FLOWERY BRANCH — Former West Virginia defensive end Bruce Irvin, of Stone Mountain, was the surprise pick of the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night.
Seattle selected Irvin with the 15th overall pick. Irvin’s climb into the first-round of the NFL draft is a tale of turning his life around and following his dreams.
The former Stephenson High student ran with the wrong crowd. After being arrested and spending three weeks in jail, he decided to turn his life around. Irvin earned a GED and enrolled at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif.
He had 16 sacks in one season and attracted 27 major-college offers. He elected to attend West Virginia. He was candid with teams about his past while interviewing at the NFL scouting combine.
Two other local players had a more disappointing Thursday night. Georgia offensive lineman Cordy Glenn, who played at Riverdale High School, and Georgia Tech wide receiver Stephen Hill, who played at Miller Grove, remained undrafted after Day 1.
Both players were in New York as invited guests of the NFL. Among those who were picked, nine of the players were from SEC schools and three from the ACC.
Alabama led the way with four picks, and LSU and South Carolina each had two. Mississippi State produced the other player from the SEC. From the ACC, Boston College, North Carolina and Virginia Tech had a player apiece chosen.
NFL teams are looking for pass rushers such as Irvin, who was second in the nation with 14 sacks as a junior. He had 8 1/2 sacks last season as teams tried to slow him.
Irvin was rated as the No. 2 pass-rush specialist according to Pro Football Weekly’s 2012 draft guide. Only Troy’s Jonathan Massaquoi was ranked ahead of Irvin.
Last season during the NFL draft, the Falcons stole the show with a megadeal to move into the top 10 and acquire wide receiver Julio Jones.
While sitting out the first round, the Falcons’ personnel men watched from their war room as the three-day draft opened with a flurry of trades.
The draft started as expected as Indianapolis selected Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Washington picked Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, then pandemonium took over.
There was a flurry of trades to reshuffle the early part of the draft.
Cleveland traded with Minnesota to move up one spot to select Alabama running back Trent Richardson.
Jacksonville traded with Tampa Bay to move up two spots to the fifth slot. The Jaguars, who have been searching for a big-time receiver for most of the past 10 years, picked Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon.
Dallas made a trade with St. Louis to move up eight spots to the sixth slot. They picked LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne.
Tampa Bay then picked Alabama safety Mark Barron, the first senior taken in the draft and the second player from the Crimson Tide’s BCS championship team, with the seventh pick.
Miami, still searching for a quarterback, selected Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill. He will be reunited with his college coach Mike Sherman, who was fired and landed a job as Miami’s offensive coordinator.
With the ninth pick, Carolina made Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly the first player selected from the ACC.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, a Boston College product and fan, met Kuechly last summer when he watched the Eagles’ spring game.
“He’s tenacious on the field,” Ryan said. “I love watching him play. He seemed to make every tackle on their defense last year. I think he’ll be a great player in the NFL, I really do. I don’t look forward to playing against him.”
With the 10th pick, Buffalo selected South Carolina cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
All of the action was tantalizing for Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who has made at least one trade in each of his past four drafts. He knew that a trading frenzy likely would happen.
Even the Falcons were fielding calls about moving into the first round.
The Falcons, with the 55th pick (second round), have zeroed in on improving their offensive or defensive line.
He believes this draft is deep in offensive linemen.
“I think that is settling for the teams that are in fact looking for offensive linemen,” Dimitroff said.
During the pre-draft process the Falcons worked out offensive tackles Steven Baker (East Carolina), Mitchell Schwartz (California), Dennis Kelly (Purdue), Kelechi Osemele (Iowa State) and Donald Stephenson (Oklahoma).
The draft resumes at 7 p.m. Friday. The St. Louis Rams are scheduled to pick first.
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