Fresno State Athletics
Wright and Denman Drafted by Bills and Bucs
4/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 29, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - National Football League teams continue to be impressed with the Fresno State football program, as four Bulldogs year selected in the 2007 NFL Draft held over the weekend in New York City.
Two Bulldogs were selected Sunday, as running back Dwayne Wright was the 12th selected of the 4th round to the Buffalo Bill and offensive tackle Chris Denman went with the fourth pick of the 7th round to Tampa Bay. They joined Marcus McCauley (Minnesota) and Paul Williams (Tennessee), who were selected in Saturday's third round.
"It's great to see guys like Dwayne and Chris get drafted," said head coach Pat Hill. "After what Dwayne went through, and to come back and not only play, but had a very productive senior season, show's the caliber of person he is. Chris is one of our many storied Valley walk-on players. He wasn't recruited out of high school, but he came here and made the most of his opportunity. He's a self-made player, who is a tough guy. He doesn't know what a silver spoon is. He worked his tail off and earned everything he's gotten."
Wright rushed for 1,462 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. He set a Bulldog record with 295 yards against Louisiana Tech, which was the second-best rushing performance in the NCAA in 2006. He finished ranked in the Top 10 in the NCAA in rushing.
Denman started 46 consecutive games at right tackle for the Bulldogs. He earned first-team All-WAC honors as a senior after paving the way for Wright, and holding together an offensive unit that set a school record for fewest quarterback sacks (12). He was the only offensive tackle drafted by Tampa Bay.
The four NFL Draft picks is the most by the Dogs since 2001. Under Hill, Fresno State has produced 19 NFL draft picks, including seven in the last two years. Fresno State was among the national leaders in NFL draft selections this season.
Western Athletic Conference football was well represented in the draft, as both the WAC and Pacific 10 Conference's top three teams had a combined 13 players drafted. Fresno State, Hawai'i and Boise State matched USC, Cal and Arizona and were the top schools among those two leagues. In all, the WAC had 17 players selected in the 2007 NFL Draft, easily outdistancing the Mountain West Conference, which had nine.
NFL Draft Picks By Schools in the West (schools in the WAC, Pac-10 and Mountain West Conferences)
5- USC (Pac-10), Hawai'i (WAC)
4 - FRESNO STATE (WAC) ; Boise State (WAC); Arizona (Pac-10); Cal (Pac-10)
3 - Oregon (Pac-10), Stanford (Pac-10)
2 - Arizona State (Pac-10), Oregon State (Pac-10), Utah (MWC), San Jose State (WAC); Washington (Pac-10); Washington State (Pac-10); TCU (MWC) 1 - La Tech (WAC); Nevada (WAC); New Mexico (MWC), BYU (MWC), Colorado State (MWC), UCLA (Pac-10); Wyoming (MWC); UNLV (MWC)
Hill expects several Bulldogs to sign free agent contracts in the coming days.
