By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
In one of its busiest third days ever in the NFL Draft, Baylor had four more players selected, including All-American defensive tackle Andrew Billings finally coming off the board and basketball forward Rico Gathers being taken in the sixth round by the Dallas Cowboys.
Projected to go late in the first round or early in the second, the 6-1, 310-pound Billings finally got to see his name called when the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him with the 24th pick in the fourth round and 122nd overall early Friday afternoon.
"It was tough," Billings said. "I was sitting there sweating, waiting. And then once it came, like my agent said, you're going to be happy no matter where you go. . . . This is something I'm going to carry with me my whole life. It's actually a good thing for me, I believe."
That was just the tip of the iceberg for the Bears, though, as All-American offensive tackle Spencer Drango was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round (168th overall); deep snapper Jimmy Landes was selected by the Detroit Lions in the sixth round (210); and Gathers went seven picks later to the Cowboys.
Overall, with six selections in the 2016 NFL Draft, Baylor had the seventh-most players drafted and the most of any school from the Big 12 and state of Texas.
Drango joins All-American receiver Corey Coleman, who was drafted by Cleveland in the first round with the 15th pick overall, and former Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III. The 6-6, 315-pounder from Cedar Park, Texas, was a two-time All-American with the Bears, a three-time All-Big 12 first-team pick and the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year each of the last two seasons.
Baylor has now had seven offensive linemen drafted in the last eight years and at least one taken in six of the last eight drafts. Drango is the first since Cyril Richardson was a fifth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills in 2014.
A former baseball walk-on catcher from Tyler, Texas, the 6-1, 240-pound Landes is Baylor's first-ever snapper selected in the NFL Draft. Current Houston Texans long snapper and longtime Indianapolis Colts snapper Justin Snow, who tutored Landes before pre-draft workouts, were both undrafted free agent signees out of Baylor.
At Detroit, Landes will try to beat out 12-year veteran snapper Don Muhlbach from Texas A&M.
The 6-6, 273-pound Gathers was one of the more intriguing storylines on the third day of the Draft, getting selected by the Cowboys as a tight end despite not playing football since junior high school.
As a bruising power forward in basketball, the New Orleans, La., native was a first-team All-Big 12 pick as a junior, when he averaged 11.6 points and 11.6 rebounds, and followed that up with 11.2 points and 9.0 rebounds as a senior in leading the Bears to their third straight NCAA Tournament berth.
After three weeks of training, Gathers had scouts from 25 NFL teams show up for a private workout Monday in New Orleans.
"He's a guy that came on the radar here recently, and he's just very impressive physically," Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. "He has not played a lot of football in his life, but when (Cowboys scout) Steve Loney went to the workout to see him, he was impressed with him. At the bottom of our draft, we felt like this was a worthwhile opportunity for us to take a shot.
"Seems like he has a lot of really good traits as an athlete, and his style as a basketball player was one where he was very physical, a prolific rebounder, and felt like that could translate. Clearly, he's a developmental player."
Gathers said he was excited to be "right up the street from where I've been playing basketball the last four years. It's a perfect situation for me."
"Getting drafted period was marvelous. I didn't play a lick of high school and college football. And to actually get drafted . . . getting drafted is a big deal after three weeks of work. . . . My pass-catching skills are natural, but of course I've got to work on route-running. It's like shooting free throws. The more you do it, the better you get at it."
Billings, as dominant a defensive tackle as the Bears have ever had, said he will use his third-day selection as motivation. "That's the way I like it. I came into power-lifting not with a chip but with a goal. This chip is basically my goal now."
The Waco High product didn't have to look far to find a success story coming from a similar start.
Seventh-year Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins is a two-time All-Pro selection with 43 career sacks who was selected in the fourth round with the 120th pick overall in 2010.
"He's a guy that'll think, `They should have taken me whenever,''' Cincinnati defensive line coach Jacob Burney said, "and that's fine. Hopefully, it stays with him for his entire career, not just one year."
Head coach Marvin Lewis said the Bengals had Billings rated high and see him as "not just a guy within our defensive line rotation, but a real anchor point."
