Two Bulldogs go in NFL Draft
The New England Patriots select offensive lineman Logan Mankins in the first round and strong safety James Sanders in the fourth
By EDDIE HUGHES
Logan Mankins didn’t have much to say Saturday afternoon after he was selected in the NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
The former Fresno State offensive lineman was still getting used to the fact he was a first-round pick.
“The reality, it’s great,” Mankins said in a telephone interview. “I’m excited. I just don’t know how to take it in right now.”
Sitting in his Fresno apartment watching the draft with family and friends, Mankins said he didn’t know he was going to be a first-rounder. But who did? Not the “experts.” They had been publishing enough mock drafts over the past month to cover just about any scenario — but they didn’t have Mankins going in the first round.
The Patriots did. And that’s what counts.
“It’s hard to see it coming,” Mankins said. “You don’t know where you’re going.”
Now Mankins knows. He is the second Fresno State player to go in the first round since 2002, when the Houston Texans made quarterback David Carr the NFL’s top overall pick. He became the school’s fourth first-round selection all-time, each coming since 1990.
And he knows he’s joining a Patriots team that just lost starting guard Joe Andruzzi to free agency.
Mankins, a second-team All-America left tackle in college, played guard in the Senior Bowl and might see time there in the NFL.
When the Patriots’ front office called to inform Mankins of his selection, coach Bill Belichick got on the phone and explained his expectations, Mankins said.
“I’ll come in and work hard and learn the system,” Mankins said. “And do my best to contribute to the team.”
Believe Mankins when he says he will work hard. He has proven it.
In 2000, the Catheys Valley native came to Fresno State as an undersized walk-on out of Mariposa High.
But the walk-on distinction didn’t last long as Mankins developed into a 6-foot-4, 307-pound force for the Bulldogs.
“He worked so hard from the first day he stepped on campus and to have him become an NFL first-round pick is a testament to his ability and work ethic,” Fresno State coach Pat Hill said in a news release. “As I said before, he is the best college lineman I've ever coached, and to be the fourth linemen taken in the NFL Draft shows how special a player he is.”
By 2001, Mankins had locked himself into the starting left tackle postion, protecting Carr’s blindside and allowing just two sacks all season en route to earning first-team Freshman All-America honors.
After missing the entire 2003 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Mankins returned for his senior season in 2004 to collect a school-record 82 pancake blocks. He never allowed a sack in the last 387 pass plays of his college career.
If someone would have told Mankins in 2000 that he would end up a first-round draft pick, he wouldn’t have bought it.
“I would have thought they were crazy,” Mankins said.
Sanders goes on day two
Fresno State strong safety James Sanders learned Sunday he will be joining Mankins in New England.
Sanders, who opted to forego his senior season to enter the NFL Draft a year early, was taken in the fourth round (133rd overall) by the Patriots.
He was a first-team All-WAC performer both his sophomore and junior seasons.
The Monache High graduate had 238 tackles in his three years with the Bulldogs and was third on the team with 63 tackles last season. Sanders had four sacks, seven interceptions and 24.5 tackles for losses during his Fresno State career.
Last season, the hard-hitting Sanders had three interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown in a season-opening win at Washington.
At the beginning of last season, 15 former Bulldogs were on NFL rosters, the second-highest total of any non-BCS school. Southern Mississippi had 16.
Fresno State has had at least one player among the top 100 picks for four straight years, with wide receiver Bernard Berrian going to the Chicago Bears in the third round last year.
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