By Darius Joshua
Draft weekend is officially over and still no decision expected to come on the Lockout until July. As of now, all NFL business deals must stop. Players won’t be able to work out any contracts until the lockout is lifted. But at least players know which teams they have a chance to play for.
Only two of the four former Syracuse football hopefuls got drafted; Delone Carter and Doug Hogue. The other two Orange players, Ryan Bartholomew and Derrell Smith, will have to wait for the lockout to be lifted and try to test the waters of free agency or find a new career.
Delone Carter was drafted in the fourth round as the 22nd pick to the Indianapolis Colts. This is a great result for Carter because he gets to join a team that usually goes to the playoffs and are always championship contenders. Led by Peyton Manning, the Colts are more of a passing team. Their running game is in need of improvement and if Carter becomes a workhorse he can give the running game, ranked 29th in the league last season, a much needed boost.
The Colts main running backs are Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. Addai has been known to be injury prone and Brown has only been in the league for two years. Combined they both had just under 1,000 yards last season.
Doug Hogue was drafted in the fifth round by the Detroit Lions.
Hogue joins a relatively young linebacker core. The oldest player is Landon Johnson who has been in the league for eight years. He joins a defense that was 19th in the league in points allowed, 21st in total yards allowed and 24th in rushing yards allowed. The young Detroit team was 6-10 last year and is still trying to rebuild. Event though the Lions aren’t very good, Hogue will still have work to get a position on the team.
Carter and Hogue were able to feel the joy of being drafted, but they may still have to wait a while to experience the joy of playing in their first NFL game.
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