"He just turned 21 a couple weeks ago, so he's a young guy with a lot of upside," Lewis said. "He played three years of football there at Baylor, and he's just been a really strong and productive player. He's got a great future ahead of him."
In addition to the six drafted players, which included cornerback Xavien Howard going to the Miami Dolphins in the second round, the Bears will likely have multiple free-agent signings. On Saturday, wide receiver Jay Lee signed with the Detroit Lions and offensive guard Jarell Broxton inked with the Baltimore Ravens, while linebacker Grant Campbell was invited to a rookie camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
BAYLOR 2016 NFL DRAFTEES
Rnd. (overall pick)
1. (15) Corey Coleman, WR -- Cleveland
2. (38) Xavien Howard, CB -- Miami
4. (122) Andrew Billings, NT -- Cincinnati
5. (168) Spencer Drango, OT -- Cleveland
6. (210) Jimmy Landes, LS -- Detroit
6. (217) Rico Gathers*, TE -- Dallas
*played basketball at Baylor
Baylor's 6 NFL Draft picks...
--7th-most draftees nationally (behind Ohio St., Clemson, UCLA, Alabama, N.D., Florida)
--most among all Big 12 Conference teams and all Texas schools.
--most draftees at BU since 2012 (included supplemental pick).
MOST 2016 NFL DRAFT PICKS
12 -- Ohio St.
9 -- Clemson
8 -- UCLA
7 -- Alabama, Notre Dame, Florida
6 -- Baylor
5 -- Ark, UGA, LSU, MSU, Miss, PSU, Stan, TCU, WVU
2016 NFL DRAFT PICKS FROM BIG 12/TEXAS
6 -- Baylor
5 -- TCU
5 -- West Virginia
4 -- Oklahoma
3 -- Houston
3 -- Texas A&M
3 -- Texas Tech
MOST NFL 1ST-ROUND DRAFTEES SINCE 2011 (BIG 12)
5 -- Baylor
4 -- West Virginia
3 -- Oklahoma St.
2 -- TCU
2 -- Texas
1 -- Oklahoma
BEST IN TEXAS LAST 7 YEARS, NFL DRAFT PICKS 2011-2016
22 -- Baylor
18 -- Texas A&M
17 -- TCU
16 -- Texas
8 -- SMU
6 -- Rice
6 -- Texas Tech
4 -- Houston
WIDE RECEIVER U
Over the last seven seasons (2009-2015), Baylor's receiving corps boasts...
- 6* NFL Draft picks (*includes one Supplemental Draft selection)
- 1 Biletnikoff Award winner (Corey Coleman 2015), 2 finalists
- 5 All-Americans
- 17 All-Big 12 honors
- 6 1,000-yard seasons
WR Corey Coleman, drafted No. 15 overall by Browns
--First receiver selected in 2016 NFL Draft
--First player from Texas school selected in 2016 NFL Draft
--Sixth Baylor WR drafted over last seven seasons (includes one Supplemental Draft selection)
--Baylor's fifth first-round draftee in last six years, and 22nd all-time from school in NFL/AFL Drafts
BEARS O-LINE SUCCESS
Baylor has had seven offensive lineman selected in the last eight NFL Drafts.
BAYLOR O-LINEMEN IN NFL DRAFT, 2009-2016
2009, T Jason Smith -- 1st Rnd (#2), Rams
2010, C JD Walton -- 3rd Rnd, Broncos
2011, T Danny Watkins -- 1st Rnd (#23), Eagles
2012, C Philip Blake -- 4th Rnd, Broncos
2012, G Robert T. Griffin -- 6th Rnd, Jets
2014, G Cyril Richardson -- 5th Rnd, Bills
2016, T Spencer Drango -- 5th Rnd, Cleveland
--Four straight Big 12 Offensive Linemen of the Year (Drango 2015 & 2014[co], Richardson 2013 & 2012).
--Paved way for six 1,000-yard rushers in last five seasons.
LONG-SNAPPER
Four-year letterman Jimmy Landes, drafted in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions, became Baylor's first-ever long snapper selected in the NFL Draft. Current Texans veteran long snapper Jon Weeks and long-time Colts long snapper/TE Justin Snow were both undrafted free agent signees out of Baylor.
