LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PAGE
LINK – NFL.COM 2017 NFL DRAFT PAGE
It is just one more week until the start of the 2017 National Football League Draft.
For Ashland University tight end Adam Shaheen, it's a short time until the talk hopefully becomes a reality.
The old saying is it takes just one team to decide it wants a player, but those in the media whose job it is to analyze, project and talk about the draft have made up their minds – Shaheen is a rising commodity. A 6-foot-6, 277-pound tight end, Shaheen caught a school-record and NCAA Division II single-season tight end-record 16 touchdown passes as a junior in 2016, and grabbed a school tight end-record 70 passes as a sophomore in 2015.
After starting just two seasons for the Eagles, Shaheen is No. 5 all-time in program history with 129 career catches, No. 10 in career receiving yards with 1,755 and was two receiving touchdowns away from the school's all-time record in that category.
That combination of size, athletic ability and production has draftniks buzzing:
- ESPN's Todd McShay's latest mock draft has Shaheen ending up with the Dallas Cowboys with the No. 60 overall pick in Round No. 2. With future Hall of Famer Jason Witten turning 35 in May, the Cowboys may be looking toward the future of that position.
- Both ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Dane Brugler of NFLDraftScout.com and CBS Sports have Shaheen being drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 51st overall pick in the second round. Virgil Green paced the Broncos in catches by a tight end in 2016 with 22.
- The Great Blue North Report's last three-round projection on April 9 had Shaheen going in the third round (No. 68) to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags traded their top tight end in 2016, Julius Thomas (30 catches), to the Miami Dolphins in March.
- NFL.com's Chad Reuter's mock draft projects Shaheen going to the Seattle Seahawks with the 90th overall pick in Round 3. Seahawk tight ends on the current roster combined for 83 catches last season, but starter Jimmy Graham will turn 31 during the 2017 campaign.
Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft will begin on April 27 at 8 p.m., Rounds 2 and 3 will start on April 28 at 7 p.m. and Rounds 4-7 will take place on April 29, starting at noon.
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