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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
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