PFW Blog: Pro baseball player (Jeff Samardzija) still on NFL radar screen

WoodysGirl

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Pro baseball player still on NFL radar screen

Chicago Cubs minor-league pitcher Jeff Samardzija appears in our 2007 Draft Preview book. The former Notre Dame receiver with the long mane spilling out of his golden helmet is a starting pitcher for the Cubs’ Class A affiliate in Daytona, Fla. He has started three games this spring with no decisions and a 2.40 ERA.

Samardzija signed a five-year, $7.25-million deal with the Cubs last summer before the start of his senior season at Notre Dame, where he posted a career-high 78 catches for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Our draft guru, Nolan Nawrocki, believes some NFL team will draft Samardzija in the late rounds on Sunday even though he has four years remaining on his deal with the Cubs. Samardzija has tremendous size — he’s nearly 6-5 and about 220 pounds — and uses it to his advantage, especially in the red zone.

There is precedent in the NFL for drafting a pro baseball player. The most recent example is when the Texans used a sixth-round pick (192nd overall) on Yankees third baseman Drew Henson in 2003.

Henson left Michigan, where he was a star baseball player and talented quarterback who beat out Tom Brady for the starting job, a year early to sign a six-year, $17-million deal with the Yankees.

Henson demonstrated decent power for a corner infielder but struggled hitting off-speed pitches and gave up on his baseball dream after three-plus years in the minors and only nine big-league at-bats. With QB David Carr on board, the Texans traded Henson to the Cowboys for a third-round pick.

But Henson lasted only two years — and started just one game — in Big D before Bill Parcells cut him. Henson turned up on the Vikings’ practice squad last season and is currently No. 3 on their depth chart behind Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger. Talk about fall from grace.

While Henson had a hard time hitting breaking pitches, Samardzija reportedly has a hard time throwing them. Samardzija is a flame-thrower with little else in his repertoire, which leads to unsightly stats like these so far this season: 15 innings pitched, 15 hits allowed and five strikeouts.

There are some rumblings that Samardzija won’t last long as a baseball prospect because he is a one-pitch pitcher, which could mean Samardzija’s days on the gridiron aren’t quite over yet.

Posted by Chris Neubauer on April 23, 2007 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks
 

Angus

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Hope Dallas is not too jaded about former baseball players to pass on this guy. A 7th rounder would seem reasonable.

:)
 

JIMMYBUFFETT

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With three 7th round picks...I say why not ? Sure would be a nice little surprise a couple of years down the road .
 

jobberone

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Why draft him with a seventh when you can wait for someone else to do that then trade them a third? You get a lot more press that way.
 

dallasfaniac

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Coming back from baseball to play WR is much easier than trying to play QB. All he has to do is run and catch, maybe get in the way of someone on running downs. However, you might question his football drive. Will he put in the same time and energy as someone who dedicated their life to football?
 

speedkilz88

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Using any pick on him this year is beyond stupidity. You can only retain his rights until next years draft, there is no chance he washes out of baseball between now and then.
 

VThokie7

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What are the chances he would acctually come back between now and next year's NFL Draft? I feel pretty slim, so it wouldn't make sense. We would lose the rights to him with next year's draft. And I hardly doubt he would leave baseball, after only playing A ball.
 

joseephuss

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speedkilz88;1466927 said:
Using any pick on him this year is beyond stupidity. You can only retain his rights until next years draft, there is no chance he washes out of baseball between now and then.

What is the exact rule? Dallas retained the rights to Herschel Walker and to Chad Hennings for more than one year. Tampa did not retain the rights to Bo Jackson and Baltimore was not going to be able to keep the rights to Elway. Can the player sign a future rights contract of some sort?
 

jobberone

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joseephuss;1466965 said:
What is the exact rule? Dallas retained the rights to Herschel Walker and to Chad Hennings for more than one year. Tampa did not retain the rights to Bo Jackson and Baltimore was not going to be able to keep the rights to Elway. Can the player sign a future rights contract of some sort?

Good question. I think they changed the rules. You used to retain the rights of a player you drafted. Now if you don't sign them by a certain date they can reenter the draft. I also think you must go thru the draft before you can be a FA. But I don't know that an undrafted player can't sign with any team they desire. Anyone know the rules for sure?
 

CrazyCowboy

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Angus;1466882 said:
Hope Dallas is not too jaded about former baseball players to pass on this guy. A 7th rounder would seem reasonable.

:)

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