COMMENTARY
Undrafted rookies face long odds
Allen Wilson
Updated: 05/06/08 6:36 AM
University of Arkansas guard Robert Felton waited for a telephone call that never came during the NFL draft.
He had the resume: first-team All-Southeastern Conference and second-team All-America. What he didn’t have was an NFL team that believed he was worth spending a draft pick on.
So Felton comes to the Buffalo Bills humbled, but not discouraged.
“Obviously the draft didn’t go the way I wanted it, but in a way it did because I’m where I wanted to be — in the NFL,” Felton said during the Bills’ weekend rookie minicamp. “This is my chance. I’m here and I’m trying to make the best of it.”
Life in the NFL is a tenuous existence. That’s especially the case for undrafted rookies. They go through seven agonizing rounds hoping to hear their names called only to endure the sting of being snubbed.
Most drafted rookies don’t have to worry about being cut when they drop a pass, miss a tackle or jump off-sides. But non-draftees fret over every mistake, knowing their margin of error is minuscule by comparison.
Rookie free agents are the longest shots to make a team. In most cases, they are merely extra bodies for teams to stock their training camp roster. Teams tell these guys they have a chance, but in reality most of them have little.
When the draft is over, teams work the phones feverishly trying to lure the best of the undrafted to town. Teams tell the players they are wanted, but in reality these guys shouldn’t bother renting an apartment in the fall.
Bills coach Dick Jauron said he wants anyone they sign to come in with their eyes wide open.
“As much as possible, we try to be as real with them as we can,” he said. “If we can tell their agent, ‘Look at our roster, you can see that there’s an opportunity here,’ then we definitely do that. You’re not going to fool them anyway by lying to them, and it’s not a good policy, so we don’t.”
There are only 53 roster spots available. If the Bills are as good as some people think they might be this season, some of their 10 draft picks won’t survive the final cuts. So you get the idea how hard it will be for a guy who wasn’t drafted.
The biggest obstacle they face is playing time. There are only so many snaps to go around in preseason practices, and most of the repetitions are going to the players who are expected to contribute.
“As a first-year guy, I’m not going to get as many snaps as a starter or veteran backups,” Felton said. “The reps I do get, I need to do them the best I can and do everything the right way because you never know when you’re going to get another rep. If you only get three reps, you better make them the best three reps you can.”
Undrafted rookies make NFL teams every year. Left tackle Jason Peters, punter Brian Moorman, running back Fred Jackson and safety George Wilson are a few examples.
Jauron’s annual speech to undrafted players is, “Don’t worry about numbers. Just go out and perform because 31 other teams will see tape. And if you are good enough to play, they will find you.”
It’s a lesson Felton and the Bills’ other rookie free agents would be wise to learn.
“I do have an opportunity, and that’s all I can ask for,” he said. “Now it’s up to me to earn that opportunity. We’re going to work hard to get better every day, and hopefully that will be enough.”
