We are down to the last five picks of the draft, and it appears Lobos Robert Turner and Kenny Byrd will be hunting for free-agent contracts and camp invitations. This is not exactly a surprise, but I'm sure it's pretty tough on Turner. Byrd knew few kickers get drafted and thought he'd have better luck scouting the teams with the greatest kicking needs and seeking an invitation to camp.

Turner is a guy who has gotten tons of accolades his entire UNM career. He was part of an offensive line that was extremely successful early in his career and the draft always seemed like a strong possibility for him. Then some bad things happened.

He fractured his wrist and had surgery before his senior year, forcing him to sit out an important spring football session when the new Bob Toledo offense was installed. The line struggled with the departure of Ryan Cook, who was so good he blocked two or three guys after the snap or slowed them down enough to keep everyone together. The line struggled under a new position coach, who I can say now that he is gone was a terrible fit for the team.

Turner righted the ship and is a tremendous leader. He was determined to turn things around and put himself in better draft position by the end of his senior year. Then he ran into more wrist trouble and couldn't complete workouts at the same time all the other pro prospects did leading up to the draft. He probably looked good on paper, but teams were wary of the injury issue. Why draft him when you can get him as a free agent and check out whether he'll work out for cheap?

So Turner is getting a taste of what Hank Baskett endured last year, but it all worked out for Hank.

At this point, it's best not to get drafted and go with a team where you fill a need and have the best chance of staying on the roster.

I think Turner has the ability and intelligence to overcome this obstacle much like Baskett did, but it's not easy and there are no guarantees. We'll see what happens next.

Posted by ilimon at 03:47 PM | Permalink