needed spark of altruism all football fans can be genuinely interested in.
More than 250 young men get to fulfill their dreams of being selected by a professional football team, and a few of the Palouse’s own basked in that glory last week.
Washington State offensive tackle Andre Dillard and quarterback Gardner Minshew will depart from Pullman to Philadelphia and Jacksonville, respectively, while Idaho linebacker Kaden Elliss will join the New Orleans Saints. Each player had a remarkable career in their own rights, deserving to hear their names called on draft day.
The Philadelphia Eagles took Dillard with the 22nd overall pick and are unlikely to regret it. The selection is also massively favorable for Dillard, as he will get time to acclimate to the professional game behind stalwart tackle Jason Peters. The 37-year-old has anchored Philly’s offensive line for 10 years and signed on for one more year with the team in March.
Further down the draft, you will find Wazzu’s mustachioed gunslinger. The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Minshew with the 178th pick in the sixth round as insurance behind newly-minted franchise quarterback Nick Foles. The reigning Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, Minshew thrived in Mike Leach’s Air Raid system, and adjusting to the Jaguars’ slightly less gung-ho passing approach will take some time. However, Minshew’s selection shows the Jaguars’ brass are not exactly set on career backup Cody Kessler as insurance for Foles.
As he starts his NFL career, Minshew will get the unique bonus of learning under a proven winner who essentially laid the groundwork for less-touted quarterbacks to make names for themselves. Foles was Michael Vick’s understudy after being selected in the third round of the 2012 draft and played sparingly. Of course, we all now know the legend of his run in 2017 that ultimately delivered the Eagles to their first Super Bowl win. Minshew’s road to NFL relevance will have to include some mixture of proper tutelage and a few strokes of luck, and no quarterback currently in the NFL may be more familiar with those two concepts than Nick Foles.
As the Palouse’s final representative among 2019 draftees, Kaden Elliss will join New Orleans as an intriguing prospect. As Vandal fans saw over the course of Elliss’s career in Moscow, the Salt Lake City native is capable of fulfilling the duties of a three-down linebacker or a situational pass-rusher, and in some cases he is even capable of hauling in contested passes on offense. The Saints had the fewest selections in the 2019 draft, so using one of their four slots on Elliss might mean a little more than other seventh-rounders.
Elliss will also find himself in a favorable position for playing time if he impresses throughout minicamp. The Saints run a 3-4 defense that requires a plethora of flexible linebackers of Elliss’s ilk and their depth is thin enough that Elliss could theoretically step into backing up current middle linebacker Alex Anzalone right out of the gates. New Orleans was tied for fifth in the NFL in sacks last year, and Elliss brings a remarkable nose for the ball with his Big Sky-leading 16 tackles for loss last year.
And of course, Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has a long reputation of finding creative uses for athletic players, as we saw with backup quarterback Taysom Hill playing in two-quarterback sets and various special teams alignments last year. If he impresses throughout the summer, Elliss seems like the next logical Swiss Army knife for Payton to take advantage of on both sides of the ball.
All told, Idaho and Washington State combined to produce a trio of enticing pro prospects, each with plenty to get excited about for hometown fans. Even if you don’t have a team to root for this upcoming season, make sure to follow along as some of the Palouse’s own take their next steps at the professional level.
Jonah Baker can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu or on Twitter @jonahpbaker