Jerry Attaochu is ready for the wait to be over, if for no other reason than it means friends and family will stop telling the former Georgia Tech All-American where the latest mock draft projects him.
“It stresses me out when people are claiming, ‘I read this about you,’ or ‘I read that the Cardinals are going to draft you in the second round,’” Attaochu said. “I’m like, Why are you telling me that? First of all, that’s not going to happen (just) because somebody wrote it down or said it on the Internet.”
He can depend on this much, hopefully. From conversations with NFL general managers, Attaochu’s Atlanta-based agent Pat Dye Jr. expects that Attaochu will be taken in the second round Friday night and could possibly sneak into the first round.
Having guided players through drafts for more than 25 years, Dye knows pre-draft intelligence carries only so much weight, but said of the projections for Attaochu that “it’s been trending that way for a while now.”
The Falcons, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, New England, Buffalo, New Orleans and both New York teams are among those who have shown interest in him, either through interviews at the NFL draft combine, private workouts or invitations to visit team offices.
Or, you can go by what Attaochu’s 9-year-old brother David reported after Attaochu returned this week to the family’s Washington, D.C.-area home.
“He said that, ‘Yeah, me and Mommy were watching this morning. It said the New York Jets were going to draft you,’” Attaochu said.
He’s at least a step ahead of Attaochu’s parents. Paul and Comfort Attaochu were born and raised in Nigeria. Now the founders of a local church, the Attaochus are still learning the peculiarities of American football.
“They’ll ask me who is going to draft me, like I’m supposed to know that,” Attaochu said.
Despite the aggravations, Attaochu called the run-up to the draft fun and nerve-racking.
“There’s so much uncertainty, but I know I worked really hard and I was blessed to be in this position,” he said.
Attaochu could be Tech’s highest draft pick since defensive end Derrick Morgan and wide receiver Demaryius Thomas were taken in the first round in 2010. Wide receiver Stephen Hill was picked with the 11th pick of the second round in 2012. Regardless, Attaochu stands to become the first defensive player recruited by coach Paul Johnson to be drafted. Defensive back Jemea Thomas and linebacker Brandon Watts could be taken in later rounds. Others, such as center Jay Finch and defensive end Emmanuel Dieke, likely will sign as undrafted free agents.
NFL teams are enamored of Attaochu’s dangerous mix of speed, size and strength and his unrelenting drive. They were the forces that drove Attaochu to pile up 31.5 sacks, the most in Tech history. An unnamed NFL scout told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which rated him the draft’s No. 5 outside linebacker, that “he can get on an edge and switch a gear on you that you don’t think he has.”
ESPN cameras are expected to be with Attaochu and his family in Washington for the draft. Attaochu grew up watching the spectacle of the draft annually. He remembers how it drove him to train, so that one day, he would be the one surrounded by screaming family members as he took a phone call that turned a dream into reality.
At some point this weekend, that will be him. In a different way, he said, he will probably be even more motivated than ever.
