Torell Troup is used to playing in anonymity.

He was an unknown coming out of high school and despite a successful college career at

Central Florida, he was overshadowed by the big-name defensive tackles entering the NFL draft.

But Troup grabbed some attention when he was chosen by the Buffalo Bills in the second

round Friday. He wasn't rated as highly as some of the projected nose tackles still available,

but the Bills saw him as the best player available with the 41st pick.

"It's a great feeling," Troup said during a conference call with the Buffalo media. "I

don't get much publicity. I don't play a glory position, so sometimes guys at my position get

overlooked. But for the Bills to jump up and grab me at the beginning of the second round is a

great feeling. That tells me that somebody is paying attention to all the hard work I'm

putting in. I'm really excited."

Troup, who didn't play football until his freshman year in high school, started 39 of 50

games at Central Florida. The 6-foot-2, 320-pounder was a two-time, second-team All-Conference

USA selection with 108 career tackles, including 24 for losses and six sacks. He had only two

tackles against the University at Buffalo last season, but recovered a fumble at the UB

17-yard line to seal a 23-17 UCF win.

Troup finally moved into the national spotlight with a strong performance at the NFL

Scouting Combine, where he finished tied for third among defensive linemen in the bench press

by lifting 225 pounds 34 times. That was better than Nebraska defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh,

one of the top overall draft prospects, who completed 32 repetitions. Troup also ran

unofficial 40-yard dash times of 5.10 and 5.16, solid numbers for a defensive tackle. The

Bills won't have to worry about Troup's work ethic. He's dropped 30 pounds since entering

college.

"Every year he's gotten better down there," said Bills chief scout Tom Modrak. "He came in

very big, but he's worked himself into very good playing weight. I think that's a testament to

him wanting to be as good as he can. We think he's got room to get better."

Troup also is inspired by how hard his mother and father struggled to support him and his

two younger brothers. His mother had to work away from home for weeks to help make ends meet.

"Everything that I've done so far leading up to this is for me, but also for my parents,"

Troup said. "My parents work very hard. They're good people and they didn't have the

opportunities that I have. They had me at a very young age. My mom was 15 and my dad was 16,

so they weren't able to do the things they wanted to do because they had to raise kids. So

every day when I get out of bed it's motivation to get up and be better than them, even though

they're good people. I want to make them proud and do anything in my power. I'm not going to

let anything hold me back from making them proud."

. . .

Alex Carrington had a strong career at Arkansas State, but there was still more to prove for

the senior defensive end. He did just that at the Senior Bowl, where he more than held his own

against players from bigger schools.

"I knew I had a chip on my shoulder," he said. "I just wanted to go in there and prove

myself immediately that I wasn't going to be a pushover, that I could play football as well as

anybody out there. I went in there and did very well against much higher competition than what

I had to face at Arkansas State, and I think that opened a lot of people's eyes."

His play got the Bills' attention, but they knew about him long before they drafted him in

the third round. He started 42 of 44 games. He had nine sacks last season to earn first-team

All-Sun Belt Conference for the second straight time.

He had 10.5 sacks and a league-high 19 tackles for losses as a junior when he was the Sun

Belt Conference defensive player of the year.

"Five-techniques you've some length," Modrak said. "He's got length, he can give you that

run stop. He's a good kid who will work at it. For me it's a great set up. We get some depth,

we get a guy that will continue to work and get better."